{"id":8297,"date":"2025-11-19T00:40:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8297"},"modified":"2025-11-19T21:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T21:21:58","slug":"fossils-and-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/fossils-and-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Fossils and faith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Asking complex questions has always been at the heart of the seminary experience. This fall, Luther Seminary hosted a semester-long conversation on a big one: What does it mean to be human?<br \/>\nThe conversation centered around the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s traveling exhibit \u201cExploring Human Origins,\u201d which turned the chapel narthex in Olson Campus Center into a mini-museum of natural history from August to November.<\/p>\n<p>Designed as a self-guided tour, the exhibit explored milestones spanning six million years of human evolution\u2014from walking upright, using tools, and living in variable climates to developments of the brain, society, and symbolic language. Visitors of all ages engaged with brilliantly illustrated panels, interactive displays, 3D skull casts, re-creations of early fossil footprints, and a life-size Neanderthal mother and child statue. Along the way, unexpected questions and connections emerged:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How do things like compassion and imagination show up in the archaeological record?<\/li>\n<li>How did a changing environment impact early humans\u2014and how did they change the environment?<\/li>\n<li>How closely related are modern humans and other species?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8297 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/LutherSemSeptember_69.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Museum exhibit with a yellow touch screen kiosk and informational panels.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/LutherSemSeptember_74.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Indoor exhibition with informational panels titled &quot;Exploring Human Origins.&quot;\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/LutherSemSeptember_77.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>In addition to the exhibit itself, Acting Associate Dean of Academic Affairs <strong>Ken Reynhout<\/strong> led a fall semester course, \u201cHomo Sapiens and God,\u201d that explored related themes. The seminary community also came together over a shared meal during the September residential focus session for deep conversation about the ways that scientific discoveries can inform preparation for and the practice of religious community leadership. In total, more than 700 visitors came to view the exhibit or attend related events co-hosted by Luther Seminary and the Smithsonian for the public, local clergy, and religious educators.<\/p>\n<div style=\"border: solid 5px #4EC3E0; padding: 5px; margin-top: 25px;\">\n<h2>Read more from Winter\u00a0 2025<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/beyond-our-walls\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">Beyond our walls<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/discerning-a-call-to-ministry\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">Discerning a call to ministry<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-time-for-everything\/\">A time for everything\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-seminary-without-walls\/\"><span style=\"display: block; min-width: 24px; min-height: 24px;\">A seminary without walls<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/2025-annual-report\/\">2025 annual report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/faculty-and-staff-notes-5\/\">Faculty and staff notes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/alumni-news-4\/\">Alumni news\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/fossils-and-faith\/\">Fossils and faith<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/2025-advent-devotional-available-online\/\">2025 Advent devotional available online<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/a-theological-turn-in-childrens-ministry\/\">A theological turn in children\u2019s ministry\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/faithlead-academy-hits-50-course-milestone\/\">Faith+Lead Academy hits 50 course milestone\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/meet-kurty-darling-visiting-instructor-for-children-youth-and-family\/\">Meet Kurty Darling\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/william-p-brown-named-2026-rutlen-lecturer\/\">William P. Brown named 2026 Rutlen lecturer\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/do-you-host-a-podcast\/\">Do you host a podcast?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asking complex questions has always been at the heart of the seminary experience. This fall, Luther Seminary hosted a semester-long conversation on a big one: What does it mean to be human? The conversation centered around the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s traveling exhibit \u201cExploring Human Origins,\u201d which turned the chapel narthex in Olson Campus Center into a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-winter-2025","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fossils and faith - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/fossils-and-faith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fossils and faith - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Asking complex questions has always been at the heart of the seminary experience. 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