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Click below for Michael's BLOGS at . . .
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THE REVEREND MICHAEL DOWD is an evolutionary theologian, bestselling author, and evangelist for Big History, Religious Naturalism, and the New Theism. His bridge-building 2009 book, Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum.
Michael and his wife, Connie Barlow, an acclaimed science writer and evolutionary educator, permanently travel North America promoting "the sacred side of science" and "one-story spirituality." They've addressed more than 1,800 religious and non-religious groups since April 2002 — from Unitarian Universalists and freethinkers, to secular grade school, high school, and university students, to Catholic, Protestant, Anabaptist, and Evangelical Christian churches, to New Thought, New Age, Integral, and Eastern Spirituality groups.
In all settings Michael shares the same message", that "ecology is the new theology", that "Big History is the new Genesis", and that honoring our inner, outer, and social nature can help people of all backgrounds and beliefs live joyfully and cooperate in service of a just and thriving future for all. In 2009 he presented "Evolution and the Global Integrity Crisis" at Caltech and the United Nations, and in 2012 he delivered a TEDx talk: "Why We Struggle and Suffer".
Michael and Connie's work has been featured favorably in more than 150 local, national, and international radio, TV, and print media outlets, including The NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Skeptic, Discover, and on CNN, CBC, ABC News, and Fox News.
Michael blogs for The Huffington Post and he and Connie blog on Metanexus.
In 2010 he hosted an acclaimed conversation series (available digitally), "The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity", and in 2011 he and Connie taught a 5-week online course, "Evolutionize Your Life", portions of which are now available on DVD.
Celebrated by liberals and conservatives alike and especially gifted at building bridges between religious and non-religious folk, Michael shares the Great Story, or Epic of Evolution — humanity's first and only evidence-based creation story — in ways that uplift and expand heart, mind, and soul. His passion is showing how a sacred view of Big History, human nature, and death can inspire and empower each of us to live with greater joy, integrity, purpose, and passion. (Dowd's background, here, and wikipedia entry, here.)
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NH Public Television Documentary
"ONE-ON-ONE WITH MICHAEL DOWD"
This 27-minute documentary on the "one-story faith" or "Christian naturalism" gospel Rev. Dowd preaches, produced by New Hampshire Public Television, first aired in December 2010. The camera crew filmed Dowd at one of seven presentations he gave during November 2010 at United Church of Christ and Congregational churches in New Hampshire.
The documentary centers on an interview with Dowd that was conducted by the television team just before an event. Interspersed are fragments of Dowd during his actual presentation, along with excerpts of a video made several years earlier and available on the Thank God for Evolution! DVD sold on this website.
The program, "Evolutionize Your Life," that Michael was presenting that day is now available in DVD or in narrated slide format.
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30-min SERMON VIDEO: "Ecology Is the New Theology"
In February 2013, Dowd presented a guest sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe, NM. His opening line: "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." Dowd calls fellow baby boomers to attend to their legacy re: climate change and the enormous costs of medicalized death. Also available in audio format.
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30-min SERMON VIDEO: "God Rebukes the Religious Right: 'Repent or Face Hell and High Water'" Rev. Michael Dowd delivered an entirely new sermon on January 6, 2013 at the two Sunday morning services at Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, CO. Dowd presents "God" (Reality personified) as rebuking scriptural literalists for stalling collective action in response to climate change by engaging in denial or distortion of facts. (Dowd preached the same sermon a month later at a Baptist church in Houston, Texas. He received a standing ovation at both churches.)
Listen to an AUDIO of the same sermon title delivered the following Sunday at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado. |
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49-min VIDEO: "Climate Change & Intergenerational Evil"
In December 2012, Michael Dowd (with wife, Connie Barlow) "woke up" to the magnitude and immediacy of rapid and profound climate shift already underway. In this video they embed clips of videos and talk about new developments that brought them to this awakening. Video clips include TED talks by James Hansen and David Roberts, and a 3-minute interview with Bill McKibben during his autumn 2012 "Do the Math" climate tour.
Also posted on Michael's Huffington Post blog.
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Thank God for Evolution
How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World
2008: Viking / 2009: Plume
Endorsed by 6 NOBEL LAUREATES and other science luminaries, including noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum
Visit the Thank God for Evolution website for
the full text of endorsements
samples of audio and video clips from Rev. Dowd's media interviews and live presentations
Rev. Dowd's BLOG: "The Evolutionary Evangelist"
link for purchasing the book and related merchandise (tee-shirts, caps, bumper stickers)
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Chapters 1 & 2
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Click below for Michael's current BLOGS at . . .
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Visit Michael Dowd's BLOG ARCHIVE:
The Evolutionary Evangelist
Titles include: "A Story of Awakening (Teen Boys)" ♦ "Evolve or Perish" ♦ "I'm a Human with Mismatched Instincts" ♦ "Making Death Right" ♦ "The Unnaturalist Fallacy" ♦ "Teach Both Sides of What Controversy?" ♦ "Sex and the Olympics" ♦ "Evolution Theology: Religiion 2.0" ♦ "Why I Thank God for Charles Darwin" ♦ "Why Evangelize Evolution?" ♦ "Lizard Legacy Bites Three More Alphas" ♦ "Evolutionary Morality and Ethics" ♦ "Clergy Letter / Emerging Churches" ♦ "Thank God for the New Atheists and Creationists!" ♦ "The Gospel of Evolution" ♦ "Evolutionary Christianity" and many more
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♦ Publicity PHOTOS
Listen to 6-minute AUDIO
of Michael reading his PREFACE to the 2009 softcover edition of
Thank God for Evolution.
RIGHT: Watch a VIDEO of Rev. Dowd's 30-minute SERMON delivered at All Souls Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, "The Sacred Side of Science: Religious Naturalism".
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"Ecology Is the New Theology" 2013 (in SpiritEarth magazine)
(with Connie Barlow) why the teachings of Thomas Berry are now even more urgent. (1 page in PDF)
"Living and Loving Panfaithfully": Creating a Life Full of Integrity, Passion, and Sustainable Loving Relationships. A 25-page essay written in 1998 that addresses three basic needs and challenges of modern-day living: (1) How to live a truly authentic, fully self-expressed life, (2) Experiencing love that is mutually satisfying, mutually empowering, and deepening over time, and (3) Our yearning to create a greater sense of community among our family and friends.
"An Evangelical Pentecostal Naturalist?!", invited post in Emergent Village Voice, 31 January 2012.
"Why Understanding Our Instincts Is Vital for Living in Integrity and Unleashing Our Greatness"
Dowd interviewed by Craig Hamilton for The Way of the Evolutionary Man audio series, June 2011. AUDIO.
"Is Biblicist Christianity Bankrupt?", online debate with Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (2011).
"Thank God for the New Atheists", in Skeptic Magazine Vol 16 No.2, 2011.
"Thank God for the New Atheists", in Australasian Science Magazine December 2010.
"Thank God for the New Atheists!" sermon delivered by Dowd at Mayflower UCC, Cathedral of Hope, and St. Paul's Episcopal
in Oklahoma City, OK (Aug 1-8, 2010); 5 pages in PDF.
"Evolutionary Spirituality: Coming Home to Reality", essay published in Michael Dowd's blog of 20 January 2010. 8 pages in PDF.
1:15 hr AUDIO of Michael speaking about these concepts with Craig Hamilton, as part of the "Awakening to the Impulse to Evolve" series on the website: EvolutionarySpirituality.com.
"Thomas: My Great Red Oak" chapter contributed by Dowd to The Thomas Berry Tribute of Ecozoic Reader, 2009. 2 pages in PDF.
"Giving God Glory in Evolution", Lent 2004 issue of Benedictine Bridge.
"4 Reasons Why Nothing Matters More Than What We Think About Evolution" - 2008
This is a blogpost that is now available in PDF on this website.
"Evolutionary Evangelism" - 2005
This is a contributed entry for the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, edited by Bron Taylor, Dept. Religion, University of Florida, Gainesville.
"My Road To Damascus" - 2003 (5 pages)
First published in the Spring 2003 issue of EarthLight: The Magazine of Spiritual Ecology, this essay explores Michael's personal journey from a worldview that did not accept evolution to one that completely embraces it, without diminishing his faith.
PDF.
"A Great Story Perspective on the UCC Statement of Faith" - 1990 (8 pages)
An interpretation of the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith, in light of the epic of evolution, biblical revelation, tradition, and personal life experience. It was originally Michael's ordination paper. webpage
"Ecozoic Activism" EarthLight, 2001 - (2 pages)
The inner work that will guide environmental activism toward, what Thomas Berry calls, the Ecozoic Era (co-written with Connie Barlow). PDF
"The New Cosmology: Understanding the Gaia Hypothesis" - 1998 (2 pages)
published in the June/July issue of Simply Living; available online in
PDF
"Earth or 'the earth': What's in a Name?" - 1991 (2 pages)
Have you ever heard anyone refer to our celestial neighbors as "the mars", "the jupiter", or "the venus,"? Of course not. Why, then, refer to the physical ground of our being as "the earth"? This short essay suggests that how we refer to our home planet is far more than a matter of semantics. It is ultimately a question of honor, which, as Thomas Berry argues, may be the most important issue before us as we enter the twenty-first century. webpage
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