Richards hold a B.A. with majors in political science and religion, and Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Theology (Th.M.) degrees. His Ph.D. (with honors) is in philosophy and theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous scholarly and popular articles, as well as four books, including The Untamed God and The Privileged Planet.

Richard has gained attention with his intelligent design advocacy since 1996. The Privileged Planet, co-authored with astronomer and fellow CSC Senior Fellow Guillermo Gonzalez. William H. Jefferys, a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, reviewed The Privileged Planet writing "the little that is new in this book isn't interesting, and what is old is just old-hat creationism in a new, modern-looking astronomical costume."

Richards became the earliest fellow at the Discovery Institute to confirm the genuineness of the Wedge document. Secular and science organizations then paid attention to the DI after the document was published online, but Richards wrote "that the mission statement and goals had been posted on the CRSC's website since 1996."

Richards has expressed skepticism of global warming. Richards, in response (specifically to his named entry into Wikipedia), has reaffirmed that he believes global warming as a reality, given the baseline year of 1850, at a Veritas Forum lecture in 2007. He is also critical of Wikipedia, and recommends his blog readers to avoid it.