A new book by biblical scholar Dr. Dru Johnson, visiting associate professor of religion at 91自拍论坛, moves beyond the either-or debate in exploring what the Bible and evolutionary science say about creation.
Instead, 鈥淲hat Hath Darwin to Do with Scripture? Comparing the Conceptual Worlds of the Bible and Evolution,鈥� published by InterVarsity Press Academic in December, considers that and how 鈥� even though their ideas are sometimes in conflict 鈥� both the Bible and modern science provide intellectual frameworks for understanding human origins.
鈥淸T]hese two views about creation are designed to explain what we see and how it came
to be,鈥� Johnson writes. Both the Bible and evolutionary science, he says, 鈥渋ntend
to say something true about the natural history of the universe (even if one thinks
the biblical authors do so poetically or analogically).鈥�
鈥淢y goal here is to consider the parallels among Darwin鈥檚 natural selection and later conceptual developments in evolutionary science, then compare them to the conceptual world of the Bible,鈥� he writes. 鈥淚 argue that the intellectual world of the biblical authors makes our world existentially, ethically, and physically coherent in a way that could be harmonized with many of the findings of science 鈥� depending on how one construes both enterprises.鈥�
鈥淲hat Hath Darwin to Do with Scripture鈥� presents the topic in four sections. After opening with discussion of the differing conceptual worlds of the Bible and evolutionary science, Johnson traces both through the connection among scarcity, cooperation and violence; the fitness of creatures to their environment; and the genealogical aims of sexual reproduction.
鈥淭he Hebrew accounts (specifically Gen. 1-2, among others) sew together the same three concerns that Darwin eventually identified as the central topics of natural selection,鈥� he writes.
鈥淓ven if it is a grand coincidence, the overlapping concern with genealogical selection in Scripture and in Darwin鈥檚 thinking deserves some attention,鈥� Johnson writes. 鈥淎fter all, both views supply stories about the beginning, middle, and future of the cosmos.鈥�
Johnson teaches biblical literature at Hope, where he joined the faculty this past fall after previously teaching at The King鈥檚 College in New York City. He continues to direct the Center for Hebraic Thought at The King鈥檚 College, and is an editor for the Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biblical Criticism series and a co-host for the OnScript Podcast.
Some recent books include 鈥淏iblical Philosophy: A Hebraic Approach to the Old and New Testaments,鈥� (Cambridge University Press, 2021), 鈥淭he Universal Story: Genesis 1-11鈥� (Lexham Press, 2018), 鈥淏iblical Knowing: A Scriptural Epistemology of Error鈥� (Cascade Books, 2013) and 鈥淪cripture鈥檚 Knowing: A Companion to Biblical Knowing鈥� (Cascade Books, 2015) as well as two edited books. His publications also include numerous book chapters and articles in scholarly journals and popular magazines.
An ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Johnson has been a Research Fellow at the Logos Institute of Analytical and Exegetical Theology (University of St Andrews, Scotland), the Institute for Advanced Studies鈥擲halem Center (Jerusalem, Israel), and a Senior Research Fellow at The Henry Center鈥檚 鈥淐reation Project.鈥� He holds bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, an M.Div. from the Covenant Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews.
鈥淲hat Hath Darwin to Do with Scripture?鈥� totals 224 pages, and is available in paperback for $24 through the 91自拍论坛 Bookstore, as well as through Amazon and the publisher.