Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference

Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference PDF Author: Megan Loumagne Ulishney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019287070X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference develops an interdisciplinary conversation between evolutionary biology, feminist philosophy, and theology in order to illuminate the entanglement of Christian thinking about original sin with theologies of sexual difference. It then assesses the opportunities for rethinking original sin and its implications for theologies of sexual difference in light of developments in evolutionary biology and feminist theology and philosophy. Despite some resistances in the present age to conceptions of both original sin and meaningful sexual differences, this study argues that both can provide essential insights that help to make sense of some of the features of human life in the twenty-first century, especially the stubborn persistence of inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, and the pernicious patterns of sexual violence and abuse that have been uncovered by the #MeToo movement. To this end, Megan Loumagne Ulishney marshals resources from a variety of places-Augustine of Hippo, feminist theology, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, John Paul II, and a new group of feminist philosophers known as the New Feminist Materialists-to develop an analysis of original sin and sexual difference that is grounded in both scientific and theological insights about creaturely life. The project cultivates a sense of wonder at the diversity and unpredictability of human biology, a value for the role of creativity in the human participation that partially shapes our ongoing evolution, and humility about the extent to which we can predict and control the future of the evolution of our species. It illuminates the interdependencies that define creaturely life, the persistent entanglement of nature and culture, the centrality of desire to human identity and behaviour, and the role played by biology in the transmission of sin. It develops a vision of material life as evolving, generative, and imbued with activity, but also as simultaneously infected with sin and saturated with the divine.

Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference

Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference PDF Author: Megan Loumagne Ulishney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019287070X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book

Book Description
Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference develops an interdisciplinary conversation between evolutionary biology, feminist philosophy, and theology in order to illuminate the entanglement of Christian thinking about original sin with theologies of sexual difference. It then assesses the opportunities for rethinking original sin and its implications for theologies of sexual difference in light of developments in evolutionary biology and feminist theology and philosophy. Despite some resistances in the present age to conceptions of both original sin and meaningful sexual differences, this study argues that both can provide essential insights that help to make sense of some of the features of human life in the twenty-first century, especially the stubborn persistence of inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, and the pernicious patterns of sexual violence and abuse that have been uncovered by the #MeToo movement. To this end, Megan Loumagne Ulishney marshals resources from a variety of places-Augustine of Hippo, feminist theology, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, John Paul II, and a new group of feminist philosophers known as the New Feminist Materialists-to develop an analysis of original sin and sexual difference that is grounded in both scientific and theological insights about creaturely life. The project cultivates a sense of wonder at the diversity and unpredictability of human biology, a value for the role of creativity in the human participation that partially shapes our ongoing evolution, and humility about the extent to which we can predict and control the future of the evolution of our species. It illuminates the interdependencies that define creaturely life, the persistent entanglement of nature and culture, the centrality of desire to human identity and behaviour, and the role played by biology in the transmission of sin. It develops a vision of material life as evolving, generative, and imbued with activity, but also as simultaneously infected with sin and saturated with the divine.

Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference

Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference PDF Author: Megan Loumagne Ulishney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192698214
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Original Sin and the Evolution of Sexual Difference develops an interdisciplinary conversation between evolutionary biology, feminist philosophy, and theology in order to illuminate the entanglement of Christian thinking about original sin with theologies of sexual difference. It then assesses the opportunities for rethinking original sin and its implications for theologies of sexual difference in light of developments in evolutionary biology and feminist theology and philosophy. Despite some resistances in the present age to conceptions of both original sin and meaningful sexual differences, this study argues that both can provide essential insights that help to make sense of some of the features of human life in the twenty-first century, especially the stubborn persistence of inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, and the pernicious patterns of sexual violence and abuse that have been uncovered by the #MeToo movement. To this end, Megan Loumagne Ulishney marshals resources from a variety of places-Augustine of Hippo, feminist theology, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, John Paul II, and a new group of feminist philosophers known as the New Feminist Materialists-to develop an analysis of original sin and sexual difference that is grounded in both scientific and theological insights about creaturely life. The project cultivates a sense of wonder at the diversity and unpredictability of human biology, a value for the role of creativity in the human participation that partially shapes our ongoing evolution, and humility about the extent to which we can predict and control the future of the evolution of our species. It illuminates the interdependencies that define creaturely life, the persistent entanglement of nature and culture, the centrality of desire to human identity and behaviour, and the role played by biology in the transmission of sin. It develops a vision of material life as evolving, generative, and imbued with activity, but also as simultaneously infected with sin and saturated with the divine.

Sex, Sin and Science: What Evolution Says about Religion and Desire

Sex, Sin and Science: What Evolution Says about Religion and Desire PDF Author: C. Roland Cook
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 1608440737
Category : Dominance (Psychology)
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
More than any other major religion, ideology or philosophy, Christianity associates sex, and especially sexual desire, with sin and evil. People may be able to avoid earthly punishment for their sexual indiscretions, but they can not escape God's judgment; an afterlife of eternal pain and suffering in hell. Religious sanctions of this sort are supposed to be in opposition to man's sinful nature; restraining his dangerous sexuality. However, punishing others for sex is actually part of man's nature. In nature, sex is highly competitive. Dominant males fight and threaten as they try to control sexual access to fertile females. Human males behave similarly. Rather than being in opposition to human nature, religion actually reinforces man's "animal instinct" to control the sexual behavior of others. This explains why religion-inspired sexual restrictions and punishments are so popular among men. Of course, religion claims that it's really all about morality. Without strict religious control over sexual behavior human passions would lead to the destruction of society. God has given us His law in order to protect us from ourselves. Religion, it is often said, is what is good for society. But if this is so, why is it that those societies where religious belief is strongest and which have the harshest penalties for breaking the sexual code are also the societies that tend to be the least orderly and the most corrupt, brutal and violent? Religion is taken very seriously in many of the Islamic societies of the Middle East, and the strictest sexual code is adhered to. Yet, these societies are characterized not by prosperity and social order, but by poverty, violence and oppression. Meanwhile, the most sexually liberal societies, especially those of Western Europe, are the freest and the most democratic, prosperous and orderly. If strict sexual morality is not really good for society, why do religious conservatives everywhere continue to clamor for it? And why do people so willingly accept religion that tells them their sexuality is sinful and shameful? The truth is that most of the time people act on their own selfish feelings and desires, not on what is good for society as a whole. The desire to limit and control the sexual behavior of others is felt by women as well as men. Powerful feelings, such as sexual jealousy, inspire aggressive behavior. Strict anti-sex religious morality allows people to act aggressively on these feelings in a sociably acceptable way. Thus, it's not really about doing what is good for society, it's all about individual desires. This is best explained from an evolutionary perspective, which is exactly what this book does.

Sex Difference in Christian Theology

Sex Difference in Christian Theology PDF Author: Megan K. DeFranza
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 146744295X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
How different are men and women? When does it matter to us -- or to God? Are male and female the only two options? In Sex Difference in Christian Theology Megan DeFranza explores such questions in light of the Bible, theology, and science. Many Christians, entrenched in culture wars over sexual ethics, are either ignorant of the existence of intersex persons or avoid the inherent challenge they bring to the assumption that everybody is born after the pattern of either Adam or Eve. DeFranza argues, from a conservative theological standpoint, that all people are made in the image of God -- male, female, and intersex -- and that we must listen to and learn from the voices of the intersexed among us.

Original Sin

Original Sin PDF Author: Alan Jacobs
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061846880
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Essayist and biographer Alan Jacobs introduces us to the world of original sin, which he describes as not only a profound idea but a necessary one. As G. K. Chesterton explains, "Only with original sin can we at once pity the beggar and distrust the king." Do we arrive in this world predisposed to evil? St. Augustine passionately argued that we do; his opponents thought the notion was an insult to a good God. Ever since Augustine, the church has taught the doctrine of original sin, which is the idea that we are not born innocent, but as babes we are corrupt, guilty, and worthy of condemnation. Thus started a debate that has raged for centuries and done much to shape Western civilization. Perhaps no Christian doctrine is more controversial; perhaps none is more consequential. Blaise Pascal claimed that "but for this mystery, the most incomprehensible of all, we remain incomprehensible to ourselves." Chesterton affirmed it as the only provable Christian doctrine. Modern scholars assail the idea as baleful and pernicious. But whether or not we believe in original sin, the idea has shaped our most fundamental institutions—our political structures, how we teach and raise our young, and, perhaps most pervasively of all, how we understand ourselves. In Original Sin, Alan Jacobs takes readers on a sweeping tour of the idea of original sin, its origins, its history, and its proponents and opponents. And he leaves us better prepared to answer one of the most important questions of all: Are we really, all of us, bad to the bone?

Original Selfishness

Original Selfishness PDF Author: Daryl P. Domning
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 9780754653158
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Defends an idea that the age-old theological and philosophical problems of original sin and evil have already been solved. The author explains the workings of modern evolutionary theory, Darwinian natural selection, and how this has brought forth life and the human mind. He counters objections to Darwinism that are raised by some believers.

Original Sin

Original Sin PDF Author: Jonathan Edwards
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300011982
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
The controversy over human deprivation which raged throughout the eighteenth century was no mere intramural squabble among theologians but an important phase of the evolution in Western man's estimate of his nature and potentialities. By the time Jonathan Edwards entered the lists to champion the hated doctrine of original sin, he saw himself as not only defending a particular dogma but also combating an increasingly dominant drift of opinion which had already engulfed much of Europe and was encroaching dangerously upon America. John Taylor's treatise was perhaps the boldest and most impressive assault on the doctrine which more than any other contradicted the Enlightenment view of man, and it haunted Edwards throughout all the pressing duties and personal hardships of the years just before and during his sojourn at Stockbridge. Ultimately, he was able to develop a thorough rebuttal of Taylor which focused on three major issues: the fact and nature of original sin, its cause and transmission, and God's responsibility for man's sinfulness. First published in 1758, The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended went though at least 13 separate editions and was included in all collected editions of Edwards' works. The text of the first edition has now been brought into accord with the principles of the Yale Edition, making full use of all relevant manuscript materials. Mr. Holbrook's comprehensive Introduction and annotations provide detailed information about the sources, development, and reception of the work. Clyde A. Holbrook is William H. Danforth Professor of Religion at Oberlin College.

Gender, Sexuality and Reproduction in Evolutionary Narratives

Gender, Sexuality and Reproduction in Evolutionary Narratives PDF Author: Venla Oikkonen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136200177
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Since the early 1990s, evolutionary psychology has produced widely popular visions of modern men and women as driven by their prehistoric genes. In Gender, Sexuality and Reproduction in Evolutionary Narratives, Venla Oikkonen explores the rhetorical appeal of evolutionary psychology by viewing it as part of the Darwinian narrative tradition. Refusing to start from the position of dismissing evolutionary psychology as reactionary or scientifically invalid, the book examines evolutionary psychologists’ investments in such contested concepts as teleology and variation. The book traces the emergence of evolutionary psychological narratives of gender, sexuality and reproduction, encompassing: Charles Darwin’s understanding of transformation and sexual difference Edward O. Wilson’s evolutionary mythology and the evolution-creationism controversy Richard Dawkins’ molecular agency and new imaging technologies the connections between adultery, infertility and homosexuality in adaptationist thought. Through popular, literary and scientific texts, the book identifies both the imaginative potential and the structural weaknesses in evolutionary narratives, opening them up for feminist and queer revision. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the humanities and social sciences, particularly in gender studies, cultural studies, literature, sexualities, and science and technology studies.

Sex, Sin and Science

Sex, Sin and Science PDF Author: C. Roland Cook
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 9781457544071
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
More than any other major religion, ideology or philosophy, Christianity associates sex, and especially sexual desire, with sin and evil. People may be able to avoid earthly punishment for their sexual indiscretions, but they can not escape God's judgment; an afterlife of eternal pain and suffering in hell. Religious sanctions of this sort are supposed to be in opposition to man's sinful nature; restraining his dangerous sexuality. However, punishing others for sex is actually part of man's nature. In nature, sex is highly competitive. Dominant males fight and threaten as they try to control sexual access to fertile females. Human males behave similarly. Rather than being in opposition to human nature, religion actually reinforces man's "animal instinct" to control the sexual behavior of others. This explains why religion-inspired sexual restrictions and punishments are so popular among men. Of course, religion claims that it's really all about morality. Without strict religious control over sexual behavior human passions would lead to the destruction of society. God has given us His law in order to protect us from ourselves. Religion, it is often said, is what is good for society. But if this is so, why is it that those societies where religious belief is strongest and which have the harshest penalties for breaking the sexual code are also the societies that tend to be the least orderly and the most corrupt, brutal and violent? Religion is taken very seriously in many of the Islamic societies of the Middle East, and the strictest sexual code is adhered to. Yet, these societies are characterized not by prosperity and social order, but by poverty, violence and oppression. Meanwhile, the most sexually liberal societies, especially those of Western Europe, are the freest and the most democratic, prosperous and orderly. If strict sexual morality is not really good for society, why do religious conservatives everywhere continue to clamor for it? And why do people so willingly accept religion that tells them their sexuality is sinful and shameful? The truth is that most of the time people act on their own selfish feelings and desires, not on what is good for society as a whole. The desire to limit and control the sexual behavior of others is felt by women as well as men. Powerful feelings, such as sexual jealousy, inspire aggressive behavior. Strict anti-sex religious morality allows people to act aggressively on these feelings in a sociably acceptable way. Thus, it's not really about doing what is good for society, it's all about individual desires. This is best explained from an evolutionary perspective, which is exactly what this book does. C. ROLAND COOK is a holder of a Bachelor of Science degree. Over the past twenty years he has studied in the fields of evolution, genetics, animal behavior, human behavior, psychology, anthropology and religion. While acquiring knowledge is certainly admirable, what is truly remarkable is to use it to develop new ideas and to explain the previously unexplainable. This is what C. Roland Cook has accomplished in writing this volume. This original work is both scientific and highly controversial, just the sort of work that has changed the world in the past and will again in the future.

The Story of Original Sin

The Story of Original Sin PDF Author: John Toews
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498271030
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
This book traces the history of the interpretation of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 through the biblical period and the church fathers until Augustine. It explains the emergence of the doctrine of original sin with the theology of Augustine in the late fourth century on the basis of a mistranslation of the Greek text of Romans 5:12. The book suggests that it is time to move past Augustine's theology of sin and embrace a different theology of sin that is both more biblical and makes more sense in the postmodern West and in the developing world.