Jesus Loves You and Evolution Is True:

Sara Sybesma Tolsma and Jason Lief remind us that, indeed, Jesus loves us and that, at the same time, evolution may offer us the best picture of the origins and continued diversity of our material existence. Believing this doesn’t oppose a deep confession in the love and mystery of Jesus Christ but can, with imaginative integration, take us somewhere deeper.

—Andrew Root
Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary and author of The Church after Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship

Science is not a danger to the faith of Christian youth. In fact, Sara Sybesma Tolsma, an award-winning scientist, and Jason Lief, a leading practical theologian, argue that youth ministry needs science to help young people explore their relationship to God and engage their world faithfully.

Jesus Loves You and Evolution Is True invites the church and its leaders to open their minds and hearts to what science can tell us about our human lives and our connections to, and role in, our natural world. But it does not stop there: evolutionary science is theological, argues Lief and Tolsma, and so it must have a central place in the day-to-day work of youth ministry.

If the church wants to help youth develop robust spiritual lives and prepare them for the challenges that life will bring them, pastors, faith leaders, and youth workers must not only engage science but embrace its lessons for the life and practice of Christian faith today.

Sara Sybesma Tolsma

Sara Sybesma Tolsma is professor of biology at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Her research into cancer genetics and cell biology has been widely published in scientific journals and has received a number of awards.

Jason Lief

Jason Lief teaches in the Religion department at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Originally from Willmar, Minnesota, he grew up listening to Twins games on the radio and watching the Minnesota Vikings on TV. His writing explores the connections between faith and popular culture, specifically focusing on the different ways people make meaning out of their lived experience. Jason is married to his wife Tamara and they have three children—Naomi, Christian, and Savannah.

Sara Sybesma Tolsma and Jason Lief remind us that, indeed, Jesus loves us and that, at the same time, evolution may offer us the best picture of the origins and continued diversity of our material existence. Believing this doesn’t oppose a deep confession in the love and mystery of Jesus Christ but can, with imaginative integration, take us somewhere deeper.

—Andrew Root
Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary and Author of The Church after Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship

Lief and Tolsma address some of the key stumbling blocks science presents to religion to show how clear scientific explanation actually can enhance and deepen our understanding of God’s work in creation. This book is helpful in a wide variety of educational forums, from high school into adult life.

—Ilia Delio
Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology,
Villanova University