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 21
... sin and suffer- ing . We suffer the consequences of our own actions but not at the hand of God disbursing divine retribution . Before Rousseau , Susan Neiman writes , there were just two alternatives : either sin and evil Introduction ~ 21.
... sin and suffer- ing . We suffer the consequences of our own actions but not at the hand of God disbursing divine retribution . Before Rousseau , Susan Neiman writes , there were just two alternatives : either sin and evil Introduction ~ 21.
Page 22
... , many things would have been ordered better . " " This little sen- tence , or some variation of it , " Neiman writes , " expressed the essence of bias- phemy for close to half a millennium " ( Evil 22 2 Introduction.
... , many things would have been ordered better . " " This little sen- tence , or some variation of it , " Neiman writes , " expressed the essence of bias- phemy for close to half a millennium " ( Evil 22 2 Introduction.
Page 26
... write his own destiny with- out anyone else's help.27 When sin tries to swim in the larger ocean of secular ideas , it has little to no chance of making it to the surface . Its language of limits , human predica- ment , universality ...
... write his own destiny with- out anyone else's help.27 When sin tries to swim in the larger ocean of secular ideas , it has little to no chance of making it to the surface . Its language of limits , human predica- ment , universality ...
Page 27
... writes a book about freedom in order to offset the drift toward genetic determinism . I am referring to Daniel C. Den- nett's book Freedom Evolves . But regardless of whether one favors environ- ment or heredity to explain human nature ...
... writes a book about freedom in order to offset the drift toward genetic determinism . I am referring to Daniel C. Den- nett's book Freedom Evolves . But regardless of whether one favors environ- ment or heredity to explain human nature ...
Page 28
... write about science in the most general sense , where it becomes philosophical , introspective , and political . I admit that science is where the action is , and you better not arrive late . But in the end , the reason I write is my ...
... write about science in the most general sense , where it becomes philosophical , introspective , and political . I admit that science is where the action is , and you better not arrive late . But in the end , the reason I write is my ...
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.