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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
If your conception of God is as an anthropomorphic being, and if your conception of scripture is as the inerrant revealed word of God, this book is not for you.
I found Wright's style very readable, though the constant references to his pet thesis of the importance of finding non-zero-sum relationships grew tedious. His praise for the Koran I find baffling.
I agree with his basic thesis, that the conception of God and the role of religion has evolved as humanity has evolved culturally and morally, and I especially enjoyed his comments on the Logos.
I found Wright's style very readable, though the constant references to his pet thesis of the importance of finding non-zero-sum relationships grew tedious. His praise for the Koran I find baffling.
I agree with his basic thesis, that the conception of God and the role of religion has evolved as humanity has evolved culturally and morally, and I especially enjoyed his comments on the Logos.
This was very interesting book. I am going to be checking out some of the sources used to read more into this. This book takes you through earliest civilizations to the present and shows how religion and deities are adopted, changed and borrowed throughout. Definitely gives enough to ponder for a while.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Yep, you guessed it – the reason I haven’t written a book review in…at least a month was that I’ve been reading nonfiction. Yes, a single nonfiction book, even one that I generally enjoy and am interested in, will grind down my pace of reading 15fold (2 days->30). So don’t take it as anything against this book that it took me a month to read it. It just did.
A book like this just isn’t going to interest some people, so for the interest of civil discussion, don’t chime in if you’re not going to do any more than point out something like that.
That out of the way… the format and style of writing here was quite interesting. It was very casual slash armchair-scientist, but not really in a bad way. He lays out a reasonable case by way of all kinds of examples – there’s stuff here from a decent swath of academia: sociology, evolutionary biology, history, archaeology, biblical/Koran/Torah scholarship, etc.
I think there’s a central thesis. He doesn’t exactly set out to prove it though – merely to show that it’s a possibility, which is an interesting take in today’s world of hardheaded side-taking. The thesis - I’m totally going to butcher this, so bear with me - is that there are things that could be construed as evidence, based on mankind’s sort of “moral drift” towards what we would generally agree are more positive points of view, that some kind of divinity like being may exist and if so, it is something like Philo’s Logos. Ie if there is a single “god”, then maybe it is a god that operates in ways humans can’t describe and all the various religions we see (he mostly focuses on the Mosaic trinity of modern big guns, but spends a decent amount of time on religions from most sizes & states of social groupings) are poor mappings filtered through the social animal. Sort of. Roughly.
It’s a more modern take (using lots of modern data and methodology) on an old, old idea, and it has a bit of bite to it. I’m not convinced of anything – and he doesn’t really set out to MAKE YOU BELIEVE HIM, which I think is admirable – but it’s nice to have another way to look at things, especially if you are inclined to see the spiritual in the natural world, but don’t buy into any of the “old men in the sky” religions.
There’s lots in here on the way social groups of various size use and benefit from religion, evolutionary reasons for doing so, and large sections on each of the Mosiac threesome. Definitely worth reading if you enjoy this kind of thing (which I do, in small doses).
THREE AND A HALF STARS
A book like this just isn’t going to interest some people, so for the interest of civil discussion, don’t chime in if you’re not going to do any more than point out something like that.
That out of the way… the format and style of writing here was quite interesting. It was very casual slash armchair-scientist, but not really in a bad way. He lays out a reasonable case by way of all kinds of examples – there’s stuff here from a decent swath of academia: sociology, evolutionary biology, history, archaeology, biblical/Koran/Torah scholarship, etc.
I think there’s a central thesis. He doesn’t exactly set out to prove it though – merely to show that it’s a possibility, which is an interesting take in today’s world of hardheaded side-taking. The thesis - I’m totally going to butcher this, so bear with me - is that there are things that could be construed as evidence, based on mankind’s sort of “moral drift” towards what we would generally agree are more positive points of view, that some kind of divinity like being may exist and if so, it is something like Philo’s Logos. Ie if there is a single “god”, then maybe it is a god that operates in ways humans can’t describe and all the various religions we see (he mostly focuses on the Mosaic trinity of modern big guns, but spends a decent amount of time on religions from most sizes & states of social groupings) are poor mappings filtered through the social animal. Sort of. Roughly.
It’s a more modern take (using lots of modern data and methodology) on an old, old idea, and it has a bit of bite to it. I’m not convinced of anything – and he doesn’t really set out to MAKE YOU BELIEVE HIM, which I think is admirable – but it’s nice to have another way to look at things, especially if you are inclined to see the spiritual in the natural world, but don’t buy into any of the “old men in the sky” religions.
There’s lots in here on the way social groups of various size use and benefit from religion, evolutionary reasons for doing so, and large sections on each of the Mosiac threesome. Definitely worth reading if you enjoy this kind of thing (which I do, in small doses).
THREE AND A HALF STARS
Over reaches a bit in the last quarter of the book (and returns to the author's favorite intellectual stomping grounds). The first three fourths are interesting well researched, though not as ground breaking or insightful as Wright seems to believe.
This book wasn't written for me. I really appreciated the historical dive into the texts though.
informative
The Evolution of God is an absolutely great read. I personally feel that it paints a very hopeful picture for the further evolution of religion in our massively interconnected world. I felt that at all times he was respectful towards people of various levels of faith, while being an agnostic himself. You’d think from some of the vitriol in the one-star reviews that Bill Maher had written the book and proceeded to shit on people’s doorsteps. At all times this book was professional, scholarly, and genuine… if you have a problem with the message, that’s a different story, but Mr. Wright is compassionate and sympathetic with his audience.
Now on to actually reviewing the book. It is a great introduction into the evolution of Western religions, mainly the pagan religions in Israel and the later Abrahamic faiths. If you’ve had any previous introduction to these concepts then some of this book (or a lot) is going to be review for you. As a Classics major it was a lot of review to me, but new was the concept of the expanding moral imagination. I also hadn’t known much previously about the Islamic faith, so I really enjoyed those chapters. I’ve read excerpts of the Koran, I have a few Muslim friends, but I’d ever studied it as I have other religions. I think I will make it my goal to read the Koran this year. Regardless, even if you’ve had no previous introduction to evolution of religion/society you’ll be easily able to follow the book, the author is excellent at communicating his ideas in a way that is easy to grasp if you are paying attention.
Furthermore the book challenged me. I heard once in a Jewish studies class that “you can be a Jew with God, you can be a Jew against God, you just can’t be a Jew without God.” I always found that fascinating. I fervently believe in God, but no longer subscribe to religions whatsoever, I was, however, raised as an Evangelical Christian and later converted to Catholicism for marriage. I always felt after reading the Old Testament that Christians had lost some of their Jewish heritage, we/they had lost the ability to argue with God. People were CONSTANTLY arguing with God in the Old Testament, for starters he was much more anthropomorphic, but even if the debate didn’t go well for the mortal, it was important to note that he had a rational discussion with God. Christians, it always seemed to me, lost the ability to have a rational discussion with God, to even question God, and this translated in our inability to question or have a rational discussion about all things in the Christian hierarchy- church leaders, martyrs, the Bible etc. This is not healthy. All people should be actively engaged in the pursuit of Truth, (for I am the way, the Truth, and the light…), sometimes that means taking a critical and rational look at our faith and asking whether or not our actions and beliefs are actually detracting from the overall message. Does Evolution matter in a spiritual context? No. Just like it didn’t matter to God’s power that the Earth ended up revolving around the sun, and not the Universe around the Earth. Religion is for your spirit, for your morality, and you only bruise it when you use Religion to dogmatically reject science, other people, and other religions. That’s not the message.
I think everyone should be encouraged to read this book for the sheer fact that it will help them to critically look at their personal faith, and see how it can be expanded.
Now on to actually reviewing the book. It is a great introduction into the evolution of Western religions, mainly the pagan religions in Israel and the later Abrahamic faiths. If you’ve had any previous introduction to these concepts then some of this book (or a lot) is going to be review for you. As a Classics major it was a lot of review to me, but new was the concept of the expanding moral imagination. I also hadn’t known much previously about the Islamic faith, so I really enjoyed those chapters. I’ve read excerpts of the Koran, I have a few Muslim friends, but I’d ever studied it as I have other religions. I think I will make it my goal to read the Koran this year. Regardless, even if you’ve had no previous introduction to evolution of religion/society you’ll be easily able to follow the book, the author is excellent at communicating his ideas in a way that is easy to grasp if you are paying attention.
Furthermore the book challenged me. I heard once in a Jewish studies class that “you can be a Jew with God, you can be a Jew against God, you just can’t be a Jew without God.” I always found that fascinating. I fervently believe in God, but no longer subscribe to religions whatsoever, I was, however, raised as an Evangelical Christian and later converted to Catholicism for marriage. I always felt after reading the Old Testament that Christians had lost some of their Jewish heritage, we/they had lost the ability to argue with God. People were CONSTANTLY arguing with God in the Old Testament, for starters he was much more anthropomorphic, but even if the debate didn’t go well for the mortal, it was important to note that he had a rational discussion with God. Christians, it always seemed to me, lost the ability to have a rational discussion with God, to even question God, and this translated in our inability to question or have a rational discussion about all things in the Christian hierarchy- church leaders, martyrs, the Bible etc. This is not healthy. All people should be actively engaged in the pursuit of Truth, (for I am the way, the Truth, and the light…), sometimes that means taking a critical and rational look at our faith and asking whether or not our actions and beliefs are actually detracting from the overall message. Does Evolution matter in a spiritual context? No. Just like it didn’t matter to God’s power that the Earth ended up revolving around the sun, and not the Universe around the Earth. Religion is for your spirit, for your morality, and you only bruise it when you use Religion to dogmatically reject science, other people, and other religions. That’s not the message.
I think everyone should be encouraged to read this book for the sheer fact that it will help them to critically look at their personal faith, and see how it can be expanded.
An interesting book that gives you lots to think about. I liked learning about religion from an anthropological viewpoint, but keep in mind that the author is agnostic. He views religion from a non-zero sum viewpoint, where cultures will retain those things that create benefits for two parties. At times I felt he cherry picked the literature on at least Christian theology, but he makes good points from those things he chose.