I think this is a really fruitful area of inquiry for science and religion. One of the broader topics we’ve been paying more attention to lately is what it means to be human. In his new book, Reading While Black, McCaulley shows that we don’t have to choose. The topic of today’s conversation is another forced choice, another false dichotomy, this time between the Bible and racial justice in our society today.Įsau McCaulley has been frustrated that too many people think you have to choose between working for justice, calling out the inherently racist structures of our society, or taking Scripture seriously and how it calls us to live with respect to the governing authorities. You can live a rich spiritual life, following Jesus and trusting Scripture, while at the same time accepting what modern science says about the world. We’ve tried to show that it is a false dichotomy.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, or following BioLogos, you’ve probably heard the slogan “you don’t have to choose.” Time and time again, we hear the stories of people who were told they do have to choose between science and the Bible, between human wisdom and God’s word. I’m an Assistant Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College.

You can say, yes, the people have done really, really horrible and difficult things in the name of Jesus, but there’s a hope on the other side of it. And that you don’t have to ignore the history of this country in order to remain a Christian. And what I want to argue in the book is that, listen, you don’t have to throw away the Bible in order to talk about justice, that historically African American Christians, precisely because they believe the Bible, contended for justice. An honest assessment of American history, is the fact that we have dealt with the problem of race from the beginning, and how to treat people equally.

Reading the bible while black