People I don’t follow: Denis Lamoureux

I don’t really follow people, because I’m a Christian.  But there are a few people I occasionally go out of my way to learn more about what they are saying.  One such person is Professor of Science and Religion, Denis Lamoureux.

I met Denis at a conference of Christian biologists held at Gordon College over 20 years ago, shortly after I started my long and exciting journey down the deep rabbit hole of the creation/evolution debate (an academic hobby I immersed myself in for about a ten years, and one of only a few topics I might be able to claim true expertise in).  I’ve maintained a professional friendship with Denis, and know that he is a genuine and sincere Christian, and among the best thinkers I personally know.  Now, when I say that I look to Denis to learn about his thoughts and ideas on the integration of faith and science, it doesn’t mean that I necessarily accept everything Denis is proposing.  But I do consider him to be a person worth listening to.

Denis has a very interesting and unique experiential and educational pedigree. Denis was an atheist, became a Christian, and a young earth creationist, before eventually becoming the lead voice for evolutionary creationism.  Along the way, Denis has earned two masters degrees (Divinity and Christian Studies) and three doctoral degrees (Dentistry, Theology, and Evolutionary Biology).  Denis is a charismatic Christian who works at a Catholic college, teaching science and religion.  Very few people have traversed the range of experience and education that Denis has, and in my opinion, he is someone deserving to be heard by those who are trying to make sense of reality, while maintaining a foundational belief in a creator God.

Denis has published articles with Biologos, an organization seeking harmony between science and Biblical faith, founded by Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, and author of The Language of God:  A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

He has given numerous invited lectures, authored several books including

Evolutionary Creationism: A Christian Approach to Evolution, I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution, and Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes, and has contributed articles to Biologos, and the American Scientific Affiliation.  He’s given a TEDx talk, debated prominent intelligent design theorists, and offers a Coursera course on science and religion.

His academic faculty website contains numerous web lectures and other resources.

To many Christians, especially those holding a literal view of the Bible, Denis’ propositions may seem dangerous, or even heretical.  However, to those Christians who recognize that science is generally reliable, and are not married to a literal view of the Bible, Denis’ views may be worth entertaining.  For some Christians, it’s not important to reconcile science with their faith, and that is ok.  For other Christians, the apparent conflict between science and faith can be quite problematic, and even crisis-inducing (I’ve seen it myself happen to college students raised in a particular way, and then exposed to new information that is hard to reconcile with their conservative, traditional upbringing).  It doesn’t need to be a crisis.  Denis is one of many faithful Christians who has found a way to avoid this conflict, without rejecting either science or faith.