Frigate Birds, Sea Lions, and Darwin

My most recent work was published this month. It’s called Frigate Birds, Sea Lions, and Darwin (Wipf and Stock). It was inspired by several things, including my family’s travel to the Galápagos Islands, perpetual conversations that I have with my brother-in-law (who teaches Biology), and a perceived need to process my development on issues of creation, evolution, and ecology. However, I didn’t just want to offer another “Christian hot-take on evolution and creation.” Such examples are legion, and another one of them would be rather boring. So, I decided to channel my fandom of Bill Bryson. If you’ve ever read Bryson’s book (e.g. A Walk in the Woods; Notes from a Small Island), they’re a fusion of travel stories, historical nuggets, and cultural reflection. So, true to form, I tried to write a book that was a little bit travel, historical, and reflective. Oh yeah, it also goes without saying that it was also a bit theological and hermeneutical. Now, did I accomplish all that? Who knows…only time will tell.

I will say that this book posed its challenges. It was unlike most of the material that I write. Most of my writing is academic and technical…and it deals with issues of biblical language, history, and culture. This is far from that. Moreover, this book required me to wade into unfamiliar conversations. I read some of Darwin’s correspondence about his time on the HMS Beagle. I considered the relationships between Galápagos Sea Lions and the dogs that live close by. I even considered El Niño and La Niña and how that cycle affects the wildlife population. Yet this was all necessary. Any position on the environment, broadly speaking, must consider a host of variables. And as Christians, this requirement is complicated by a need to interpret an ancient text in a responsible manner. In short, this is not an easy conversation, and I remain convinced that many Christians run from this through a myriad of ways, including gross oversimplifications.

               Ultimately, this work was cathartic. I make this point throughout the book. While I wouldn’t exchange my upbringing in northwest Ohio, in small, rural, and isolated communities for anything, my thinking on many things has evolved over the years. And issues of creation, evolution, and ecology, offer no exceptions. Articulating some of this in this book was, on some level, therapeutic. Hard…but well worth it.