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 35
Page
... desire to be like God by knowing all things , both good and evil . The pursuit of knowledge , unbounded and highly prized , is also the story of science's coming - of - age . Secluded away at Los Alamos , scientists began to appreciate ...
... desire to be like God by knowing all things , both good and evil . The pursuit of knowledge , unbounded and highly prized , is also the story of science's coming - of - age . Secluded away at Los Alamos , scientists began to appreciate ...
Page
... desires and the good we intend , for embedded within them is the ancient urge to know all things — a new version of an ancient temptation . And Yahweh said : " Do not desire to know all things , both good and evil , " for in the ...
... desires and the good we intend , for embedded within them is the ancient urge to know all things — a new version of an ancient temptation . And Yahweh said : " Do not desire to know all things , both good and evil , " for in the ...
Page 2
... desire to know all things . The first four chapters of part 2 have the rather ambitious agenda of restoring a level of credibility to sin and evil so they might be taken seriously by skeptics in general , and the scientifically minded ...
... desire to know all things . The first four chapters of part 2 have the rather ambitious agenda of restoring a level of credibility to sin and evil so they might be taken seriously by skeptics in general , and the scientifically minded ...
Page 3
... desires , ideals , good intentions , and promises ultimately perverted is to look for them in the nar- ratives we write ( the stories that are written by the lives we live and the his- tory we make ) . Finally , if we do not move beyond ...
... desires , ideals , good intentions , and promises ultimately perverted is to look for them in the nar- ratives we write ( the stories that are written by the lives we live and the his- tory we make ) . Finally , if we do not move beyond ...
Page 5
... desires . As such , we seem poised to fulfill the modern dream of doing better than allowing the fickle hand of fate to rule our lives . The sociologist Peter Berger succinctly identified the modern con- sciousness as the movement from ...
... desires . As such , we seem poised to fulfill the modern dream of doing better than allowing the fickle hand of fate to rule our lives . The sociologist Peter Berger succinctly identified the modern con- sciousness as the movement from ...
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.