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
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Page 16
... morality , self - sacrifice , courage , and honorability " ( The End of History , 171 ) . We can hope for the withering of the oppressive state , but if it never comes we will know why . Human nature hasn't changed . My question to ...
... morality , self - sacrifice , courage , and honorability " ( The End of History , 171 ) . We can hope for the withering of the oppressive state , but if it never comes we will know why . Human nature hasn't changed . My question to ...
Page 17
... moral crisis envel- oping us because we stand on the brink of another scientific era . I use the word " crisis " in the minimal sense that we will be confronted by ethical ques- tions that strain the traditional personal ethic of every ...
... moral crisis envel- oping us because we stand on the brink of another scientific era . I use the word " crisis " in the minimal sense that we will be confronted by ethical ques- tions that strain the traditional personal ethic of every ...
Page 22
... moral evil . Neiman argues that a new and modern understanding of evil begins when natural and moral evil are separated , which was provoked by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. It sent shock waves throughout the intellectual world . What ...
... moral evil . Neiman argues that a new and modern understanding of evil begins when natural and moral evil are separated , which was provoked by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. It sent shock waves throughout the intellectual world . What ...
Page 23
... moral evil that mocks a world of our own making , just as the horrific tsunami in Asia mocks a natural world supposedly in the hands of God . It matters not that we have learned to distinguish natural evil from moral evil — for both are ...
... moral evil that mocks a world of our own making , just as the horrific tsunami in Asia mocks a natural world supposedly in the hands of God . It matters not that we have learned to distinguish natural evil from moral evil — for both are ...
Page 24
... moral responsibility by adding sin to the genetic arsenal of " not me but my genes made me do it . " The danger is manifestly real , even more so when sociobiology enters the picture . There is a price to pay when no reasonable account ...
... moral responsibility by adding sin to the genetic arsenal of " not me but my genes made me do it . " The danger is manifestly real , even more so when sociobiology enters the picture . There is a price to pay when no reasonable account ...
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 | |
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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.