The time is ripe for a robust discussion of human nature. In Eden's Garden: Rethinking Sin and Evil in an Era of Scientific Promise, Richard Coleman examines the notion of sin in a contemporary world that values scientific and nonreligious modes of thought regarding human behavior. This work is not an anti-science polemic, but rather an argument to show how sin and evil can make sense to the nonreligious mind, and how it is valuable to make sense of such phenomena. The author reconceptualizes sin and evil as "indelible pieces of our evolutionary history" preventing them from being ostracized as "too religious, without substance, mired in the past."

Coleman redeems theology for what it can offer to the understanding of sin and evil while embracing and respecting what science can offer to further the common good. Examining themes in religion, philosophy, and theology, it is ideal for use in the numerous courses that move across these disciplines.

[Coleman] points out that Adam and Eve must have already had some capacity to make good or bad decisions, else the snake's offer would be futile. Sin, then, is the deliberate transgressing of boundaries set for us…As we make the world in our own image with the tools of science, Coleman holds that we have a duty to individually and corporately guard these limits. My summary cannot do justice to his profound argument, so I would recommend this book to anyone who desires to better understand that duty. * Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith *
Can the subjects of sin and evil be taken seriously in the world of science as Reinhold Niebuhr made them credible in the world of politics? Richard Coleman, knowledgeable in both scientific and theological disciplines, makes a persuasive case for such in this fascinating work. Thus the author continues and extends Niebuhrian sobriety about the human condition into today's new frontiers of thought and experiment. Here is a fresh approach to the issues of religion and science that deserves a wide hearing. -- Gabriel Fackre, Abbot Professor of Christian Theology Emeritus, Andover Newton Theological School

Richard Coleman is a retired minister in the United Church of Christ and is a participant in the pastor-theologian program sponsored by the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. He lives in Pembroke, Massachusetts.