Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'Christianity'

“Islam Is Not a Religion”

September 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age Religions, Civil Religion, Definitions of Religion

So says J.R. Dieckmann, an electrician and writer who runs a website that I will neither name nor link.  He did, however, post this startling proclamation over here, one of the many bizarre and paranoid websites that are making so much fearful noise in American politics.
Decoding Dieckmann’s assertion is easy — what he means is [...]

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African Witchcraft & American Religion

August 31st, 2010 · 1 Comment · Classifications of Religion, Definitions of Religion, Ritual and Religion

Over at Live Science, Benjamin Radford stereotypically reports — with no irony and little thought — that “Belief in Witchcraft Widespread in Africa” is prevalent:
A new Gallup poll found that belief in magic is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft. Studies in 18 countries show belief [...]

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Theology of Religions v. History of Religions

August 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age Religions, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Definitions of Religion, Evolution and Selection, Neolithic Religions, Shamans and Shamanism

Over at HuffPo Religion, a well meaning Matthew Anderson suggests that all American junior-senior high school students should be required to take a minimum of two classes on world religions so as to be exposed to something other than their parents’ religion.  He supposes that these courses would foster tolerance and lead to a more [...]

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Power Co-opts Religion: China to Support Buddhism

August 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Civil Religion, Economy and Religion, History of Religions, Power and Religion

The story is a familiar one: a new religion is founded — or, as the sociologist Rodney Stark would say, a new sect is born from an older tradition — and over time it becomes successful.  By success, I mean that it grows, becomes popular, and shows few signs of slowing down.
At some point during [...]

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Galileo: Religious or Secular Saint?

July 24th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Classifications of Religion, Definitions of Religion, History of Religions, Methodology of Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct, Shamans and Shamanism

In the New York Times Science section, Rachel Donadio reports on a museum in Florence that treats Galileo as both a “secular” and “religious” saint; the curators thus commingle two concepts (the secular/religious) that were being developed during the Renaissance and which reached fruition during the Enlightenment:
The Galileo case is often seen starkly as science’s [...]

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Ancestor Worship: The Epicurean Lucretius

July 10th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism and Religion, Cognition and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Evolution and Selection, History of Religions, Philosophy of Religion

While doing some background research on the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), I discovered that he had been much influenced by Lucretius, who lived in the first century BCE (around the time of Julius Caesar) and published a six-volume treatise titled On the Nature of Things. As if writing philosophy in narrative form were [...]

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Sumerian Spiritualism: The Earliest Organized Religion

June 27th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Archaeology and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Ecology of Religion, Economy and Religion, History of Religions, Neolithic Religions, Pagans and Polytheism, Power and Religion

It was with great sadness that I read a recent article in the New York Times documenting the pillaging and destruction of Mesopotamian archaeological sites in Iraq.  Although these Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian sites — and previous excavations — receive scant attention outside small groups of antiquities scholars, they are of critical importance to our [...]

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The End is Always Near: Jesus to Return by 2050

June 25th, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age Religions, Daily Devolutions, History of Religions

A recent article in the UK’s Telegraph notes that forty one percent — yes, 41% — of Americans believe that Jesus will return by the year 2050.  With wry understatement, the Brits observe that American “optimism” is irrepressible.
What most of these eager and apocalyptic Americans do not know is that beginning almost immediately after the [...]

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Return of the Sacred — Ringing Daniel Bell

June 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Economy and Religion, Globalization and Religion, History of Religions, Morality and Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Power and Religion

On rare occasion, one encounters a thinker and writer of extraordinary talent; the author, intellectual, and sociologist Daniel Bell is one such person.  Bell is perhaps most famous for his 1976 book, Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.  It was with great interest, therefore, that I read his 1977 Hobhouse Memorial Lecture, “The Return of the Sacred? [...]

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What is the “Spirit” (Do We Have Souls)?

June 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Axial Age Religions, Cognition and Religion, Emotions and Religion, History of Religions, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

In yesterday’s post, I asked “What is Spirituality?“  Naturally, today’s post asks “What is the Spirit?”  It is a related and timely question, especially given Eric Simpson’s recent post over at HuffPo Religion, “The Tyranny of the Body in the Quest for Spiritual Life.”  In keeping with the Western metaphysical tradition, Simpson simply assumes there [...]

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