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The Evolution Of God (2009)

by Robert Wright(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0316734918 (ISBN13: 9780316734912)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Little, Brown and Company

review 1: I really enjoyed the early parts of the book which discussed that prehistoric concepts of "god" before such a concept truly existed. Then reading how these beliefs evolved into refined ideas of deities was very fascinating. Even hearing how monotheistic systems developed in this polytheistic world was still great. But as the book shifted from this into the further development of monotheism and the emergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam it seems to move away from an anthropological and archaeological study to one more of theology, philosophy, and even politics. And as there are an over abundance of those kinds of books I wanted something else out of this one. However my only true complaint about the book comes when Wright begins to talk about the relevance of religio... moren. He seems to be under the belief that the only point of religion is to instill morality in its practitioners. As someone who considers themselves to be deeply religious I would say that religion and morality hold a tenuous relationship at best. I do know plenty of highly moral atheist and plenty of Christians with highly questionable morals. To me religion isn't about morality but rather a personal connection to the divine.
review 2: Finally, a book that doesn't--as so many atheist writers tend to do--belittle religion. And, as a natural result, stigmatize those that believe in the various forms of divine presence, whether that be a God, gods, or innate spiritual potentialities that can only be cultured by diligent awareness of the "true nature of being," established through meditation, among other things. I truly wish that Wright would have included a chapter or two on Hinduism and Buddhism, not only in regards to the astounding wisdom and moral insight that these systems of thought produced, but how these philosophies evolved over the years, no doubt, influenced by ever-expanding populations and contacts (non-zero sum) with other peoples and their "religions." This may be asking too much, especially given the vast amount of research into religious thought that he did include. My thanks to Wright and his contributors for the amalgam of insightful research material that has greatly expanded my understanding of "God's" evolution as it relates to geo-political and economic influence. Everyone should read this book. Regrettably, I have a tendency to harshly judge fervently religious people that take the Bible literally (and out of context). However, Wright's painstaking research has given me an optimistic outlook of the future, given the selective/adaptive evolutionary factors that harbor the need of our species to long for a creative energy greater than ourselves. It comforts me that once human nature is understood, much like history in general, people can explore ways to understand one other, no matter where we may come from or how strange our system of beliefs may be. less

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