To the contemporary reader the New Testament writings cultivate the sense that they refer to a si... more To the contemporary reader the New Testament writings cultivate the sense that they refer to a singular event in time, one "external to the books themselves and already completed before they were begun." 1 They center on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but their portrayals of Jesus were not written with our modern "objective historical approach" in mind. The gospel authors did not intend to dispassionately record actual events, rather "we must keep in mind that these texts were never written to stand alone in the twentieth century but rather to precipitate recognition of something outside themselves occurring in the first century." 2
As one might have deduced from the few comments I offered in our course, DNA, Evolution and the S... more As one might have deduced from the few comments I offered in our course, DNA, Evolution and the Soul, the idea of the self and the pursuit of ones own growth, betterment and fulfillment occupy the position of central importance in my mind and heart. Within a seminarian setting, amidst many companions preparing themselves for lives of social leadership, group dynamics and moral guidance within the clergy, my own incentives, philosophy and spiritual practice often seem (to me at least) to stand at odds with the majority. Self-criticism and self-doubt mask the, often purposively hidden, foundation of guilt which underlies much of my personal perspective. 1 When Professor Pollack suggested that we choose a topic in the realm of science and religion which makes us uncomfortable, I decided to address the question of whether altruistic behavior in humans can be comprehensively explained within biological theory; namely the schools of evolutionary, behavioral and genetic science. If so, then to what degree can such behavior, and its seemingly moral focus on the well-being of another, be considered to distinguish human beings from other animal species? Furthermore, to what extent may altruistic, seemingly selfless and morally 'good' behavior be explained through, and thus attributed to, selfish 2
To the contemporary reader the New Testament writings cultivate the sense that they refer to a si... more To the contemporary reader the New Testament writings cultivate the sense that they refer to a singular event in time, one "external to the books themselves and already completed before they were begun." 1 They center on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but their portrayals of Jesus were not written with our modern "objective historical approach" in mind. The gospel authors did not intend to dispassionately record actual events, rather "we must keep in mind that these texts were never written to stand alone in the twentieth century but rather to precipitate recognition of something outside themselves occurring in the first century." 2
As one might have deduced from the few comments I offered in our course, DNA, Evolution and the S... more As one might have deduced from the few comments I offered in our course, DNA, Evolution and the Soul, the idea of the self and the pursuit of ones own growth, betterment and fulfillment occupy the position of central importance in my mind and heart. Within a seminarian setting, amidst many companions preparing themselves for lives of social leadership, group dynamics and moral guidance within the clergy, my own incentives, philosophy and spiritual practice often seem (to me at least) to stand at odds with the majority. Self-criticism and self-doubt mask the, often purposively hidden, foundation of guilt which underlies much of my personal perspective. 1 When Professor Pollack suggested that we choose a topic in the realm of science and religion which makes us uncomfortable, I decided to address the question of whether altruistic behavior in humans can be comprehensively explained within biological theory; namely the schools of evolutionary, behavioral and genetic science. If so, then to what degree can such behavior, and its seemingly moral focus on the well-being of another, be considered to distinguish human beings from other animal species? Furthermore, to what extent may altruistic, seemingly selfless and morally 'good' behavior be explained through, and thus attributed to, selfish 2
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UTS Papers by Fauna Qiu