Michael Dowd | |
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 Dowd delivering sermon, 2016 | |
| Born | November 19, 1958 |
| Died | October 7, 2023 (age 64) |
| Alma mater | M.Div. – Palmer Seminary, BA – Evangel University |
| Known for | Epic of Evolution, Evolutionary Christianity, Ecotheology, and Post-doom |
Michael Dowd (1958 - 2023) was an American author, lecturer, and advocate of ecotheology and post-doom.
Michael Dowd's 1991 book, EarthSpirit, [1] launched his public speaking career, grounded in the epic of evolution, religious naturalism, and progressive Christianity. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] "Evolutionary Christianity" was his preferred topic, resulting in his sometimes being called America's "evolutionary evangelist." [7] His 2007 book, Thank God for Evolution , [8] brought him an invitation to contribute a chapter, "A Story Big Enough to Hold Us All," in a book published in 2009. [9] It also extended his speaking invitations beyond religious institutions. [10] These included the Values Caucus at the United Nations, [11] [12] The Skeptics Society, [13] the Darwin Day lecture at three universities, [14] [15] [16] and TEDx in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2012 and 2014. [17] [18]
In 2014 Dowd added climate change activism to his volunteer efforts and his public speaking in church contexts. [19] His speaking schedule in 2014 roughly tracked the cross-USA route of the Great March for Climate Action, including speaking in city parks and local churches in support of the marchers. [20] In 2014 he adopted a stage name, "Reverend Reality," and began wearing a green clergy shirt (image at right) to exemplify his shift into foregrounding ecotheology in his presentations. He merged the science of ecology with liberal Christian theology by using the term "grace limits" when referring to ecological limits and Earth's carrying capacity. [21]
He interpreted additional biblical metaphors for his purpose of ecological advocacy. Primary among them was the need for humanity to break away from ecological destruction and to seek redemption as the "prodigal species" who was finally "coming home to Reality." [21] For guidance in how to do this, Dowd offered a set of "Reality's Rules: Ten Commandments to Avoid Extinction and Redeem Humanity." [22] [23] He wrote and spoke of the ten in the form of "Thus sayeth the Lord":
- Stop thinking of me as anything less than the voice of undeniable and inescapable reality.
- Stop thinking of ‘revelation’ or ‘divine instruction’ without including evidence.
- Stop thinking of Genesis, or your creation story, apart from the history of the universe.
- Stop thinking of theology apart from ecology: the interdisciplinary study of my nature.
- Stop defining and measuring ‘progress’ in short-term, human-centered ways.
- Stop allowing the free or subsidized polluting of the commons.
- Stop using renewable resources faster than they can be replenished.
- Stop using non-renewable resources in ways that harm or rob future generations.
- Stop exploring for coal, oil, and natural gas—keep most of it in the ground.
- Stop prioritizing the wants of the wealthy over the needs of the poor. [21] [22] [23]
In 2015 Dowd read the 1980 book by William R. Catton Jr.: Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. That reading "changed everything" for Dowd and launched him on the path he would later call postdoom. [24] John Halstead described Catton's influence in a memorium for Dowd that he wrote in 2023: "Post-doom teaches that, ironically, it is the very urge to cling to hope and the faith in progress and technology that is driving us faster and faster toward our own annihilation. When we refuse to acknowledge natural limits, then we end up hastening the very outcome that we want to avoid." [25]
By 2019 Dowd had pivoted his message to a pastoral form of support for those who, like himself, had lost hope that climate change, ecological overshoot, biodiversity loss and other causes of civilizational collapse already underway could be halted. [19] Post-doom was the word he coined for the process of moving through the stages of grief, [24] then beyond mere acceptance and more fully into "calm, clarity, and courageous love-in-action." [26] Increasingly, he became known as the "postdoom pastor." [27]
In her 2021 book, Victoria Loorz writes of "Michael Dowd's post-doom spirituality" and describes it as "a spirituality that accepts the fullness of our reality: the tragedy as well as the beauty. This spirituality moves into — and then eventually beyond — grief and repentance toward a deeper, more courageous, compassionate, and spiritual aliveness. Post-doom spirituality is, as Dowd says, 'what opens up when we remember who we are, accept the inevitable, honor our grief, and prioritize what is pro-future and soul-nourishing'." [28]
As Dowd reflects in a 2022 essay, "Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance: where are you in the vaunted stages of grief? And is doom automatically the end point?" He continues, "I began to explore (with others) the possibility of compassionate 'post-doom' forms of awareness." [29] His 2023 essay in Progressing Spirit is titled, "The Real End Times: From Doom to Faith." He writes,
A post-doom perspective is practical without promoting nihilism or lethargy. Trust, a secular name for faith, is its foundation. From there, generous and compassionate actions can continue, but they tend to be smaller in scope. They are here and now. They are free of frantic imperatives to engage in protests with the aim of transforming “the system.” Post-doom overall is hope-free. Dipping even one toe into this cool pool of acceptance can begin to yield benefits — emotional, spiritual, and relational benefits." [30]
An opinion piece published in the UK-based Church Times in 2022 was titled, "What we can learn from the 'post-doomers'. [31] The author writes that "spirituality features quite prominently" among those who identify or ally with the post-doom perspective: "Christians such as Michael Dowd and Fr Richard Rohr are making their contributions."
In a 2023 essay, [30] Dowd includes a list of 15 "Postdoom Benefits" developed by Karen Perry. Jem Bendell, the originator of the Deep Adaptation concept, also wrote about Perry's benefits list in 2023. [32] Dowd features other perspectives on the topic of postdoom in both video and audio formats by conducting conversations with more than 50 people from 2019 through 2023. [33] These and other resources can be accessed on the website Dowd originated in 2019: Postdoom.com website. [34]
He delivered his final sermon, titled Being the Calm in the Storm, [35] at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Flint, Michigan on August 13, 2023.
Dowd lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan with his wife, the science writer Connie Barlow. In October 2023 he drove to Poughkeepsie, New York just in time to attend his father's death while in hospice. Two days days later, Dowd experienced a massive heart attack at a friend's home and died that night. He was cremated the day after his father's funeral and burial. [36] [37]
Evolutionism is a term used to denote the theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberately improved themselves through progressive inherited change (orthogenesis). The teleological belief went on to include cultural evolution and social evolution. In the 1970s, the term "Neo-Evolutionism" was used to describe the idea that "human beings sought to preserve a familiar style of life unless change was forced on them by factors that were beyond their control."
Theistic evolution is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. It posits that the concept of God is compatible with the findings of modern science, including evolution. Theistic evolution is not in itself a scientific theory, but includes a range of views about how science relates to religious beliefs and the extent to which God intervenes. It rejects the strict creationist doctrines of special creation, but can include beliefs such as creation of the human soul. Modern theistic evolution accepts the general scientific consensus on the age of the Earth, the age of the universe, the Big Bang, the origin of the Solar System, the origin of life, and evolution.
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was an American professor of Reformed theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 to 1921. He served as the last principal of the Princeton Theological Seminary from 1886 to 1902. After the death of Warfield in office, Francis Landey Patton took over the functions of the office as the first president of seminary. Some conservative Presbyterians consider him to be the last of the great Princeton theologians before the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
The social effects of evolutionary thought have been considerable. As the scientific explanation of life's diversity has developed, it has often displaced alternative, sometimes very widely held, explanations. Because the theory of evolution includes an explanation of humanity's origins, it has had a profound impact on human societies. Some have vigorously denied acceptance of the scientific explanation due to its perceived religious implications. This has led to a vigorous conflict between creation and evolution in public education, primarily in the United States.
Progressive Christianity represents a postmodern theological approach, which developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, itself rooted in the Enlightenment's thinking. Progressive Christianity is a postliberal theological movement within Christianity that, in the words of Reverend Roger Wolsey, "seeks to reform the faith via the insights of post-modernism and a reclaiming of the truth beyond the verifiable historicity and factuality of the passages in the Bible by affirming the truths within the stories that may not have actually happened."
Michael Ruse is a British-born Canadian philosopher of science who specializes in the philosophy of biology and works on the relationship between science and religion, the creation–evolution controversy, and the demarcation problem within science. Ruse currently teaches at Florida State University.
The Catholic Church holds no official position on the theory of creation or evolution, leaving the specifics of either theistic evolution or literal creationism to the individual within certain parameters established by the Church. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, any believer may accept either literal or special creation within the period of an actual six-day, twenty-four-hour period, or they may accept the belief that the earth evolved over time under the guidance of God. Catholicism holds that God initiated and continued the process of his creation, that Adam and Eve were real people, and that all humans, whether specially created or evolved, have and have always had specially created souls for each individual.
Religious naturalism is a framework for religious orientation in which a naturalist worldview is used to respond to types of questions and aspirations that are parts of many religions. It has been described as "a perspective that finds religious meaning in the natural world."
The Bahá'í Faith teaches that there is a harmony or unity between science and religion, and that true science and true religion can never conflict. This principle is rooted in various statements in the Bahá'í scriptures. Some scholars have argued that ideas in the philosophy of science resonate with the Bahá'í approach. In addition, scholars have noted the Bahá'í view of interpreting religious scriptures symbolically rather than literally as conducive to harmony with scientific findings. The Bahá'í community and leadership have also applied their teachings on science and religion with the goal of the betterment of society, for instance by providing education and technology.
Thomas Berry, CP was a Catholic priest, cultural historian, and scholar of the world's religions, especially Asian traditions. Later, as he studied Earth history and evolution, he called himself a "geologian".
Doomer and, by extension, doomerism, are terms which arose primarily on the Internet to describe people who are extremely pessimistic or fatalistic about global problems such as overpopulation, peak oil, climate change, ecological overshoot, pollution, nuclear weapons, and runaway artificial intelligence. Some doomers assert that there is a possibility these problems will bring about human extinction.
In social, cultural, and religious studies in the United States, the "epic of evolution" is a narrative that blends religious and scientific views of cosmic, biological, and sociocultural evolution in a mythological manner. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, an "epic of evolution" encompasses
the 14 billion year narrative of cosmic, planetary, life, and cultural evolution—told in sacred ways. Not only does it bridge mainstream science and a diversity of religious traditions; if skillfully told, it makes the science story memorable and deeply meaningful, while enriching one's religious faith or secular outlook.
Objections to evolution have been raised since evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the 19th century. When Charles Darwin published his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, his theory of evolution initially met opposition from scientists with different theories, but eventually came to receive near-universal acceptance in the scientific community. The observation of evolutionary processes occurring has been uncontroversial among mainstream biologists since the 1940s.
Charles Earle Raven was an English theologian and Anglican priest. He was Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University (1932–1950) and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge (1939–1950). His works have been influential in the history of science publishing on the positive effects that theology has had upon modern science.
Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design is a 2006 book by Michael Shermer, an author, publisher, and historian of science. Shermer examines the theory of evolution and the arguments presented against it. He demonstrates that the theory is very robust and is based on a convergence of evidence from a number of different branches of science. The attacks against it are, for the most part, very simplistic and easily demolished. He discusses how evolution and other branches of science can coexist with religious beliefs. He describes how he and Darwin both started out as creationists and how their thinking changed over time. He examines current attitudes towards evolution and science in general. He finds that in many cases the problem people have is not with the facts about evolution but with their ideas of what it implies.
Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is the view, advocated by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, that science and religion each represent different areas of inquiry, fact vs. values, so there is a difference between the "nets" over which they have "a legitimate magisterium, or domain of teaching authority", and the two domains do not overlap. He suggests, with examples, that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that it is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria." Some have criticized the idea or suggested limitations to it, and there continues to be disagreement over where the boundaries between the two magisteria should be.
The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity is a reference work in science and religion, edited by James B. Stump and Alan G. Padgett, and published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2012. It contains 54 new essays written by an international list of 55 authors, many of them leading scholars in the discipline of science and religion, and others new or up-and-coming voices in the field. The editors claim, "We are seeking to introduce and advance serious thinking and talking about science and Christianity, particularly as they interconnect. We are reflecting on the work of scientists and theologians, trying to find points of contact and points of tension which help to illuminate these practices and doctrines in clear, scholarly light." The book has received positive reviews in Choice, Reference Reviews, Themelios and Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. The article by Sean M. Carroll generated significant attention when it was discussed on the Huffington Post.
Although biological evolution has been vocally opposed by some religious groups, many other groups accept the scientific position, sometimes with additions to allow for theological considerations. The positions of such groups are described by terms including "theistic evolution", "theistic evolutionism" or "evolutionary creation". Of all the religious groups included on the chart, Buddhists are the most accepting of evolution. Theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the material universe and all life within, and that biological evolution is a natural process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employed to develop human life. According to the American Scientific Affiliation, a Christian organization of scientists:
A theory of theistic evolution (TE) — also called evolutionary creation — proposes that God's method of creation was to cleverly design a universe in which everything would naturally evolve. Usually the "evolution" in "theistic evolution" means Total Evolution — astronomical evolution and geological evolution plus chemical evolution and biological evolution — but it can refer only to biological evolution.
Deep Adaptation is a concept, agenda, and international social movement. It presumes that extreme weather events and other effects of climate change will increasingly disrupt food, water, shelter, power, and social and governmental systems. These disruptions would likely or inevitably cause uneven societal collapse in the next few decades. The word “deep” indicates that strong measures are required to adapt to an unraveling of western industrial lifestyles. The agenda includes values of nonviolence, compassion, curiosity and respect, with a framework for constructive action.
Postdoom, also post-doom, is a concept articulated by Michael Dowd in 2019 in his quest to "find the gift" beyond mere acceptance that ongoing climate change would inevitably lead to civilizational collapse. As Dowd reflected in a 2022 essay, "Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance: where are you in the vaunted stages of grief? And is doom automatically the end point?" He continued, "I began to explore the possibility of compassionate 'post-doom' forms of awareness." By the time of his death, Dowd had conducted more than fifty conversations with colleagues exploring the topic of post-doom, which are documented online in both video and audio formats.
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