The Evolution of Religions

Reviews / Votes

Grande's big, bold book will test many readers [... ] But it should be given serious attention by anyone interested in fresh approaches to the study of religion. * LSE Review of Books * Valuable to social scientists and cultural historians in general as well as to denominational historians...Recommended. * Choice * [The Evolution of Religions] is a work of significant scholarship as a shorter description and history of the cultural evolution of major religions. * Reading Religion * Comparative religion books are often written by religious scholars or historians. But this one has a twist: It's written by a scientist-an evolutionary biologist and systematist to be exact. There's beauty in having a scientist write such a book. Evolution of Religions is a big book, but it's written in such a methodical way that you'll understand the broad concepts behind many organized religions around the world. * Genealogy Ink * Religion goes to the very heart of human cultural experience. Its oldest texts reveal what we were thinking about who we are, how we came to be, and how we fit into the world. In this well-written book, Lance Grande casts a dispassionate eye on the basic tenets of known religions-at once a good read and a valuable reference source. -- Niles Eldredge, author of <i>Eternal Ephemera: Adaptation and the Origin of Species from the Nineteenth Century Through Punctuated Equilibria and Beyond</i> An innovative, in-depth analysis-a renowned biologist applies a novel evolutionary conceptual lens to the diversity and history of human religion. The findings and implications are destined to provoke productive introspection and discussion. -- Gary M. Feinman, MacArthur Curator of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History Grande, a noted paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, brings his analytical framework to the study of world religions. He offers an evolutionary history of religious traditions and cooperative norms from around the world. This fascinating approach is both provocative and illuminating, providing a very readable and important book. -- Charles Stanish, author of <i>The Evolution of Human Co-operation: Ritual and Social Complexity in Stateless Societies</i> The Evolution of Religions classifies virtually all known organized religions, past and present, into phylogenetic trees based on their shared characteristics and evolution. Grande provides an evolutionary framework so that lay readers can better understand the similarities of religions and thereby hopefully become more tolerant of religions other than their own. -- E. Fuller Torrey, author of <i>Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods: Early Humans and the Origins of Religion</i>