Selfish Genes and Christian Ethics: The Theological-ethical Implications of Evolutionary Biology

by Neil Messer

Overview

The evolutionary origins of human beings, and in particular the origins of human morality, have always attracted debate and speculation, not just in the academic community but in popular science and the wider general population as well. The arguments and explanations put forward over the years seem to thoroughly catch the popular imagination, but there is the danger that these explanations tend to step outside the bounds of scientific theory and become powerful popular myths instead. In Neil Messer's "Selfish Genes and Christian Ethics", the author is challenging this tendency. Instead, he provides a Christian theological anthropology, which, among other things, aims to give Christians and the churches the confidence to engage with assumptions that evolutionary theory and religious beliefs are untenable. This is a valuable resource for anyone engaged in the study of theology, providing the reader with the ability to consider both the theoretical and the practical questions raised by evolutionary discussions of ethics and morality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780334029960
Publisher:	Hymns Ancient & Modern
Publication date:	07/11/2011
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 15.25(d)

Table of Contents

Preface     vii
Introduction     1
Mapping the Territory     19
Evolution and Ethics     21
'Evolution and Ethics' in context     22
The argument of 'Evolution and Ethics'     27
The issues raised by 'Evolution and Ethics'     32
Explanation     32
Justification     34
Content     35
Moral capability and its limits     36
Theodicy     38
Redesigning ourselves and the world     40
Redrawing the Map     42
Evolutionary Ethics and the Command of God the Creator     63
The 'Evolution of Ethics' and the Doctrine of Creation     65
Introduction     65
The 'evolution of ethics'     65
Creation and evolution     74
Human creatures     79
Human being as moral being     83
The 'Ethics of Evolution' and the Call of God     97
The 'ethics of evolution'     97
Spencer, Huxley and Moore     97
Evolutionary ethics in recent debate     99
'Is' and 'ought' revisited     104
Altruism and the love of neighbour     109
Freedom, Sin and Salvation     131
Evolution, Freedom and Moral Failure     133
A 'tenacious and powerful enemy'?     133
A morally problematic inheritance?     133
Male violence     133
Maternal care and neglect of high-risk infants     136
Debunking morality     138
But are we 'good natured' after all?     139
Evaluation     140
Determinism, freedom and responsibility     145
Determinisms: genetic, biological, environmental, social     145
Is biology destiny?     147
Is determinism compatible with freedom?     151
Does 'ought' imply 'can'?     156
Responding to moral failure     158
Salvation and Sin (1): Holy Love and Original Sin     163
Holy love and the 'cruciality of the cross'     166
Pride, sloth and falsehood     169
Humility and pride     169
Exaltation and sloth     174
The victor and the true witness     178
Original sin     184
Salvation and Sin (2): Theodicy and Hope     196
The justification of God     196
Transformed relationships and the redemption of our bodies     203
Ultimate hope and penultimate responsibility      207
The ultimate and the penultimate     207
'Already' and 'Not yet'     209
A cosmic and universal hope     211
Working Out Our Own Salvation?     216
Medicine, technology and the Baconian project     216
Human genetic modification     218
Human cloning and embryonic stem cell technology     220
Genetically modified crops     222
Technological projects and the Christian narrative     226
Diagnostic questions     229
Is the project good news to the poor?     229
Is the project an attempt to be 'like God', or does it conform to the image of God?     231
What attitude does the project embody towards the material world (including our own bodies)?     233
What attitude does the project embody towards past failures?     234
Assessing the projects     235
Genetically modified crops     235
Health     237
Human cloning and stem cell technology     238
Human genetic manipulation     242
Conclusion     246
Incorporating whatever is well-founded in the accounts on which reductionists draw     246
Handling issues evidence with which reductionist views have difficulty     247
Clarifying, challenging and reshaping moral concepts and experience     248
Bibliography     251
Index of Names and Subjects     267