Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief |
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Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief
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by Rodney Stark
Sales Rank: 161675
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List Price: $25.95
$17.13
At Amazon
on 9-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 496 pages
Published by: HarperOneEdition: 1st Edition October 2, 2007
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0061173894
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0061173899
Book Dimensions:
8.9 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
Weighs: 1.5 pounds
Reader Reviews
In the last few years I have been searching books offering a general overview of the past, and I have realized that many books entitled "History of ...whatever" only provide information about the West, the rest of the world being almost ignored. Rodney Stark 's "Discovering God" is different, it is truly a global work which will join a number of important new works on religion this Fall (for instance, Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age"). Stark, a professor of Social Sciences at Baylor University, is a prolific author and renowned scholar in the field of sociology of religion. This his new book is a history of the origins of religions covering prehistoric primal beliefs, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as the religions of Sumer, Egypt, Greece, early Rome and Mesoamerica. And, of course, Christianity and Islam. Pursuant to him, God does exist and the evolution of religion is the story of how humans perceive God's revelations; over time, "human images of God will tend to progress from those having smaller to those having greater scope" and "humans will prefer an image of God[s] as rational and loving." Defending that religious belief can be defended along more-or-less rational and ethical lines, and scolding monopoly religious organizations and temple religions which existed only to serve a small elite, not the common people, he argues for a free-market theory of religion (in a nutshell, religious competition increases the overall religiousness of the population) and that under unimpeded conditions, the most authentic religions will survive. Not surprisingly given his previous books, Stark concludes that Christianity offers the most "complex and nuanced" vision of God and the most "comprehensive doctrine of salvation"; judaism comes in second; and he does not consider Islam an "inspired" faith. Stark's retelling of the origins of the world's great religions is fascinating and excellent, but most likely will become very controversial, with many of his statement certainly needing more nuancing. Maybe I am wrong, even unfair, but there is not much humility to be found in the pages of Rodney Stark's provocative new book. He seems prone to consider ludicrously biased, stupid and/or post-modernist most opinions coming from atheist or agnostic persons (and excellent scholarship that allowing him to back his ideas). He openly accepts that Muslims will condemn his judgment which "of course it is merely my judgment, upon which matters of taste and faith intrude." And in the last pages he ends up with a defence of Intelligent Design which probably does not add but detract to the strength and reliability of plenty interesting facts and theories developed in his book. All that and much more is developed in 414 pages (plus notes and bibliography), the book being divided in the following parts and chapters: Introduction: Revelation and Cultural Evolution; 1.- Gods in Primitive Societies; 2.- Temple Religions of Ancient Civilizations; 3.- Rome: An Ancient Religious Marketplace; 4.- The "Rebirth" of Monotheism; 5.- Indian Inspiration; 6.- Chinese Gods and "Godless" Faiths; 7.- The Rise of Christianity; 8.- Islam: God and State; Conclusión: Discovering God?; Ancient Religious History Timeline; Glossary. Other books on religion that I would recommend reading would be the following: "The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach," by Moojan Momen and "Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints: A Prehistory of Religion" by Brian Hayden (both of them astonishingly encyclopedic and readable); "Islam. History, present, future" by Hans Küng (the best and the brightest on Islam, a masterpiece); and (more or less related to the matter) "A Social History of Dying" and "Experiences Near Death: Beyond Medicine and Religion" by Allan Kellehear. Additionally, as a complement to Stark's book (and hoping that will be of use for those looking for a broad framework to understand the past) I would also recommend to read the following works, whose scope is amazingly global: 1. Agrarian cultures: "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; 2. Economy: "The world economy. A millennial perspective" (2001) plus "The world economy: Historical Statistics" (2003) by Angus Maddison (a combined edition of these two volumes is to appear on December 2007); 3. Government: "The History of Government" by S.E. Finer; 4. Ideas: "Ideas, a History from Fire to Freud", by Peter Watson; and 5. War: "War in Human Civilization" by Azar Gat.
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Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief
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Price: $17.13
Updated on 9-16-2008.
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