Deborah Haarsma

Deborah Haarsma is an American astrophysicist, philosopher of religion and science author and activist.

She currently serves as the president of The BioLogos Foundation which is a Christian advocacy organization which promotes evolutionary creationism and discourse on science and religion.

She is a prominent figure in the intersection of modern science and Christian faith, engaging in various thoughtful discussions about topics addressing various conflicts.

Haarsma studied at the Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota where she completed her undergraduate work in physics and music.

Haarsma then pursued her doctoral studies in astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she got her PhD.

Then, she went to the Calvin College, where she served as a professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Haarsma advocates for scientific literacy and harmony between science and religion.

She has voiced support for the acceptance of the scientific consensus and what the consensus agrees with such as the age of Earth being about 4.5 billion years old, age of universe being about 13.8 billion years old, the evolution theory, etc. Haarsma promotes evolutionary creationism (also known as theistic evolution).

Haarsma strongly supported outbreak restrictions during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

She strongly promoted COVID vaccine and was involved in debunking COVID-19 misinformation.

She also alongside other members of BioLogos published the statement A Christian Statement on Science for Pandemic Times which was signed by more than 2500 people including Philip Yancey, N.T. Wright, David French, and Walter Kim.

She has defended theistic evolutionism against both atheists and theists who argue it to be incompatible with science and theology respectively.

She sharply criticized the book Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique published by Crossway written and edited by J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw, Ann K. Gauger, and Wayne Grudem which was a book written by members related to the Discovery Institute (an organization which promotes intelligent design) that criticized theistic evolution on both theological and scientific basis.

In an article on BioLogos criticizing the book, she strongly criticized the Intelligent Design movement and it's goals.

Haarsma stated that she "indeed" believed in something that is technically an "Intelligent Designer".

However, she believed that the "designer" "designs" through the natural process of evolution and is the first cause of it, while evolution is only secondary to the "designer".

She stated that she believes that evolution occurs by natural selection (and other things included in Neo-Darwinism), but considers God's providence to be an additional factor.

She believes that evolution occurs by chance and God is the one who set or determined these chances.

She additionally rejects the "Intelligent Design" argument as "science".

She stated that while science may give hints at the existence of God, science itself has no sayings for it.

Haarsma is a Christian.

She believes in theistic evolution which she prefers to call "evolutionary creationism".

She believes that God interacts with and sustains the world and has rejected accusations of deism.

Haarsma believes in miracles.

She has rejected accusations of "philosophical naturalism", stating that she only supports "methodological naturalism".

Haarsma commented on the debate between the science communicator Bill Nye and young Earth creationist Ken Ham.

The debate was criticized for giving "undeserved" attention towards Answers in Genesis (an organization that promotes young Earth creationism) and for fueling the creation-evolution controversy in USA even more.

Haarsma and other members of BioLogos instantly started making the public aware of theistic evolution, and started holding discourses, advocating that science and religion are compatible with each other and are not in conflict.

Haarsma commented "you don't have to choose. You don't have to give up Christian faith in order to accept the best, most compelling science. We expect that we'll agree with most of what Bill Nye will say about the science of evolution. Fossils, genetics, and other disciplines give compelling evidence that all life on earth is related and developed over a very long time through natural processes. But we're also brothers and sisters in Christ with Ken Ham. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for our sins and rose from the dead, and that the Bible is the authoritative word of God."

She, alongside others, also stated "that one of the lasting effects of this debate will be to further alienate Christianity from science in the public consciousness."