Short description:

This book takes a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to religion, religiosity and theology from their earliest beginnings to the present day.

Long description:

This book takes a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to religion, religiosity and theology from their earliest beginnings to the present day. It uniquely brings together the natural sciences and theology to explore how religious practice emerged and developed through the four sections into which the book is organized: Evolutionary biology; Philosophical linguistics, psychology and neuroscience; Theology and Anthropology.

The volume features an international panel of contributors who develop an innovative picture of religion as a culturally-created social institution; religiosity as a more personal and subjective anthropological element of people expressed through religion; and theology as the study of god. To survive in changing times, living systems ? a good characterization of religion, religiosity and theology ? all must adaptively evolve.

This is a vital study of a rapidly burgeoning field. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies and theology as well as in the psychological, sociological, and anthropological study of religion.

Table of Contents:

Preface; List of contributors; Introduction: A Multi-Level and Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Understanding Religion and Its Evolution- Lluis Oviedo; Part I EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY; 1 Cultural Evolution, Biology, and the Case of Religion-Hansgörg Hemming; 2 The Evolutionary Biology of Religion Specific Beliefs and Inter-Religious Conflict- Jay R. Feierman; 3 Sex and the Evolution of Spirituality-Daniel Cohen; 4 The Biological Basis for Religion and Religion's Evolutionary Origins-Donald Broom; Part II PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE, PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE; 5 A History of the Evolution of Religion: From Religion to Religiosity to the Processes of Believing-Hans-Ferdinand Angel; 6 The Processes of Believing in Religion?s Evolution: A Cognitive Neuroscience Hypothesis-Rüdiger J. Seitz; 7 Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in Sensing the Divine: One Foundational Role in Religion?s Evolution-Michael N. Marsh; 8 Awe as a Meaning-Making Emotion: On the Evolution of Awe and the Origin of Religions-Elliott Ihm, Jonathan Schooler, Michael van Elk and Ray Paloutzian ; 9 Whence this Need for Salvation? Childhood Corporal Punishment and the Cultural Evolution of Religious Myth-Benjamin Abelow; Part III THEOLOGY; 10 What a Theological Appropriation of Cognitive Linguistics? Blending Theory Brings to a Scientific Understanding of the Evolution of Religion-Robert Masson; 11 The Evolution of Religiosity: A Theologian?s View-Christopher C. Knight; 12 Neoteny and Homo religiosus: Brain Evolution and the Emergence of the Capacity for Spirituality- William Ulwelling; 13 Emotions and the Evolution of the Belief in God- Christian Early; Part IV ANTHROPOLOGY; 14 The Evolution of Hunter-Gather Religion: Issues and Debates among the San Bushmen of Southern Africa-Robert Hitchcock; 15 Bones, Pigments, Art and Symbols: Archaeological Evidence for the Origins of Religion- Anne Solomon; 16 Every Kingdom Divided Against Itself: Moral Laws and the Persecution of Christians in the Evolution of Christianity-Laura Betzig; CONCLUSION Jay R. Feierman and Lluis Oviedo