fidzbit

Evolutionary theory was the assumed framework of every course I studied as an undergraduate biosciences student. In some courses it was the explicit focus. In others, it was more implicit because it provides the structure by which many different strands of biology can be functionally interlinked in intellectually insightful ways. After my degree I went straight into research work at Cambridge University Department of Zoology. It was a place where you could take the theory of evolution for granted - no one would ever think to challenge it. They have recently opened a new centre, named after the popular contemporary TV spokesman of evolution, Sir David Attenborough. On one occasion whilst working at Cambridge, I was offered a job at the ‘Faraday Institute for Christianity and Science’, after a warm and informal discussion with its director, Dr Dennis Alexander. The Faraday Institute is known for promoting a ‘theistic’ approach to the theory of evolution - the idea that the first few ...

Have you ever watched as two good friends, a husband and a wife, or a pastor and his elders fall out? Perhaps you love and appreciate both and don’t want to take sides, even when you can see that one party is clearly right. It is a painful position to be in and you fear that, when all is said and done, nobody will come out stronger and everyone will have wounds to lick. That is how I felt reading an article in the Evangelical Times (ET) this month, entitled “ Concerns raised over LGBT and racism seminars at Aber Conference ”, which brings together a number of my friends and pitches them against each other. I can’t say that I agree at every point with any of these friends but at a fundamental level I believe we are all on the same page when it comes to our Christian core: Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Firstly, I have always considered ET a friend. I have often appreciated articles in the paper and they have published one or two things which I h...

Over the past few months I have been increasingly concerned about the number of conspiracy theories being shared by professing Christians on social media. An opinion piece in the New York Times this week suggests that I am not the only Christian to feel this way. It focused on an anonymous individual who posts far-right conspiracies under the pen-name ‘QAnon’. His theories, draw on populist end-times narratives to appeal to conservative-minded American evangelicals. He claims that the left-wing Democratic political establishment is controlled by a pedophile satanist cult, hell-bent on destroying the hero in a Republican white hat, President Donald Trump. A few thoughts from the Bible: In the ninth commandment God specifically outlaws giving false witness. Whatever evils other people may have committed, it is sin in you that moves you to blame them for sins that they have not committed. It is sin in you that moves you to accuse them of sins without witness or evidence. It is sin in ...