Table of Contents

Foreword by Darrel R. Falk
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 The Aim of This Study
1.2 Brief Summary of Main Chapters
1.3 What Is at Stake?
1.4 Brief Clarifications Before Main Chapters

Chapter 2: Sociobiological Explanations of Altruism
2.1 An Introduction to Biological Altruism
2.2 Sociobiological Altruism: From Darwin to Dawkins
2.3 Moving Forward

Chapter 3: Altruism and the Explanatory Limitations of Evolution
3.1 The Environment and Its Influence on Human Behavior
3.2 Problematic Language
3.3 Reductionism and Its Relationship to the Explanation of Altruism
3.4 A Reductionist-Driven False Opposition Between Philosophy/Theology and Sociobiology
3.5 Conclusion

Chapter 4: Overcoming Genetic and Environmental Constraints on Altruism
4.1 The Determined Human Person?
4.2 The Human Person as Influenced but Not Determined
4.3 Humans Are Genuinely Free and Consequently Responsible
4.4 Conclusion

Chapter 5: Wesleyan Holiness Against a Backdrop of Evolution
5.1 The Quest for Holiness
5.2 Genetic Selfishness and Its Implications for Wesleyan Ethics
5.3 Conclusion

Chapter 6: How Wesley Nurtured Altruism Despite Biological Constraints
6.1 Wesley?s Structure and Organization
6.2 How Wesley Understood and Nurtured Altruism by Way of Holiness
6.3 Environmental Constraints That Temper Biological Constraints
6.4 Conclusion

Chapter 7: A Lifestyle of Holiness
7.1 Brief Summary of Main Chapters
7.2 Holiness Outside the Wesleyan Community
7.3 Practical Implications and Further Explorations
7.4 Conclusion

Appendix 1:Excerpt from "Principles of a Methodist" on the Topic of Christian Perfection
Appendix 2: Excerpt from "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection"
Appendix 3: Rules of the Band Societies--Drawn Up Dec. 25, 1738
Bibliography
General Index

About the Author

Matthew Nelson Hill (PhD, Durham University) is assistant professor of philosophy in the department of theology at Spring Arbor University. He is an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church. Falk is professor of biology, associate provost, and dean of graduate studies and continuing education at Point Loma Nazarene University in Point Loma, California.

Reviews

"'Having trouble living the holy life? You just need to try harder!' Unfortunately, many Christians hear this message. 'Just try harder, ' however, ignores the powerful role our bodies--including our genes and the body of Christ, Christian community--must play in following Jesus' command to be holy. In this book, Matthew Nelson Hill explores the sociobiological roots of human behavior, including the constraints we all face. Along the way, Hill helps us understand altruism and generosity in ways that make sense scientifically, theologically and experientially. He argues that loving communities and their practices stand the best chance in helping us walk the highway of holiness."--Thomas Jay Oord, author of The Uncontrolling Love of God
"John Wesley insisted that the most compelling evidence for (1) the integrity of human choice and (2) the possibility of authentic love of God and neighbor was the life of a Christian saint, but he also recognized the value--yea, the necessity--of contesting scientific accounts of human nature and action that appeared to undercut these convictions. Matthew Hill's engagement with sociobiology is an insightful continuation of this apologetic task, defending the possibility of and offering wisdom toward the nurturing of Christian saints in our day."--Randy L. Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies, Duke University Divinity School
"So many Christian books on evolution are purely defensive. Here Matthew Hill has both critique and constructive dialogue with cutting-edge science, showing how theology--and Wesleyan theology in particular--can both contribute to and learn from science in the exciting pursuit to be fully human."--David Wilkinson, principal, St. John's College, Durham University