The BioLogos Foundation is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

that supports the view that

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

created the world using

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

of different

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

as the mechanism. It was established by

Francis Collins Francis Sellers Collins (born April 14, 1950) is an American physician-geneticist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He is the former director of the National Institutes of Health ( ...

in 2007 after receiving letters and emails from people who had read his book, ''

The Language of God ''The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief'' is a bestselling book by Francis Collins in which he advocates theistic evolution. Collins is an American physician-geneticist, noted for his discoveries of disease genes, and his ...

''. The primary audience was Christians in the beginning, but Collins as well as later leaders of the organization have sought to engage with

scientific skeptics Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ...

as well as general audiences invested in biological science. BioLogos affirms evolutionary creation as a core commitment.

Presidents

The foundation has been led by the following presidents: *

(foundation 2007 – 16 August 2009; resigned to become 16th director of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

) *

Darrel Falk Darrel R. Falk (born 1946) is an American biologist. He is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University and is the past president and a current senior advisor with BioLogos Foundation, an advocacy group that emphasizes compat ...

(16 August 2009 – January 2013) * Deborah Haarsma (January 2013 – present) During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, BioLogos sponsored livestream events featuring the NIH director and BioLogos founder Francis Collins.

Responses

The BioLogos Foundation has drawn criticism from both

creationists Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...

and

antitheist Antitheism, also spelled anti-theism, is the philosophical position that theism should be opposed. The term has had a range of applications. In secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any deity. Etymology The ...

s. A ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' article about the foundation reported different responses in 2009. BioLogos has also received praise and positive responses. Supporters of The BioLogos Foundation include ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' columnist

Kathleen Parker Kathleen Parker is a columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, a popular guest on cable and network news programs and a regular guest on NBC's ''Meet the Press'', and p ...

, who has argued that the foundation's goal of "helping fundamentalists evolve can only be good for civilization."

References

Bibliography

* '' The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief'', by Francis Collins {{DEFAULTSORT:BioLogos Foundation Christian organizations established in 2007 Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Criticism of creationism Christianity and science Christianity and evolution