Time Magazine and an Evangelical Christian Scientist

TIME Magazine has a fascinating article on Francis Collins -- a genome mapper and evangelical Christian who intertwines his faith and science. Here's a quote from Collins within the article:

"Science is the only reliable way to understand the natural world [but] is powerless to answer questions such as 'what is the meaning of human existence'"--but he [Collins] tracks it to a different conclusion. "We need to bring all the power of both scientific and spiritual perspectives to bear on understanding what is both seen and unseen..."

In contrast to a deistic viewpoint, Collins does hold the controversial view of a "preferred synthesis of evolution with Christianity, which he calls BioLogos." That is, he

"sees God as having preplanned the process of mutation and selection at time's beginning... the whole point was for God to create a being with whom he could develop an ongoing relationship through prayer, Scripture and what the scientist cheerfully acknowledges as a scientifically inexplicable "divine invasion of the natural world" in the saving person of Jesus Christ."

Is this similar to theistic evolution? Hmm...

It is an interesting article and well worth reading. And, Collins' account of how he became a Christian is charming:

"In 1976, during his medical residency, the serene faith of some of his mortally ill patients shocked the self-described "obnoxious atheist" into consulting a local minister, who handed him the book Mere Christianity by the great Christian popularizer and Narnia creator, C.S. Lewis. Struck by Lewis' nuts-and-bolts approach, Collins investigated faith on his own methodical terms. Finally, one morning in 1978, while hiking in the Pacific Cascades, he came upon a massive, frozen, three-stream waterfall. To him it recalled the Trinity. He writes, 'I knelt in the dewy grass as the sun rose and surrendered to Jesus Christ.'"

Collins is the author of the book entitled, The Language of God. To read the whole article in TIME Magazine, click here.