Reading Genesis after Darwin

by Barton, Stephen C; Wilkinson, David

• ISBN13: 9780199870561
• ISBN10: 019987056X
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species has changed the landscape of religious thought in many ways. There is a widespread assumption that before Darwin, all Christians believed that the world was created some 6,000 years ago over a period of 6 days. After Darwin, the first chapters of Genesis were either rejected totally by skeptics or defended vehemently in scientific creationism. This book tells a very different story. Bringing together contributions from biblical scholars, historians and contemporary theologians, it is demonstrated that both Jewish and Christian scholars read Genesis in a non-literal way long before Darwin. Even during the nineteenth century, there was a wide range of responses from religious believers towards evolution, many of them very positive. Stephen C. Barton and David Wilkinson argue that being receptive to the continuing relevance of Genesis today regarding questions of gender, cosmology, and the environment is a lively option.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Stephen C. Barton and David Wilkinson

Part 1: Engaging Again With The Scriptures
Chapter 1. 'How Should One Read The Early Chapters Of Genesis?'
Walter Moberly
Chapter 2. 'Genesis Before Darwin: Why Scripture Needed Liberating From Science'
Francis Watson
Chapter 3. 'The Six Days Of Creation According To The Greek Fathers'
Andrew Louth
Chapter 4. 'The Hermeneutics Of Reading Genesis After Darwin'
Richard S. Briggs

Part 2: Understanding The History
Chapter 5. 'What Difference Did Darwin Make? The Interpretation Of Genesis In The Nineteenth Century'
John Rogerson
Chapter 6. 'Genesis And The Scientists: Dissonance Among The Harmonizers'
John Hedley Brooke
Chapter 7. 'Science And Religion In Nineteenth And Twentieth Century Landscape Art'
David Brown

Part 3: Exploring The Contemporary Relevance
Chapter 8. 'Reading Genesis 1-3 In The Light Of Modern Science'
David Wilkinson
Chapter 9. 'All God's Creatures: Reading Genesis On Human And Non-Human Animals'
David Clough
Chapter 10. 'Evolution And Evil: The Difference Darwin Makes In Theology And Spirituality'
Jeff Astley
Chapter 11. '"Male And Female He Created Them" (Genesis 1:27): Interpreting Gender After Darwin'
Stephen C. Barton
Chapter 12. 'Propriety And Trespass: The Drama Of Eating'
Ellen F. Davis
Chapter 13. 'The Plausibility Of Creationism: A Sociological Comment'
Mathew Guest

Index of Modern Authors