Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of BeliefHarper Collins, 2 µ.¤. 2007 - 496 ˹éÒ Discovering God is a monumental history of the origins of the great religions from the Stone Age to the Modern Age. Sociologist Rodney Stark surveys the birth and growth of religions around the world—from the prehistoric era of primal beliefs; the history of the pyramids found in Iraq, Egypt, Mexico, and Cambodia; and the great "Axial Age" of Plato, Zoroaster, Confucius, and the Buddha, to the modern Christian missions and the global spread of Islam. He argues for a free-market theory of religion and for the controversial thesis that under the best, unimpeded conditions, the true, most authentic religions will survive and thrive. Among his many conclusions:
Most people believe in the existence of God (or Gods), and this has apparently been so throughout human history. Many modern biologists and psychologists reject these spiritual ideas, especially those about the existence of God, as delusional. They claim that religion is a primitive survival mechanism that should have been discarded as humans evolved beyond the stage where belief in God served any useful purpose—that in modern societies, faith is a misleading crutch and an impediment to reason. In Discovering God, award-winning sociologist Rodney Stark responds to this position, arguing that it is our capacity to understand God that has evolved—that humans now know much more about God than they did in ancient times. |
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... involved. Even so, at the end of the book I shall attempt to justify three tests of divine inspiration. EVOLVING CONCEPTIONS OF GOD(S): A PRELIMINARY SKETCH This book can be read either as a study of the evolution of human images of God ...
... involved. But that is very much the case with cultural evolution—its fundamental mechanisms are human creativity and evaluation. Humans constantly invent new elements of culture. Whether an element will be generally adopted or retained ...
... involvement generated by the traditional temples. Thus, persecution of Christianity was preceded by persecution not only of Jews, but also of intense pagan37 groups such as Bacchanalians and followers of Isis and Cybele. Furthermore ...
... Goldenweiser ( 1880–1940 ) also pointed out , as have innumerable schol- ars since , the circularity involved in Durkheim having defined religion as " a unified system of beliefs and practices relative Gods in Primitive Societies 35.
... involved in the formation of man's images of God .... This is not altogether unlike the almost sudden ' conversion ' that occurs in the religious life of many adolescents . . . . The faithfulness , love , and devotion of a dog for his ...
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Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief Rodney Stark ªÁºÒ§Êèǹ¢Í§Ë¹Ñ§Ê×Í - 2009 |
Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief Rodney Stark ªÁºÒ§Êèǹ¢Í§Ë¹Ñ§Ê×Í - 2009 |