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Offers a fresh and detailed take on the evolution of religious behavior from a biobehavioral perspective, promoting a new understanding that may help build bridges across the religious divide. There has been much recent interest in the study of religion from the perspective of Darwinian evolution. The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion offers a broad overview of the topic, written by internationally recognized experts. In addition to its primary focus on religious behavior, the book addresses other important aspects of religion, such as values, beliefs, and emotions as they affect behavior. The contributors approach the evolution of religion by exam...
This volume answers the question: Why do we believe what we believe? It examines current research on the concept of beliefs, and the development in our understanding of the process of believing. It takes into account empirical findings in the field of neuroscience regarding the processes that underlie beliefs, and discusses the notion that beyond the interactive exploratory analysis of sensory information from the complex outside world, humans engage in an evaluative analysis by which they attribute personal meaning and relevance to the probabilistic representations of objects and events. Beliefs exert a strong influence on behaviour, decision-making, and identifying and solving problems. De...
In a Darwinian world, religious behavior - just like other behaviors - is likely to have undergone a process of natural selection in which it was rewarded in the evolutionary currency of reproductive success. This book aims to provide a better understanding of the social scenarios in which selection pressure led to religious practices becoming an evolved human trait, i.e. an adaptive answer to the conditions of living and surviving that prevailed among our prehistoric ancestors. This aim is pursued by a team of expert authors from a range of disciplines. Their contributions examine the relevant physiological, emotional, cognitive and social processes. The resulting understanding of the functional interplay of these processes gives valuable insights into the biological roots and benefits of religion.
A look at the history of child kidnappings and abductions in the United States, the motives of the perpetrators, the activities of the media, and the results in the law and in public opinions.
How exactly does one explain Jesus? That is the central question of this book. But the task of explaining Jesus is complicated. For many nonbelievers, skeptics, or practitioners of non- Jesus-based religions or spiritualities, it can be very strange to refer to a particular man who lived in the first century CE as someone who is still living. Even for some believers, this idea can be a difficult thing to understand—even given the teachings of their faith. Thus, whether believer or nonbeliever or somewhere in-between, for the intellectually curious, there is need for an explanation. Explaining Jesus explores the possibilities of a secular, interdisciplinary, science-based explanation for the phenomenon of Jesus.
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The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion takes a three-pronged look at this, namely investigating the role of religion in society; unpacking and evaluating the significance of religion in and on human history; and tracing and outlining the social forces and influences that shape religion. This encyclopedia covers a range of themes from: • fundamental topics like definitions • secularization • dimensions of religiosity to such emerging issues as civil religion • new religious movements This Encyclopedia also addresses contemporary dilemmas such as fundamentalism and extremism and the role of gender in religion.
First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.