Why Gods Persist

Author : Robert A. Hinde
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2009-10-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781135252793

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Why Gods Persist by Robert A. Hinde Pdf

What is it about religion that appeals to people? Why do religions and religious beliefs persist in the face of increasing secularisation, harsh criticism and even political persecution? Robert Hinde argues that it is not enough simply to criticize religion, we must understand it - not only how it causes so much conflict, but also how it brings comfort to many. Hinde, a distinguished scientist, draws on a wide range of psychological, developmental and evolutionary research to explore this fascinating question. This second edition of Why Gods Persist is designed for everyone interested in the subject, either as a student of psychology and anthropology of religion or as a follower of the current controversies over the value of religious belief.

Author : Robert A. Hinde,Royal Society Research Professor Honorary Director Robert A Hinde
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2002-01-04
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781134619610

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Why Gods Persist by Robert A. Hinde,Royal Society Research Professor Honorary Director Robert A Hinde Pdf

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Author : Robert A. Hinde
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : God
ISBN : 9780415497619

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Why Gods Persist by Robert A. Hinde Pdf

First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Author : Page duBois
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2014-06-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780674728837

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A Million and One Gods by Page duBois Pdf

As A Million and One Gods shows, polytheism is considered a scandalous presence in societies oriented to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs. Yet it persists, even in the West, perhaps because polytheism corresponds to unconscious needs and deeply held values of tolerance, diversity, and equality that are central to civilized societies.

Author : John C. Wathey
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2016-01-12
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781633880757

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The Illusion of God's Presence by John C. Wathey Pdf

An essential feature of religious experience across many cultures is the intuitive feeling of God's presence. More than any rituals or doctrines, it is this experience that anchors religious faith, yet it has been largely ignored in the scientific literature on religion. Starting with a vivid narrative account of the life-threatening hike that triggered his own mystical experience, biologist John Wathey takes the reader on a scientific journey to find the sources of religious feeling and the illusion of God's presence. His book delves into the biological origins of this compelling feeling, attributing it to innate neural circuitry that evolved to promote the mother-child bond. Dr. Wathey, a veteran neuroscientist, argues that evolution has programmed the infant brain to expect the presence of a loving being who responds to the child's needs. As the infant grows into adulthood, this innate feeling is eventually transferred to the realm of religion, where it is reactivated through the symbols, imagery, and rituals of worship. The author interprets our various conceptions of God in biological terms as illusory supernormal stimuli that fill an emotional and cognitive vacuum left over from infancy. These insights shed new light on some of the most vexing puzzles of religion, like the popular belief in a god who is judgmental and punishing, yet also unconditionally loving; the extraordinary tenacity of faith; the greater religiosity of women relative to men; religious obsessions with sex; the mysterious compulsion to pray; the seemingly irrepressible feminine attributes of God, even in traditionally patriarchal religions; and the strange allure of cults. Finally, Dr. Wathey considers the hypothesis that religion evolved to foster reproductive success, arguing that, in an age of potentially ruinous overpopulation, magical thinking has become a luxury we can no longer afford, one that distracts us from urgent threats to our planet. Deeply researched yet elegantly written in a jargon-free and accessible style, this book presents a compelling interpretation of the evolutionary origins of spirituality and religion.

Author : E. Fuller Torrey
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2017-09-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780231544863

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Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods by E. Fuller Torrey Pdf

Religions and mythologies from around the world teach that God or gods created humans. Atheist, humanist, and materialist critics, meanwhile, have attempted to turn theology on its head, claiming that religion is a human invention. In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging, primatology, and child development studies, this book traces how new cognitive abilities gave rise to new behaviors. For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments. This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries.

Author : Stephan van Erp,Christiane Alpers,Christopher Cimorelli
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780567678171

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Salvation in the World by Stephan van Erp,Christiane Alpers,Christopher Cimorelli Pdf

What happens when Edward Schillebeeckx's theology crosses paths with contemporary public theology? This volume examines the theological heritage that Schillebeeckx has left behind, as well as it critically assesses its relevance for temporary theological scene. In tracing the way(s) in which Schillebeeckx observed and examined his own context's increasing secularization and concomitant development toward atheism, the contributors to this volume indicate the potential directions for a contemporary public theology that pursues the path which Schillebeeckx has trodden. The essays in the first part of this volume indicate a different theological self-critique undertaken in response to developments in the public sphere. This is followed by a thorough examination of the degree to which Schillebeeckx succeeded in leading Christian theology ahead without merely accommodating the Christian tradition to current societal trends. The third part of the volume discusses the issues of climate change, social conceptions of progress, as well as the evolutionary understandings of the origins and purpose of religions. The final part examines Schillebeeckx's soteriology to contemporary discussions about wholeness.

Author : Todd Tremlin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2006-03-02
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780199885466

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Minds and Gods by Todd Tremlin Pdf

Around the world and throughout history, in cultures as diverse as ancient Mesopotamia and modern America, human beings have been compelled by belief in gods and developed complex religions around them. But why? What makes belief in supernatural beings so widespread? And why are the gods of so many different people so similar in nature? This provocative book explains the origins and persistence of religious ideas by looking through the lens of science at the common structures and functions of human thought. The first general introduction to the "cognitive science of religion," Minds and Gods presents the major themes, theories, and thinkers involved in this revolutionary new approach to human religiosity. Arguing that we cannot understand what we think until we first understand how we think, the book sets out to study the evolutionary forces that modeled the modern human mind and continue to shape our ideas and actions today. Todd Tremlin details many of the adapted features of the brain -- illustrating their operation with examples of everyday human behavior -- and shows how mental endowments inherited from our ancestral past lead many people to naturally entertain religious ideas. In short, belief in gods and the social formation of religion have their genesis in biology, in powerful cognitive processes that all humans share. In the course of illuminating the nature of religion, this book also sheds light on human nature: why we think we do the things we do and how the reasons for these things are so often hidden from view. This discussion ranges broadly across recent scientific findings in areas such as paleoanthropology, primate studies, evolutionary psychology, early brain development, and cultural transmission. While these subjects are complex, the story is told here in a conversational style that is engaging, jargon free, and accessible to all readers. With Minds and Gods , Tremlin offers a roadmap to a fascinating and growing field of study, one that is sure to generate interest and debate and provide readers with a better understanding of themselves and their beliefs.

Author : Carmelo Alicea
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 122 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2017-01-20
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1542593786

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God's Purpose Demands Persistence by Carmelo Alicea Pdf

"Difficulties are not an option in my life." I begin this introduction with a statement that should be a daily declaration in everyone's life. For as long as we live, difficult times will always show up but making them a "normal" standard in my day to day life to deceive us and make us doubt God's promises is not an option for a child of God. There is a saying "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain." While you dance in the midst of the storm, God will see your heart conform to His. We can't let life dictate our pace and blessings, we have to do something about it. Sitting at the side of the road and waiting for someone to give us what we need is not an option. When you have a clear identity of who you are in Christ, God will reveal to you that everything you need is already inside of you. All you will ever need in this life comes from God. The same God who lives and dwells in you. When all hell breaks loose, God releases His power in you to prevail in all of your doings. But, it will take someone who is committed to insisting and resisting at all cost during times of discouragements. You have all that is needed for you to persist and to manifest the movement of God in your favor. It's customary to invoke God who seems to be outside of our realm, every time we need Him. We appeal to God to come to us even though He is already in us. "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). You want His divine power to come to you when all you have to do is release His power that is already inside of you. Remember that in all of our doings, "God's purpose demands resistance." In other words, you have to fight against opposition for that purpose to be fulfilled. It is the only way that you'll see the promises become a reality. Understanding what your purpose is and what it represents in your life will help you unleash God's power. It is critical to know how to position yourself, regardless of the situation you are encountering and to push forward until something happens. Push forward at all times and pray until God's heavens are opened in your favor. Until the much-needed response becomes a reality in the natural realm. Let's not worry about our circumstances, but rather, persist in pushing forward while God orchestrates the outcome of our victory Victory is something that comes disguised as a full game of discouragements and weaknesses that will try to keep you out of focus. But knowing how to unwrap what seems to be packages full of discouragements will take a persistent person to reveal God's favor in you. While the opposition increases, your strength will be growing and pushing forward until God's favor is released with His anointing to obtain the victory that has been always in you. Why? Because victory is a place that dwells in you. Jesus obtained it on the cross, and Jesus the Victor lives in you.

Author : Enzo Pace
Publisher : Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781409435235

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Religion as Communication by Enzo Pace Pdf

Why do gods persist in contemporary society? This book provides an insight on a new approach to religious studies, drawn from systems theory to consider religion as a means of communication, and offers a critical alternative to the secularization theory to explain why religion persists in modernity.

Author : Gabriele Biotti
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 439 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2021-04-26
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781527568921

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Performing Memories by Gabriele Biotti Pdf

What is memory today? How can it be approached? Why does the contemporary world seem to be more and more haunted by different types of memories still asking for elaboration? Which artistic experiences have explored and defined memory in meaningful ways? How do technologies and the media have changed it? These are just some of the questions developed in this collection of essays analysing memory and memory shapes, which explores the different ways in which past time and its elaboration have been, and still are, elaborated, discussed, written or filmed, and contested, but also shared. By gathering together scholars from different fields of investigation, this book explores the cultural, social and artistic tensions in representing the past and the present, in understanding our legacies, and in approaching historical time and experience. Through the analysis of different representations of memory, and the investigation of literature, anthropology, myth and storytelling, a space of theories and discourses about the symbolic and cultural spaces of memory representation is developed.

Author : Ethel Sabin Smith
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 185 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0682476196

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God and Other Gods by Ethel Sabin Smith Pdf

Author : Tim Whitmarsh
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2016-02-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780571279326

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Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh Pdf

How new is atheism? In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean to recover the stories of those who first refused the divinities. Long before the Enlightenment sowed the seeds of disbelief in a deeply Christian Europe, atheism was a matter of serious public debate in the Greek world. But history is written by those who prevail, and the Age of Faith mostly suppressed the lively free-thinking voices of antiquity. Tim Whitmarsh brings to life the fascinating ideas of Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; and Epicurus and his followers. He shows how the early Christians came to define themselves against atheism, and so suppress the philosophy of disbelief. Battling the Gods is the first book on the origins of the secular values at the heart of the modern state. Authoritative and bold, provocative and humane, it reveals how atheism and doubt, far from being modern phenomena, have intrigued the human imagination for thousands of years.

Author : Kyle Summers,Bernard Crespi
Publisher : OUP USA
Page : 491 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2013-08-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780199791750

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Human Social Evolution by Kyle Summers,Bernard Crespi Pdf

Presents classic papers or chapters by Dr. Alexander, each focused on an important theme from his work

Author : Reginald W. Bibby
Publisher : UBC Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2017-04-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780774890076

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Resilient Gods by Reginald W. Bibby Pdf

Are Canadians becoming less religious? After playing a central role in our lives for nearly a century, religion did seem to be losing its salience. But there is more to the story. Resilient Gods takes an in-depth look at the religious landscape today. The picture that emerges is not one of religious decline but rather of polarization, with the numbers of “pro-” “no,” and “low” religious in flux. Using the most current information available, Bibby explores the implications of religious choices for personal and social well-being, spirituality, and attitudes towards death. The questions he asks are compelling and the answers thought-provoking whether one embraces the gods or not.