Frigatebirds, Sea Lions, & Darwin: Musings on Evolution, Creation, and Ecology

FRIGATEBIRDS, SEA LIONS, & DARWIN: Musings on Evolution, Creation, and Ecology by David B. Schreiner. Wipf & Stock, 2025. 140 pages. Paperback; $27.00. ISBN: 9798385203178. *According to the two books model of revelation, God can communicate theological truths through both scripture and the created world. Experiencing nature can therefore stimulate questions about biblical interpretation we might not otherwise have entertained. In Frigatebirds, Sea Lions, & Darwin, David B. Schreiner, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Inductive Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, recounts several trips to the Galapagos with his wife, daughters, and biologist brother. His family's encounters with the beauty and savagery of nature challenged some of his presuppositions about evolution. The double-edged sword of ecotourism in the Galapagos as both a source of conservation revenue and pressing environmental destruction challenged his understanding of humans as stewards of a land in need of taming. Presented as a mix of travelogue, musings, and biblical hermeneutics, the author has sought to provide "reflections and thoughts...as an inroad to a conversation that remains very difficult" (p. 16). Rather than try to convince through systematic biblical analysis or persuasive rhetoric, his hope is to share his experiences to "possibly produce similar reflections in the minds of my readers" (p. 9). This book is therefore more conversational than many in the science-faith realm, akin to The Fool and the Heretic by Todd Charles Wood and Darrel R. Falk (Zondervan Academic, 2019), or How I Changed My Mind About Evolution, ed. Kathryn Applegate and J. B. Stump (IVP Academic, 2016) rather than to more systematic treatments of science and faith. Its success, therefore, depends on how thought provoking you find his experiences and reflections. *The author provides three major contributions to the science-faith conversation. First, questions about evolution naturally came to mind when he was confronted by the same species Darwin observed. Schreiner, therefore, spends some time reflecting on his own theological journey within a fundamentalist context, and how major findings in the Ancient Near East and a strong understanding of literary, linguistic, and cultural context create ways of reading the Genesis text that can reconcile scripture with Darwin. For example, reflecting on Genesis 1:24 ("God said, 'Let the earth produce living creatures ...'"), the text records a Hiphil stem (used in Hebrew to express causative action) to the verb translated "produce," implying that it is the earth causing the production of life. Schreiner writes, "I will never forget the moment when I realized the potential of these statements ... To put it bluntly, the semantic framework of the biblical text allows for the attribution of agency upon the created order. By implication, in my mind, the concept of evolution is something that need not be antagonistic to the Christian faith" (p. 62). *However, he is quick to add that God must be the source of Earth's creativity. Failing to recognize this is "one of the severe deficiencies of Darwin's ideas of natural selection" (p. 62). I would suggest the author take a closer look at the frontispiece of The Origin of Species, especially later editions, in which Darwin takes great pains to suggest natural selection is not in opposition to, but requires, divine agency. Nevertheless, such statements from a conservative theologian make space for more robust discussion around evolution and faith. *Schreiner's second contribution is a significant and strong rebuttal of young earth creationist rhetoric. He quotes in full, across several pages, a social media post written by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. He slowly and methodically exposes the rhetorical strategy Ham employs, and then he shows why a faithful conservative Christian could reject Ham's approach and still be faithful to scripture. *Evolution is only a small portion of this book. More space is given to ecological considerations, Schreiner's third contribution. The Galapagos revealed both the profound harm humans can bring when trying to do good (e.g., invasive species, climate change exacerbated by tourism) as well as the profoundly good (e.g., the success of Galapagos tortoise conservation). The author suggests that this tension can be explained theologically by the concept of the image of God (our capacity for good) and our fallen nature (thus, the brokenness in our solutions). He goes further than I am comfortable with, explaining all interspecies hostilities as a product of the fall. I found this position difficult to reconcile ecologically with scriptures that celebrate God's active participation in feeding the carnivore (e.g., Ps. 104:21). Nevertheless, I can celebrate Schreiner's conclusion "that Christians should not only be concerned with their ecological context, but they should advocate for policies and practices that curb the unnecessary degradation of their ecological contexts and unbridled consumerism" (p. 92). I wish he had engaged more with the negative outcomes of well-intentioned stewardship, but I am glad to hear another conservative voice add to the call for Christ-centered conservation. *Unfortunately, the value of this book is hampered by obvious errors and poor editing: "like" instead of "think" (p. 95), two separate uses of "that" instead of "than" (pp. 50, 51), "guilt" instead of "guilty" (p. 39) are but a few examples. One chapter is entitled "Seal Lions Bites and Frigatebirds"--I assume it should be "Sea Lion Bites" or "Sea Lions' Bites"; this mistake is replicated on the page headers. Furthermore, some of the language in the book is off-putting; for instance, at one point Schreiner says that scientists believe Christians are "ideologically retarded"--given the context, I cannot tell if he is using that term to mean "halted in growth" or as a pejorative that should be excised from his language. *Nevertheless, the conversational nature of this book may be a breath of fresh air for students who were raised in a fundamentalist household and who need to hear a conservative theologian offer the very questions they have been asking, without fear of undermining the inerrancy of scripture or losing one's salvation. I would be curious to hear where these thoughts take Schreiner in the next few decades. I just hope there is a better editor to help him articulate these important conversations. *Reviewed by Matthew Morris, associate professor of biology, Ambrose University, Calgary, AB T3H 0L5.