Sin and Selfish Genes
Christian and Biological Narratives
by M. Vejrup Nielsen
The claim of this book is that there are narratives in the form of ‘stories to live by’ in both Christian theology and evolutionary biology. The narrative approach developed analyzes the fundamental crisis of humanity within narratives from the two disciplines and presents an interdisciplinary discussion of this theme. The analysis of the Christian theologians focuses on the notion of ‘sin’ as the fundamental crisis of humanity in the doctrine of sin in Augustine and Martin Luther. This forms the background for an analysis of how Paul Tillich and Wolfhart Pannenberg have responded to the challenge of reformulating ‘sin’ in a contemporary context. The analysis of evolutionary biology focuses on the multitude of agents in the drama of crisis and solution, such as selfish genes’ and ‘creative Gaia’, in Richard Dawkins, E.O. Wilson, Lynn Margulis and Brian Goodwin. In conclusion, the book offers considerations for the formulation of a doctrine of sin in a contemporary, interdisciplinary context.
The claim of this book is that there are narratives in the form of ‘stories to live by’ in both Christian theology and evolutionary biology. The narrative approach developed analyzes the fundamental crisis of humanity within narratives from the two disciplines and presents an interdisciplinary discussion of this theme. The analysis of the Christian theologians focuses on the notion of ‘sin’ as the fundamental crisis of humanity in the doctrine of sin in Augustine and Martin Luther. This forms the background for an analysis of how Paul Tillich and Wolfhart Pannenberg have responded to the challenge of reformulating ‘sin’ in a contemporary context. The analysis of evolutionary biology focuses on the multitude of agents in the drama of crisis and solution, such as selfish genes’ and ‘creative Gaia’, in Richard Dawkins, E.O. Wilson, Lynn Margulis and Brian Goodwin. In conclusion, the book offers considerations for the formulation of a doctrine of sin in a contemporary, interdisciplinary context.
- By (author) M Vejrup Nielsen
Other Titles in this Series
The Art of Theology
Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics and the Foundations of Faith
Volume 25
Levinas and the Greek Heritage followed by One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France
A Brief Philosophical History
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The Limits and Possibilities of Postmetaphysical God-Talk
A Conversation between Heidegger, Levinas and Derrida
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On the Meaning of ‘Miracle’ in Christianity
A Philosophical Evaluation of the Current Miracle Debate and a Proposal of a Balanced Hermeneutical Approach
Volume 68
John Henry Newman’s Theology of History
Historical Consciousness, Theological 'Imaginaries', and the Development of Tradition
Volume 60
The Hammer of the Cartesians
Henry More's Philosophy of Spirit and the Origins of Modern Atheism
Volume 53
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