Eden's Garden: Rethinking Sin and Evil in an Era of Scientific PromiseThe time is ripe for a robust discussion of human nature. In Eden's Garden: Rethinking Sin and Evil in an Era of Scientific Promise, Richard Coleman examines the notion of sin in a contemporary world that values scientific and nonreligious modes of thought regarding human behavior. This work is not an anti-science polemic, but rather an argument to show how sin and evil can make sense to the nonreligious mind, and how it is valuable to make sense of such phenomena. The author reconceptualizes sin and evil as 'indelible pieces of our evolutionary history' preventing them from being ostracized as 'too religious, without substance, mired in the past.' Coleman redeems theology for what it can offer to the understanding of sin and evil while embracing and respecting what science can offer to further the common good. Examining themes in religion, philosophy, and theology, it is ideal for use in the numerous courses that move across these disciplines. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 14
Page
... Adam and Eve as they romped through Eden , also known as " garden of delight " or paradise . I often see myself dragging sin and evil into the postmodern era in order to restore some sanity to what otherwise is a future seen through ...
... Adam and Eve as they romped through Eden , also known as " garden of delight " or paradise . I often see myself dragging sin and evil into the postmodern era in order to restore some sanity to what otherwise is a future seen through ...
Page 3
... Adam and Eve : Sociobiology and Original Sin ) . In fact , I question the value of trying to make sin or evil empiri- cally tenable though I confess that there are moments when I am tempted to do just that , and it may appear that is ...
... Adam and Eve : Sociobiology and Original Sin ) . In fact , I question the value of trying to make sin or evil empiri- cally tenable though I confess that there are moments when I am tempted to do just that , and it may appear that is ...
Page 19
... Adam and Eve's sin . If . Adam and Eve's historicity is made pivotal , we as theologians might as well pack our bags and go home . The scientific commu- nity will have none of it . The universality of sin is , however , a different ...
... Adam and Eve's sin . If . Adam and Eve's historicity is made pivotal , we as theologians might as well pack our bags and go home . The scientific commu- nity will have none of it . The universality of sin is , however , a different ...
Page 24
... Adam and Eve sinned ) , liberals reverse the argument from present to past ( we sin because we are born into a world where sin is our history ) . Both explanations lack any real causal connections . There is a pre- sumed biological link ...
... Adam and Eve sinned ) , liberals reverse the argument from present to past ( we sin because we are born into a world where sin is our history ) . Both explanations lack any real causal connections . There is a pre- sumed biological link ...
Page 25
... Adam and Eve already possess the capacity to freely make decisions for good or evil , otherwise the snake's offer to become all - knowing like God would be implausible . In the Garden of Delights ( Eden ) , they are free to pick freely ...
... Adam and Eve already possess the capacity to freely make decisions for good or evil , otherwise the snake's offer to become all - knowing like God would be implausible . In the Garden of Delights ( Eden ) , they are free to pick freely ...
Contents
Knowledge Too Powerful to Be Ignored The Good and Noble Scientist | 45 |
Knowledge Too Good Not to Be Exploited The Compromised Scientist | 79 |
THE NEW OCCASION FOR AN ORIGINAL TEMPTATION | 127 |
Sin of the Common Variety Distinguishing Sin from Evil and Sin from Sins | 129 |
Sin Uniquely Christian A Fresh Interpretation of The Fall | 161 |
Sins Genealogy The Emergence of Sin | 189 |
Science as the New Occasion for Sin When Humans Overreach | 223 |
SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY IN COUNTERBALANCE | 247 |
What Can We Expect? So Much Depends on How We Answer | 249 |
Selected Bibliography | 283 |
293 | |
295 | |
299 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Adam and Eve altruism androids argument atomic bomb Auschwitz become begins behavior believe better biological biotechnology Blank Slate Boston Globe capacity century chapter Christian Cold War common create creature culture death desire distinction empiricism ence enhancement ethical everything evil evolution evolutionary expect feel Franck Report Fukuyama fundamental future genes genetic Genome global happens hope human condition human nature issue John Polkinghorne Kass kind knowledge language Leon Kass lives Manhattan Project Matt Ridley matter means mind modern moral nation Neiman never Niebuhr Oppenheimer original sin ourselves philosophers Pinker political posthuman question reality reason Reinhold Niebuhr religion responsibility Robert Oppenheimer Rousseau science and theology scientific scientists self-awareness self-transcendence sense sinful social society speak story theologians theology thing tion tradition transcend Trinity test trust truth understanding University Press writes Yahweh York
Popular passages
Page 26 - Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select — doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.