Michael Dowd
Encyclopedia
Michael Dowd is an American evolutionary theologian, bestselling author, and evangelist for Big History
and Religious Naturalism
.
His evangelism to over a 1500 audiences starting in 2002 provided material for Thank God for Evolution in 2008. This book is noteworthy for its breadth and depth of endorsements, it includes six Nobel Prize-winning scientists. On April 2, 2009, Dowd at the United Nations addressed the lack of an evolutionary worldview which he maintains has resulted in a global integrity crisis that requires a deep-time view of human nature, values and social systems to provide a solution for going forward. He maintains a Christian perspective and accepts the theory of evolution.
Dowd expanded his outreach program with the founding of Evolutionary-Christianity.org in 2010. Thirty-eight well-known religious leaders from diverse backgrounds joined him in an audio seminar introduction. In spite of their dissimilar religious orientations and backgrounds, they hold many perspectives in common; such as valuing Big History
(deep time
), a global ethos, and realistic expectations grounded in an understanding of scientific (Evidence of common descent), historical (History of the world
), and cross-cultural facts (cultural evolution) as "divine communication". This program has drawn both rebuttals and praise from Christian sources.
in Springfield, Missouri summa cum laude receiving a B.A. in philosophy and biblical studies. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree with honors at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia. Dowd was ordained as a United Church of Christ minister and served as a congregational minister for nine years in churches in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan.
During this time he allied with Jewish, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Unitarian Universalist, and New Thought leaders across America on environmental, peace, and justice issues. In 1995 he worked on social and environmental issues that were being considered by Congress. He was Religious Organizer for the Washington D.C. based National Environmental Trust. From 1997 to 2000 he headed The Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, in Portland, Oregon, the first government-funded program designed to produce large-scale voluntary citizen behavior change along stewardship lines in the United States. In 2000 and 2001 he served as Campaign Manager of Global Action Plan's
EcoTeam and Livable Neighborhood Programs in Rockland County, New York.
He become an itinerant "evolutionary evangelist" in 2002. Dowd and his wife Connie Barlow travel North America, teaching their "Gospel of Evolution." They present their case for "the marriage of religion and science" at events sponsored by a diverse group of denominations, including Christian
, Unitarian Universalist, Unity Church
, Free Thinkers, Religious Science
, secular humanism
and Religious Naturalists
venues. Barlow is a notable science writer/lecturer with 4 published works. Together they travel the continent by van as nomads, offering a view of evolutionary theology and relating their Great Story (Epic of Evolution
)to both secular and religious audiences. Their message embraces both science and religion, combining her scientific humanism with his evolutionary theism, her soft-spoken manner with his zealous preaching style. They draw in Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Christians; theists and atheists; scientists and philosophers.
monk, Tobias Meeker), that opened him up to first intellectual, and then spiritual, acceptance of evolution.
Dowd is pluralistic
in his ministry. He finds ways to effectively discuss evolution to devout Christians and to the non-religious he promises that his vision of "evolutionary spirituality" will benefit them without their need to endorse a religion or believe in anything otherworldly. He teaches that humanity will never see an end to the science and religion war until religious leaders do their part and preach evolution enthusiastically from the pulpit. He recommends the Clergy Letter Project
as a resource for clergy to help do this. Dowd promotes the Epic of Evolution as a sacred story and Religious Naturalism as his own religious orientation.. It addresses both objective truth and subjective meaning answering questions in ways that are both religiously and scientifically accurate. He claims that science can be interpreted in ways that nourish and inspire people like traditional religious stories do.
Colleen Engel-Brown, former pastor at a First Unity Church
believes Dowd has a "very provoking message". Accepting evolution as plausible "disturbs those who take the Bible literally".
Even the Dowd vehicle provokes as it displays two fishes kissing with the labels "Jesus" and "Darwin". His message of evolutionary theology attaches a lot of attention as a subject that opens up the debate on the creation-evolution controversy
. Both sides of this debate have been at it for a century and a half. Dowd attempts to serve as a pacifier by showing people that celebrating Big History
and interpreting it meaningfully will bring them nearer to spiritual fulfillment.
Those more in line with his thinking commended Dowd for reaching across the aisle. They see him as a thoroughgoing naturalist who comprehends the power of symbolism and metaphor and uses it to his advantage. By utilizing traditional religious methods, Dowd invites "people to think about religion in new ways". Stephen Uhl, a former Catholic priest-become humanist psychologist, writes that Dowd does a great job of expanding minds beyond sectarian belief systems and entertains while doing it.
was inspired by the writings of cultural historian Thomas Berry
, cosmologist Brian Swimme
, and deep ecologist Joanna Macy
. His preachings since 2002 provided material for Thank God for Evolution (2008, influences – Thomas Berry
, David Sloan Wilson
and others.) Its endorsements includes six Nobel Prize-winning scientists - Craig Mello
, John Mather
, Thomas C. Schelling, Frank Wilczek
, Lee Hartwell and Charles Townes. It has also gotten favorable reviews and compliments from a host of religious leaders, scientists and cultural icons. Starting in the spring of 2008, Professor Hogue at the Meadville Lombard Theological School was using Dowd’s book in his course on theology and science. Penguin purchased the worldwide rights to it in mid 2008.
Big History
Big History is a field of historical study that examines history on large scales across long time frames through a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on both the history of the non-human world and on major adaptations and alterations in the human experience...
and Religious Naturalism
Religious naturalism
Religious naturalism is an approach to spirituality that is devoid of supernaturalism. The focus is on the religious attributes of the universe/Nature, the understanding of it and our response to it . These provide for the development of an eco-morality...
.
His evangelism to over a 1500 audiences starting in 2002 provided material for Thank God for Evolution in 2008. This book is noteworthy for its breadth and depth of endorsements, it includes six Nobel Prize-winning scientists. On April 2, 2009, Dowd at the United Nations addressed the lack of an evolutionary worldview which he maintains has resulted in a global integrity crisis that requires a deep-time view of human nature, values and social systems to provide a solution for going forward. He maintains a Christian perspective and accepts the theory of evolution.
Dowd expanded his outreach program with the founding of Evolutionary-Christianity.org in 2010. Thirty-eight well-known religious leaders from diverse backgrounds joined him in an audio seminar introduction. In spite of their dissimilar religious orientations and backgrounds, they hold many perspectives in common; such as valuing Big History
Big History
Big History is a field of historical study that examines history on large scales across long time frames through a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on both the history of the non-human world and on major adaptations and alterations in the human experience...
(deep time
Deep time
Deep time is the concept that the Geologic time scale is vast because the Earth is very old. The modern philosophical concept was developed in the 18th century by Scottish geologist James Hutton...
), a global ethos, and realistic expectations grounded in an understanding of scientific (Evidence of common descent), historical (History of the world
History of the world
The history of the world or human history is the history of humanity from the earliest times to the present, in all places on Earth, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. It excludes non-human natural history and geological history, except insofar as the natural world substantially affects human lives...
), and cross-cultural facts (cultural evolution) as "divine communication". This program has drawn both rebuttals and praise from Christian sources.
Biography
Dowd, raised Roman Catholic, graduated from Evangel UniversityEvangel University
Evangel University is the national university of arts, sciences and professions in Springfield, Missouri. Evangel College was renamed Evangel University on June 8, 1998. The campus sits on that were originally part of . The first President of Evangel was Klaude Kendrick who served from 1955-1958....
in Springfield, Missouri summa cum laude receiving a B.A. in philosophy and biblical studies. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree with honors at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia. Dowd was ordained as a United Church of Christ minister and served as a congregational minister for nine years in churches in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan.
During this time he allied with Jewish, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Unitarian Universalist, and New Thought leaders across America on environmental, peace, and justice issues. In 1995 he worked on social and environmental issues that were being considered by Congress. He was Religious Organizer for the Washington D.C. based National Environmental Trust. From 1997 to 2000 he headed The Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, in Portland, Oregon, the first government-funded program designed to produce large-scale voluntary citizen behavior change along stewardship lines in the United States. In 2000 and 2001 he served as Campaign Manager of Global Action Plan's
Global Action Plan
Global Action Plan is an NGO that specialises in sustainable behaviour change, and in particular in ESD. There are programs for schools and youth, households and communities, and workplaces...
EcoTeam and Livable Neighborhood Programs in Rockland County, New York.
He become an itinerant "evolutionary evangelist" in 2002. Dowd and his wife Connie Barlow travel North America, teaching their "Gospel of Evolution." They present their case for "the marriage of religion and science" at events sponsored by a diverse group of denominations, including Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, Unitarian Universalist, Unity Church
Unity Church
Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication...
, Free Thinkers, Religious Science
Religious Science
Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applies to the teachings, while the term "Religious Science"...
, secular humanism
Secular humanism
Secular Humanism, alternatively known as Humanism , is a secular philosophy that embraces human reason, ethics, justice, and the search for human fulfillment...
and Religious Naturalists
Religious naturalism
Religious naturalism is an approach to spirituality that is devoid of supernaturalism. The focus is on the religious attributes of the universe/Nature, the understanding of it and our response to it . These provide for the development of an eco-morality...
venues. Barlow is a notable science writer/lecturer with 4 published works. Together they travel the continent by van as nomads, offering a view of evolutionary theology and relating their Great Story (Epic of Evolution
Epic of Evolution
The phrase Epic of Evolution represents an attempt to create a mythic narrative aimed at reconciling religious and scientific views of cosmic evolution, biological evolution, and sociocultural evolution. According to Taylor's Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, it is…-History:The term "Epic of...
)to both secular and religious audiences. Their message embraces both science and religion, combining her scientific humanism with his evolutionary theism, her soft-spoken manner with his zealous preaching style. They draw in Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Christians; theists and atheists; scientists and philosophers.
Philosophy and theology
Dowd considers himself to be a Pentecostal Evangelical or evolutionary Christian minister. Dowd describes himself as having been "born again" while serving in the United States Army in Germany in 1979, and for the next three years living within a fundamentalist culture that was strongly opposed to evolution. Thereafter he came under a more eclectic range of religious influences (including a friendship with a "Buddhist-Christian" former TrappistTRAPPIST
TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...
monk, Tobias Meeker), that opened him up to first intellectual, and then spiritual, acceptance of evolution.
Dowd is pluralistic
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of various religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values...
in his ministry. He finds ways to effectively discuss evolution to devout Christians and to the non-religious he promises that his vision of "evolutionary spirituality" will benefit them without their need to endorse a religion or believe in anything otherworldly. He teaches that humanity will never see an end to the science and religion war until religious leaders do their part and preach evolution enthusiastically from the pulpit. He recommends the Clergy Letter Project
Clergy Letter Project
The Clergy Letter Project is an project that maintains statements in support of the teaching of evolution and in opposition to the teaching of creationism in public schools and collects signatures in support of the letter from American Christian, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist clergy. The...
as a resource for clergy to help do this. Dowd promotes the Epic of Evolution as a sacred story and Religious Naturalism as his own religious orientation.. It addresses both objective truth and subjective meaning answering questions in ways that are both religiously and scientifically accurate. He claims that science can be interpreted in ways that nourish and inspire people like traditional religious stories do.
Colleen Engel-Brown, former pastor at a First Unity Church
Unity Church
Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication...
believes Dowd has a "very provoking message". Accepting evolution as plausible "disturbs those who take the Bible literally".
Even the Dowd vehicle provokes as it displays two fishes kissing with the labels "Jesus" and "Darwin". His message of evolutionary theology attaches a lot of attention as a subject that opens up the debate on the creation-evolution controversy
Creation-evolution controversy
The creation–evolution controversy is a recurring cultural, political, and theological dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe....
. Both sides of this debate have been at it for a century and a half. Dowd attempts to serve as a pacifier by showing people that celebrating Big History
Big History
Big History is a field of historical study that examines history on large scales across long time frames through a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on both the history of the non-human world and on major adaptations and alterations in the human experience...
and interpreting it meaningfully will bring them nearer to spiritual fulfillment.
Those more in line with his thinking commended Dowd for reaching across the aisle. They see him as a thoroughgoing naturalist who comprehends the power of symbolism and metaphor and uses it to his advantage. By utilizing traditional religious methods, Dowd invites "people to think about religion in new ways". Stephen Uhl, a former Catholic priest-become humanist psychologist, writes that Dowd does a great job of expanding minds beyond sectarian belief systems and entertains while doing it.
Works
Dowd's Earthspirit: A Handbook for Nurturing an Ecological Christianity (1991, 23 publications)was inspired by the writings of cultural historian Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry, C.P. was a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, cultural historian and ecotheologian ....
, cosmologist Brian Swimme
Brian Swimme
Brian Thomas Swimme is on the faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco, where he teaches evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the humanities. He received his Ph.D. from the department of mathematics at the University of Oregon for work in singularity...
, and deep ecologist Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy
Joanna Rogers Macy, Ph.D , is an environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology.-Biography:...
. His preachings since 2002 provided material for Thank God for Evolution (2008, influences – Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry, C.P. was a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, cultural historian and ecotheologian ....
, David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson is an American evolutionary biologist and a Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is a son of the author Sloan Wilson.-Academic career:...
and others.) Its endorsements includes six Nobel Prize-winning scientists - Craig Mello
Craig Mello
Craig Cameron Mello is a Portuguese-American biologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Andrew Z. Fire, for the discovery of RNA interference...
, John Mather
John Mather
John Norman Mather is a mathematician at Princeton University known for his work on singularity theory and Hamiltonian dynamics...
, Thomas C. Schelling, Frank Wilczek
Frank Wilczek
Frank Anthony Wilczek is a theoretical physicist from the United States and a Nobel laureate. He is currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ....
, Lee Hartwell and Charles Townes. It has also gotten favorable reviews and compliments from a host of religious leaders, scientists and cultural icons. Starting in the spring of 2008, Professor Hogue at the Meadville Lombard Theological School was using Dowd’s book in his course on theology and science. Penguin purchased the worldwide rights to it in mid 2008.
- * Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World -Viking Adult (June 19, 2008), ISBN 0670020451 (pending worldwide publication)
- * Earthspirit: A Handbook for Nurturing an Ecological Christianity, - 23 Pubns, (April 1991), ISBN 0896224791
- * THE MEANING OF LIFE IN THE 1990s: An Ecological, Christian Perspective http://www.asa3.org/ASA/book_reviews/12-92.htm#
- * Study Guide - Thank God for Evolution, 4 hr DVD http://www.thegreatstory.org/tgfe-dvd-study.html
See also
- Evolutionary psychology of religionEvolutionary psychology of religionThe evolutionary psychology of religion is the study of religious belief using evolutionary psychology principles. It is one approach to the psychology of religion. As with all other organs and organ functions, the brain and cognition's functional structure have been argued to have a genetic basis,...
- Liberal ChristianityLiberal ChristianityLiberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
- Progressive ChristianityProgressive ChristianityProgressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Christianity characterized by willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity with a strong emphasis on social justice or care for the poor and the oppressed and environmental stewardship of the Earth...
- Theistic evolutionTheistic evolutionTheistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution...
Further reading
- By Connie Barlow Exceptional Wisdom Radio (Dowd’s wife and ministry companion)
- The Ghosts of Evolution - Basic Books (February 28, 2002), ISBN 0465005527
- Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science - Springer; 1 edition (September 26, 1997), ISBN 0387947949
- Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life- The MIT Press (August 4, 1995), ISBN 0262522063
- From Gaia to Selfish Genes - The MIT Press (July 8, 1992), ISBN 0262521784
- Brian SwimmeBrian SwimmeBrian Thomas Swimme is on the faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco, where he teaches evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the humanities. He received his Ph.D. from the department of mathematics at the University of Oregon for work in singularity...
- The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era: A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos, Harper Collins, 1992 (1994, ISBN 0-06-250835-0) - Jerome A. StoneJerome A. StoneJerome Stone—author, philosopher, and theologian—is best known for helping to develop the religious movement of Religious Naturalism. Dr. Stone is on the Adjunct Faculty of Meadville Lombard Theological School; is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at William Rainey Harper College; is in Preliminary...
- Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative, State University of New York Press, 2008, ISBN 0791475379 - Chet RaymoChet RaymoChet Raymo is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column Science Musings appeared in the Boston Globe for twenty years. This is now a daily blog by him...
- When God Is Gone, Everything Is Holy: Making of a Religious Naturalist, Sorin Books (September 2008), ISBN 1933495138 - Ursula GoodenoughUrsula GoodenoughUrsula W. Goodenough is a Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the best selling book Sacred Depths of Nature...
- Sacred Depths of Nature, Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (June 15, 2000), ISBN 0195136292 - Eric ChaissonEric ChaissonEric J. Chaisson is an American astrophysicist and science educator best known for his research, teaching, and writing on the interdisciplinary science of cosmic evolution....
- Epic of Evolution, Columbia University Press (March 2, 2007), ISBN 0231135610 - Loyal RueLoyal RueDr. Loyal D. Rue is professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College of Decorah, Iowa , and focuses on naturalistic theories of religion.He has been awarded two John Templeton Foundation fellowships....
- Everybody's Story: Wising Up to the Epic of Evolution, State University of New York Press, 1999, ISBN 0791443922 - The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, chapter: The Sacred Emergence of Nature by Ursula Goodenough and Terrence Deacon. ISBN 0199543658