Lamoureux
embraces the time-honored belief that there are
two major sources of Divine revelation—the
Book of God’s Words and the Book of God’s
Works. The Bible and the physical world complement
each other. Science reveals how the
Creator made this spectacular design-reflecting
world, while Holy Scripture declares precisely Who created
it. Together the Two Divine Books fulfill each
other; alone they are incomplete.
In
his web lecture Beyond
the "Creation" vs. "Evolution" Debate,
Lamoureux argues that the simple either/or approach
to origins inhibits everyone from making informed
choices. He asserts that if the limits of both
conservative Christianity and evolutionary biology
are respected, then their relationship is not only
complementary, but also necessary. This view of
origins is known as Evolutionary
Creation. Concisely
stated, it claims that the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit created the universe and life through an
ordained, sustained, and design-reflecting evolutionary
process.
Evolutionary
creation underlines that the Bible is NOT a
book of science. Instead, it is a God-inspired
revelation that offers inerrant, life-changing,
Messages of
Faith. Holy Scripture does indeed refer to the
natural world, but it features an ancient understanding
of nature. In
other words, the Bible has an ancient
science. Indeed, evolutionary creation
is a challenging view of origins for many
Christians, and Lamoureux shares his struggle to
accept this position in a web lecture
entitled Coming
to Terms with Evolution: A Personal Story.
He also writes about his voyage in a book
chapter that is available online.
Of
course, not everyone agrees with Lamoureux's position
on origins, as seen in the comments made by Richard
Dawkins in this video
clip.
Lamoureux
holds three earned doctoral degrees—dentistry,
theology, and biology. He is a member of the executive
council of the Canadian Scientific and Christian
Affiliation, a Fellow of the American Scientific
Affiliation, and cited in the Who's Who of
Theology and Science. He is also a member
of the Evangelical Theology Society and the Canadian
Evangelical Theological Association. Lamoureux
lectures throughout Canada and the United States
in both Christian and public academic institutions.
In 2001 and 2006, he received teaching awards from
the University of Alberta Students' Union. Lamoureux's
award winning introductory course on science
and religion, CHRTC 350: Science and Religion:
Christian Perspectives, has the first
six hours online.
With
Phillip E. Johnson, Lamoureux co-authored Darwinism
Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological
Origins (1999). Lamoureux has
also written Evolutionary
Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution (2008),
and recently he condensed this book into a more
accessible version entitled I
Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution (2009).
Audio/slide summaries of each chapter of Evolutionary
Creation are online.
The
Church’s
struggle with Galileo's astronomy offers valuable
insights for Christians coming to terms with
evolution. Galileo
popularized the aphorism: “The intention
of the Holy Spirit is to teach us how one goes
to heaven and not how heaven goes.” Rewritten
for the Church today, evolutionary creationists
encourage Christians to
understand:
The
purpose of the Bible is to teach us that
God is the Creator,
and
not how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created.