John G. West
Vice President and Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute
John G. West is Vice President and a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute in Seattle, where he also serves as Managing Director of the Institute’s Center for Science & Culture and Director of its Program on Religion, Liberty, and Civic Life. He previously served as Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at Seattle Pacific University. Dr. West holds a Ph.D. in Government from Claremont Graduate University. His areas of expertise include the political philosophy of the American Founding; Christianity and American politics; and the relationship between science, faith, and society. He has written or edited fourteen books, including Endowed by Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul (forthcoming 2026), The Politics of Revelation and Reason: Religion and Civic Life in the New Nation, The Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics, Darwin Day in America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science, and The Magician’s Twin: C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society. He also has contributed chapters to books such as In God We Trust? Religion and American Political Life and Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition.
Talks and Topics
Endowed by Our Creator: The Bible, Science, and the Battle for America’s Soul
In 2026, the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” These words have inspired generations of Americans and countless people around the globe. Yet many Americans today are unclear about the Declaration’s meaning or ambivalent about its teachings. In this talk based on his new book of the same title, Dr. West explains the original meaning of the Declaration and shows how its ideas drew support from both the Bible and the science of its day. He then traces how some tried to use the prestige of science to challenge the Declaration’s ideas about equality, liberty, limited government, and consent of the governed. Finally, Dr. West looks at how new discoveries in the sciences are pointing us back to the Declaration’s truths—and why that matters.
Are All Men Really Created Equal? What the Founders Meant—and Why It Matters
Over the past 250 years, the Declaration of Independence’s majestic claim that “all men are created equal” has inspired countless people around the globe to fight for human rights and human dignity. But what did America’s Founders mean by this statement? And were they right? In this talk, Dr. John West identifies key ways America’s Founders thought all human beings are equal and explains how their ideas drew on both the Bible and the natural science of their day. Finally, he discusses the continuing relevance of the Founders ideas for our own time.
The Battle over the Declaration of Independence
Within a few decades of the Declaration of Independence, the document’s majestic claims about human equality, natural rights, limited government, and consent of the governed came under vigorous attack in the name of science. In this talk, Dr. John West talks about how the prestige of science was hijacked in the years before the Civil War to deny human equality, and how after the Civil War the authority of science was used to challenge the Declaration’s ideas about human liberty, limited government, and consent of the governed. Finally, Dr. West looks at how new discoveries the sciences are pointing us back to the Declaration’s truths—and why that matters.
George Washington on the Vital Role of Religion in the American Republic
From the early decades of 1800s, Americans have debated the role of religion in the private and public life of George Washington. Was Washington a Christian, a deist, or something else? And what role, if any, did he see for religion in the new American republic? In this talk, Dr. John West untangles fact and fiction when it comes to the religious life of George Washington, revealing a man of deep personal devotion who envisioned an important role for faith in public life and supported religious liberty for all.
John G. West’s Upcoming Events
28 Feb 26
Endowed by Our Creator Conference with John West
Dallas, TX: Science, Faith, and the American Idea Sponsored by Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture and held at Park Cities Baptist Church.
