Introduction

Abstract

The Introduction explains the objectives of the book and describes its structure and content. Development is regarded as evolution that has resulted in some improvement. The book examines what various arguments from development show concerning the truth or falsity of classical Christian doctrine. Christian doctrine is conceived as holding that human beings are mired in sin, that we require deliverance and salvation, and that God has arranged for that deliverance through the sacrificial suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was both a man and the divine Son of God. The Introduction notes that, as it formulates arguments against this doctrine, the book pays attention to recent social and ethical developments. The Introduction also pre-emptively answers a critique of the book’s approach, associated with the work of Tom Holland and based on the idea that Christianity is itself responsible for the forms of development here used to criticize it.