Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'sacred texts'

Literacy & Books: Shaping Religious Experience

August 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age, Cultural Evolution, Definitions, History

Over at The Atlantic, Heather Horn interviews Andrew Pettegree, who has just written a history of the book titled The Book in the Renaissance.  After pondering the (bright) future of books, they discuss the profound ways in which vernacular books and a literate public forever changed religious experience:
But one mustn’t ignore that the mainstay of [...]

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Nationalism as Religion

July 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Civil Religion, Classifications, Cultural Evolution, Definitions, History, New Religions, Power, Ritual

In a previous post, Religious Wars and Nationalism, I discussed two factors that play a major role in group cohesion.  The first factor, which played a dominant role for the majority of human evolution, was extended and fictive kinship.  This is what primarily held groups together during the Paleolithic.  After the Neolithic Revolution, another factor [...]

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