The Good Book of Human Nature

The Bible from an Evolutionary Perspective

Analyzed in light of advances in evolutionary and anthropological theory and via the lens of cognitive science, the Bible can explain key transition points in human cultural evolution. That cultural evolution left people with three distinct natures. Humanity’s innate feelings and intuitive reactions make up its “first nature.” The millennia that people spent living in “small groups of hunter-gatherers” shaped their first nature, including humankind’s natural desire for fairness and its visceral revulsion at crimes like infanticide. You feel your first nature in your gut. Your “second nature” is culture, which society teaches you, though you must internalize it. Second natures vary based on individual societies. Your “third nature” is your rational, conscious mind. You internalize some aspects of your third nature. When your natures clash, your third nature tells you to act rationally, but your first nature urges you to follow your instincts.

Genesis and the First Fall

The story of Adam and Eve changes when you see it against a broad anthropological background. Similar stories are found in the mythology of the Middle...