Christianity is shipwrecked on the rock of "biblical authority." Twelve hundred people a day leave the church. Porn addiction, alcohol abuse and domestic violence are epidemic in conservative parts of America. The Bible, once an asset, has become a liability. Why? Idolatry of the written word.

If you want to learn from the world's great orators and become a more compelling, memorable writer and speaker, Joe Romm's "Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion From Jesus, Shakesphere, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga" is the place to start. I know of no better primer on

God is a personification, not a person -- an undeniable interpretation, not an otherworldly tyrant. If we fail to grasp this, we cannot possibly understand religion or religious differences.

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." -- Philip K. Dick

Birth, life, death, the...

"Ecology is the new theology. Big history is the new Genesis. Those who fail to understand that evidence is modern-day Scripture, and that the world we live in is an honorable world, betray God and humanity in the most egregious of ways."

This is how I began a...

Since I "woke up" to the perils of climate change (see my previous blogpost), I've been preaching about climate chaos and our responsibility to future generations in guest sermons that I've been delivering in churches in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Take a look at a two-minute video...

The following video is a compact and emotionally moving overview of the problem and solutions to climate change. It is designed to be a quick and compelling way to get up to speed on the issue and help others do the same.

In 2012 the dangers of human-caused climate disturbance...

A revered general falls to infidelity; an unflappable president can't quite quit nicotine; a star athlete lives strong but engages in blood doping. The cascade of unwelcome revelations about people we admire could, nonetheless, have an upside.

The series of scandals could nudge progressive churches and educational institutions to overhaul...

Science not only increases our knowledge, it deepens our intimacy with reality. Nowhere is this more evident than in how an evidential worldview helps us honor -- indeed, celebrate -- the role of death at all scales of the cosmos.

My wife, Connie Barlow (a science writer and...

Faith traditions offer conflicting beliefs about our inner nature and challenges. Fortunately, a knowledge-based view is emerging that offers fresh and realistic hope for improving the quality of our lives and relationships.

Ignorance of our inherited drives has been one of the greatest causes of suffering throughout human history --...

A new breed of theist is emerging around the globe. We are religious naturalists: Reality is our God, evidence is our Scripture, integrity is our religion, and contributing toward a healthy future is our mission.

Since April 2002, my science-writer wife Connie Barlow and I have...

Once again, as it has 11 times since 1982, Gallup has polled Americans on the question of human origins. Once again, the biased wording of the three belief statements on the menu of choices forces respondents into camps that do not reflect the views of many Americans --...

Everything we value is possible only because of death. The ancients couldn't have known this truth revealed by science. We can no longer afford to remain ignorant of it; the cost is too high. Death is no less sacred than life.

Most people, whether religious or not, are tragically...

"Big History" has entered the big leagues -- both in academia and in entertainment. This new, cross-disciplinary field that embraces cosmic, geological, and biological history (as well as human history) offers an inspiring way forward through the thorny and tangled bank of the science-and-religion debate.

Two major developments within the...

"We'll never achieve a just and sustainably lifegiving future on the resources of the existing religious traditions, and we can't get there without them." --Thomas Berry

The 21st century will be seen as humanity's rite of passage. We're growing up as a species, going through the very same...

You know we're living in an odd world when prominent atheists encourage people to read scripture. More than 50,000 viewers each day sample atheist science blogger PZ Myers' posts on Pharyngula. "There's no surer way to make an atheist than to get someone to actually read...

We are in the early stages of what I think historians will one day call religion's Evidential Reformation. Increasingly, most of us (the devout included) relate to scientific, historic and cross-cultural evidence as more authoritative than the dictates of an all-male ecclesiastical body or a literalist reading of Scripture.