Evolution and the Fall
Overview
What does it mean for the Christian doctrine of the Fall if there was no historical Adam? If humanity emerged from nonhuman primates—as genetic, biological, and archaeological evidence seems to suggest—then what are the implications for a Christian understanding of human origins, including the origin of sin?
Evolution and the Fall gathers a multidisciplinary, ecumenical team of scholars to address these difficult questions and others like them from the perspectives of biology, theology, history, Scripture, philosophy, and politics.
Key Features
- Discusses Christian doctrines in comparison to scientific theories, primarily evolution
- Gathers a variety of viewpoints from several respected authors
Contents
- Introduction: Beyond Galileo to Chalcedon
- “Resources for Reimagining Evolution, Human Origins, and the Fall” by William T. Cavanaugh and James K.A. Smith
- Mapping the Questions
- “Human Origins: The Scientific Story” by Darrel R. Falk
- “In Adam All Die?: Questions at the Boundary of Niche Construction, Community Evolution, and Original Sin” by Celia Deane-Drummond
- “What Stands on the Fall?: A Philosophical Exploration” by James K.A. Smith
- Biblical Studies and Theological Implications
- “Reading Genesis 3 Attentive to Human Evolution: Beyond Concordism and Non-Overlapping Magisteria” by J. Richard Middleton
- “‘Adam, What Have You Done?’: New Testament Voices on the Origins of Sin” by Joel B. Green
- “The Mystery of Adam: A Poetic Apology for the Traditional Doctrine” by Aaron Riches
- Beyond “Origins”: Cultural Implications
- “Being All We Should Have Been and More: The Fall and the Quest for Perfection” by Brent Waters
- “On Learning to See a Fallen and Flourishing Creation: Alternate Ways of Looking at the World” by Norman Wirzba
- Reimagining the Conversation: Faithful Ways Forward
- “The Fall of the Fall in Early Modern Political Theory: The Politics of Science” by William T. Cavanaugh
- “Is Science-Religion Conflict Always a Bad Thing?: Augustinian Reflections on Christianity and Evolution” by Peter Harrison
Top Highlights
“Christ is the hermeneutical key that enables Christians to understand that creatures are fallen because they fail to participate fully in the divine love that creates, sustains, and celebrates the whole world. Christ is also the inspiration that guides Christians into the various ministries of reconciliation that lead creatures out of their fallen condition so that they can live into the telos or goal that God has desired for them from the beginning.” (Pages 176–177)
“This notion that natural selection, if given a chance—indeed, if given millions of opportunities by rerunning the tape of life over and over again—would almost certainly not produce anything like us, is likely the most theologically significant proposal that emerges from the biological sciences today.” (Page 21)
“This shadow in other animal life is anticipatory of what happens in the Fall, and therefore the Fall should not be viewed as providing an explanatory account of ‘natural evil’ as if there were no such evil before a human Fall, a classical view that Michael Murray has rightly rejected as no longer coherent.68 The rise and fall of humanity should not be seen in detachment from other creatures, but in association and even in entanglement with them. The presence of natural evil is concomitant with the natural world as such, and navigating this problem raises much bigger questions about theodicy.” (Page 44)
“My own view is that original sin can be reinterpreted to mean that a person is born in each generation into an imperfect community of others, including other creaturely kinds. That community shapes the particular tapestry of sin as expressed in the life of an individual sinner, where sin represents a cutting off from relations with God and with each other, leading to concrete wrongful acts to which each person can be held to account. It is not so much that guilt is inherited through original sin, but that original sin creates the distorted social context in which it is impossible not to be a sinner. Inasmuch as we are aware of a deep connectedness with one another’s guilt, including the guilt of Adam (understood in a collective sense), there is also the possibility of original sin.” (Page 45)
Praise for the Print Edition
I was stretched by this book and found myself sometimes arguing with it and at other times enthusiastically affirming it. We need to do more creative thinking about science, tradition, theology, and the Bible, and as the authors affirm, we have to do that as it has always been done when done well—as a community of God’s people seeking to be faithful interpreters. We will have to take risks, as the authors and editors of this volume do, even as we constrain ourselves to the fundamentals that must not be undervalued or dismissed. This book salted my thinking with new ideas and sailed into what, for me, were some uncharted waters. Such mind-stimulating and faith-affirming contributions should be welcomed for thorough sifting as we work together to address the issues that so desperately cry for our attention.
—John H. Walton, Wheaton College
- Title: Evolution and the Fall
- Authors: James K. A. Smith, William T. Cavanaugh
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 260
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible and evolution; Evolution; Evolution (Biology) › Religious aspects--Christianity; Eden; Religion and science
- ISBNs: 9780802873798, 0802873790
- Resource ID: LLS:EVOLUTIONFALL
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:45:47Z
About the Editors
James K.A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College, where he also holds the Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. His previous books include How (Not) to Be Secular and You Are What You Love.
William T. Cavanaugh is director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology and professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University. His other books include Being Consumed and The Myth of Religious Violence.