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The Evolution of God |  | Author: Robert Wright
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $13.21
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Seller: a1books
Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 2299
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 576
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8
ISBN: 0316734918
Dewey Decimal Number: 200.9
EAN: 9780316734912
ASIN: 0316734918
Publication Date: June 8, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In this sweeping narrative that takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role today, and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism, but future harmony.
Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking re-examination of the past, and a visionary look forward.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
 THE EVOLUTION OF GOD BY ROBERT WRIGHT November 18, 2009
Alex Telander (Roseville, CA)
From Robert Wright, author of The Moral Animal and Nonzero, comes a controversial book that is sure to set off the ire of most if not all religious groups. In The Evolution of God Wright gives readers a complete history of religion from our ancient prehistory when fire was something novel and new and ancestral people saw spirits within every rock and tree, to the modern day clash of faiths throughout the world.
Divided into five sections, Wright begins at the very beginning, exploring why people looked to create spirits and gods in objects and the ether to help give a reason behind phenomena like natural disasters, cataclysms, and what happens when a family member dies. He explores these ideas both at the scientific level and the psychological, reducing faith to its component parts. Wright then moves onto the advent of monotheism, Christianity, and Islam, providing a history lesson and analyzing these world-dominant faiths under the same parameters. In the last section, "God Goes Global," he addresses the state of today's religions and what it means to us on a global scale.
The Evolution of God doesn't look to refute religion, or decide which is better or truer than the other; Wright is just telling a history of the evolution of religion and faith through our ancestry to our present. Whether you're an atheist or are deeply religious, you will nevertheless find The Evolution of God an interesting read, whether you agree with it or not.
[...]
 Outstanding November 14, 2009
E. SANDERSON (San Francisco CA)
This book is an excellent history of religion in the middle east. There is no bias toward any of the specific religions and provides a compelling story of the relationship between the governments of the area and the religions that developed in connection with the political reality.
The historical logic of the order of the various chapters of the Jewish bible is very compelling.
Yes, Virginia, There is a God - Just Don't Call It That November 14, 2009
A Joyful Reader
Although Wright wants to believe he has written a "materialist" expose` on religion, what it comes down to in the end is that Wright defends the idea that there is a Creator/God whose Will is written into the "program" of human evolution. By whatever name you call it - the "source of a moral order," the "directionality of evolution," just don't call it GOD, at least not God as in a 'revealed' God who stands outside the natural order. It seems he is writing to address the current atheistic apologists, but they will never be convinced of something "unprovable" by materialistic means. On the other hand, those who have experienced a spiritual confirmation of the truths of their scriptures, be they Muslim, Christian or Jewish, recognize that God (writ large) changeth not, only our understanding of God as we mature in faith, so it is our understanding of God that evolves, not God. Wright ties this to the recognition that the "interpretation" of Scripture is based on what is most beneficial to a particular religious culture at the time, and that interpretation of Scripture evolves depending on "facts on the ground." He states that the most problematic aspect of our belief systems is the human mind. I believe it is the human HEART that is the problem, for until it is changed, everything is looked at from one's own self-interest which is based on material gain (what's in it for ME?), despite most all religions warning against this conventional view.
Wright gives us reason to have "faith" that the Good News is just that - that there is a beneficent "force" guiding the program which acts cyberneticly, self-correcting when we stray through "zero-sum/lose-lose/harmful outcomes; when we act in accordance with the program, non-zero sum/win-win/helpful outcomes result. What is frightening and encouraging at the same time is recognizing that man has been given the ability to direct this force for good or ill depending on how he chooses.
The various faith scriptures, flawed and changing as interpretations of them are, seek to give moral guidelines that assist in making choices in accordance with optimal win/win outcomes. It is when we make 'gods' of these scriptures, as many literalists/fundamentalists do, that we lose our way. The current environmental situation may be forcing us to recognize that the only non-zero sum outcome is based on loving our neighbor as ourselves and seeking to BE God's love in this world.
I felt the book, the audio version of which I've listened to several times, to be thought provoking and worthy of reflection.
Excellent!` November 9, 2009
P. Arno
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is invaluable as a resource for those looking for the history of religious belief and, while well-documented with extensive appendix and references, is reader-friendly.
Artfuly Done October 28, 2009
The Tao of Netflix (Washington, DC)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book attempts to explain the evolution of god, particularly insofar as god is defined by the human perception of god. The author begins at the hunter/gatherer stage of human evolution and explains their world, their social and political circumstances, world views, etc. and connects all those dots to explain how they perceived of the concept of god. The author then works his way chronologically through history, working through the Jews and the old testament, the Christians and the new testament, then through the Koran/Islam. As his work relates to the bible, for example, the author does a great job of explain the non-chronological linearity of the bible and how the varying depictions of god throughout (e.g., at times, shown as vengeful, at times shown as loving and anthropomorphic) seem contradictory on their face, but when read in light of the actual order of book writing and contemporaneous history, make perfect sense. The author brilliantly weaves how social circumstances affect a society's perception of god and other gods for that matter, and makes frequent use of the concept of "non-zero-sumness". In explaining the evolution from polytheism to exclusionary monotheism, the author demonstrates how peoples looking to expand their relationships (i.e., commerce) with neighboring groups tend to be more inclusive and accepting of other gods, as opposed to people in crisis and needing to define an exclusionary god to foster a sense of nationalism. Its clear the author did an immense amount of research to complete this work. Also, I view this work as a secular study of religion. If you are a person who tenaciously holds onto a biblically driven concept of god, you might not enjoy this work. The author, at times (if not continuously) attempts to establish that the absolute belief in god is an irrational action. If you are not interested in alternative theories on religious evolution, this will not be a satisfactory read for you. If, on the other hand, you are curious about current scholarly belief about who exactly Jesus and Mohammad were and are willing to take a dispassionate (i.e., not religiously charged) view, you'll enjoy. And..I'm not saying that I agree with all of the author's conclusions. Some, in fact, are fairly bitter and belie an obvious illuminati-like disdain for concepts like hope. But, notwithstanding that, the author tends to be frank about his assessments, and does provide ample justification for his conclusions, so you can understand why he believes a certain thing, and how he came to that conclusion.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
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