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 41
Page 1
... speak their lines : the arguments I defend and the writers I engage . The stage itself is the corpus of the book , but neither the stage nor the book exists in isolation . Surrounding us are the larger events of world history , the ...
... speak their lines : the arguments I defend and the writers I engage . The stage itself is the corpus of the book , but neither the stage nor the book exists in isolation . Surrounding us are the larger events of world history , the ...
Page 17
... Speaking of sin , has anyone notice its blatant absence ? The good news is that after a long hiatus sin and evil have reentered our common vocabulary , 1" The right time has arrived — philosophically , culturally , and politically - to ...
... Speaking of sin , has anyone notice its blatant absence ? The good news is that after a long hiatus sin and evil have reentered our common vocabulary , 1" The right time has arrived — philosophically , culturally , and politically - to ...
Page 18
... speak of sin in the public domain . The bad news is the deep - seated reluc- tance , even among theologians , to say anything relevant in a postmodern , posthuman era . Sin may be " the only empirical verifiable doctrine of the ...
... speak of sin in the public domain . The bad news is the deep - seated reluc- tance , even among theologians , to say anything relevant in a postmodern , posthuman era . Sin may be " the only empirical verifiable doctrine of the ...
Page 20
... speaking is the symmetry attractive : one rejection of the gifts of God is matched by a second divine gift , the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ( Rom . 5 ) . For Augustine it made perfect sense : infinite punishment for infinite ...
... speaking is the symmetry attractive : one rejection of the gifts of God is matched by a second divine gift , the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ( Rom . 5 ) . For Augustine it made perfect sense : infinite punishment for infinite ...
Page 22
... speaking , only individuals who have been corrupted by bad learning . Such is the optimism of the behaviorist B. F. Skinner in his depiction of life in Walden Two where a carefully designed environment shapes the individual and everyone ...
... speaking , only individuals who have been corrupted by bad learning . Such is the optimism of the behaviorist B. F. Skinner in his depiction of life in Walden Two where a carefully designed environment shapes the individual and everyone ...
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.