Doing Without Adam and Eve: Sociobiology and Original Sin

Patricia A. Williams

Fortress Press, Jun 19, 2001 - Religion - 248 pages

In this provocative new addition to the Theology and the Sciences series, Patricia Williams assays the original sin doctrine with a scientific lens and, based on sociobiology, offers an alternative Christian account of human nature's foibles and future.

Focusing on the Genesis 2 and 3 account, Williams shows how its "historical" interpretation in early Christianity not only misread the text but derived an idea of being human profoundly at odds with experience and contemporary science. After gauging Christianity's several competing notions of human nature -- Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox -- against contemporary biology, Williams turns to sociobiological accounts of the evolution of human dispositions toward reciprocity and limited cooperation as a source of human good and evil. From this vantage point she offers new interpretations of evil, sin, and the Christian doctrine of atonement.

Williams's work, frank in its assessment of traditional misunderstandings, challenges theologians and all Christians to reassess the roots and branches of this linchpin doctrine.

Contents

• Science Scripture and Doctrine: 1
• Science and Scripture: 2
• Central Scriptural Doctrines: 4
• Central Theological Doctrines: 8
• Controversial Doctrines: 10
• Tests of Truth: 14
• The Interpreter and Canalization: 15
• The Coherence Test: 21
• The Correspondence Test: 23
• The Consilience Test: 29
• The Fall: 31
• The Early Church: 32
• Harold Bloom: 36
• A Gnostic Christian: 38
• Augustine: 40
• Original Sin: 48
• Calvin and Protestantism: 49
• The Canalization of Evil: 52
• Aquinas and Catholicism: 55
• Athanasius and Orthodoxy: 58
• The Demise of Adam and Eve: 63
• Coherence and Genesis 13: 64
• Correspondence and Genesis 19: 66
• Consilience in Science: 70
• The Demise of Adam and Eve: 78
• Scripture and Truth: 82
• Coherence and the Torah: 84
• Symbolic Truth in Genesis 2 and 3: 89
• Correspondence and the Gospels: 90
• The Authority of Scripture: 96
• The Theory of Evolution: 103
• Coherence and Natural Selection: 104
• Correspondence and Speciation: 108
• Consilience and Human Evolution: 115
• Canalization and Resistance: 122
• The Sociobiological Consilience: 124
• The Evolution of Altruism: 125
• Altruisms Legacy: 130
• Reciprocity: 134
• Human Sociality: 137
• Original Sin and Sociobiology: 142
• Freedom: 143
• Sin: 148
• Love: 152
• Punishment: 155
• The Problem of Evil: 159
• Locating Ourselves: 164
• Locating Evil: 168
• Solving the Problem: 176
• The Atonement: 180
• Four Difficulties: 181
• Jesus and Sin: 185
• Suffering and Death: 192
• Atonement Now: 196
• Conclusion: 199
• Glossary: 203
• References: 209
• Index: 220

About the author

Patricia A. Williams taught philosophy at Virginia State University, has authored many scholarly articles on the philosophy of biology, and is co-editor of Evolution and Human Values (1995). She was recently elected a fellow of the Jesus Seminar.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Doing Without Adam and Eve: Sociobiology and Original Sin; Theology and the sciences
• Author: Patricia A. Williams
• Publisher: Fortress Press, 2001
• ISBN: 1451415435, 9781451415438
• Length: 248 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / New Testament; Religion / Christian Theology / Anthropology; Religion / Philosophy; Science / Life Sciences / Biology; Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects