The BioLogos Foundation has announced that former Calvin College physics professor Deborah Haarsma will take over the organization as outgoing president Darrel Falk transitions out of his role.
According to BioLogos, Haarsma previously was professor and chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has studied “very large galaxies (at the centers of galaxy clusters), very young galaxies (undergoing rapid star formation in the early universe), and gravitational lenses (where spacetime is curved by a massive object).”
But Haarsma’s work in astronomy is less likely to garner criticism than her views of Scripture, creation, and evolution. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, recently disinvited from several homeschooling conferences for comments he made regarding BioLogos’s Peter Enns, already is speaking out against Haarsma’s leadership, alleging in a blog post that she “denies the authority of Scripture when it comes to Genesis” and “accepts evolutionary ideas wholeheartedly.”
But according to BioLogos, Haarsma says that “a scientific explanation does not replace God; rather, it is our best human description of the natural mechanisms God uses. This understanding can actually increase our awe and worship, giving us a glimpse into how God works.”
CT has regularly reported on BioLogos, including an interview with founder Francis Collins, a dispatch from last year’s gathering of evangelical evolutionists in NYC, and how a BioLogos video led to the resignation of prominent Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke, underscoring tensions on evolution at evangelical institutions.
CT has also regularly reported on evolution, creationism, intelligent design, and human origins, including an infographic on current views, a Village Green on how intelligent design can gain credibility, and how it’s time for a difficult, grace-filled family meeting. Recent CT cover stories have examined the search for a historical Adam and a tale of two evangelical scientists–one a young-earth creationist, the other an evolutionary creationist.
