Scan barcode
lobsterchin's review against another edition
challenging
informative
The arguments against god are pretty good here. Of course, this comes from an atheist, so it's preaching to the choir, but still. It's challenging, especially when it comes to understanding the language (early 20th century, so it's super dense), but also the logic seems good to me as a layman.
What i don't like is the calling of peoples "savage" and "civilized", since it's pretty Europe/North America-centered. Plus the groupings of religions into "higher" and "lower". Of course, Christianity is judged as one of the higher religions.
Also something that's just a neutral observation: in this book religions are stated to develop from personal to impersonal (aka gods are imagined as humans, instead of abstract forces), but in my university class it was said to be the opposite: the more religions develop, the more humanized they become in their portrayal of gods. I don't know what to make of this, to be honest, it's a bit of a dissonance.
Anyway, otherwise seems like a pretty quality book. Won't rate bc that's not my thing.
What i don't like is the calling of peoples "savage" and "civilized", since it's pretty Europe/North America-centered. Plus the groupings of religions into "higher" and "lower". Of course, Christianity is judged as one of the higher religions.
Also something that's just a neutral observation: in this book religions are stated to develop from personal to impersonal (aka gods are imagined as humans, instead of abstract forces), but in my university class it was said to be the opposite: the more religions develop, the more humanized they become in their portrayal of gods. I don't know what to make of this, to be honest, it's a bit of a dissonance.
Anyway, otherwise seems like a pretty quality book. Won't rate bc that's not my thing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
More...