We develop a cultural evolutionary theory of the origins of prosocial religions and apply it to resolve two puzzles in human psychology and cultural history: (1) the rise of large-scale cooperation among strangers and, simultaneously, (2) the spread of prosocial religions in the last 10-12 millennia. We argue that these two developments were importantly linked and mutually energizing. We explain how a package of culturally evolved religious beliefs and practices characterized by increasingly potent, moralizing, supernatural agents, credible displays of faith, and other psychologically active elements conducive to social solidarity promoted high fertility rates and large-scale cooperation with co-religionists, often contributing to success in intergroup competition and conflict. In turn, prosocial religious beliefs and practices spread and aggregated as these successful groups expanded, or were copied by less successful groups. This synthesis is grounded in the idea that although religious beliefs and practices originally arose as nonadaptive by-products of innate cognitive functions, particular cultural variants were then selected for their prosocial effects in a long-term, cultural evolutionary process. This framework (1) reconciles key aspects of the adaptationist and by-product approaches to the origins of religion, (2) explains a variety of empirical observations that have not received adequate attention, and (3) generates novel predictions. Converging lines of evidence drawn from diverse disciplines provide empirical support while at the same time encouraging new research directions and opening up new questions for exploration and debate.

/pdf/the-cultural-evolution-of-prosocial-religions-3k5ywkwgmr.pdf

The cultural evolution of prosocial religions.

Why do religious people believe what they shouldn't - not what others think they shouldn't believe, but things that don't accord with their own avowed religious beliefs? Slone terms this phenomenon 'theological incorrectness' He argues that it exists because the mind is built in such a way that it is natural for us to think divergent thoughts simultaneously Human minds are great at coming up with innovative ideas that help them make sense of the world, but those ideas do not always accord with official religious beliefs Slone presents the latest discoveries from the cognitive science of religion and shows how they help us to understand exactly why it is that religious people do and think things that they shouldn't

Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn't

/pdf/a-current-bibliography-of-canadian-church-history-19wzzdqr67.pdf

A Current Bibliography of Canadian Church History / Bibliographie récente de l’Histoire de l’Église canadienne

Theory in the study of religion

/pdf/a-current-bibliography-of-canadian-church-history-26q8d2tcuu.pdf

"A Current Bibliography of Canadian Church History / Bibliographie récente de l'Histoire de l'Église canadienne"

In a careful re-evaluation of the works of Levy-Bruhl, Wiebe establishes the coherence of Levy-Bruhl's classic distinction between primitive, or mythopoeic, and scientific thought, maintaining that religious thinking is mythopoeic in nature while theology -- which thinks about religion -- is related to modern Western scientific thinking. The pre-Socratic philosophers, Wiebe shows, developed a form of rational thought radically different from the religious-mythopoeic thought that preceded it. Although Plato was concerned with recovery of the pre-philosophic wisdom of ancient Greece, he attempted this within a rational, philosophic structure. Wiebe argues that Christian thought, originally mythopoeic, changed rapidly under the influence of Hellenistic culture, and that the Platonization of Christianity introduced an element of philosophic thinking which would eventually undermine its mythopoeic essence. In clarifying the nature of religious thought and its relation to religion, Wiebe provides a sound basis for the development of a general theory of religion. While of particular interest to philosophers, theologians, and students and scholars of the study of religion, Wiebe's study draws upon sources as diverse as philosophy, history, anthropology, and sociology and will therefore interest anyone involved in these disciplines as well."

The irony of theology and the nature of religious thought

Although religion may well have relevance for various social, political, economic, cultural, and other related issues in society, I will argue here that this does not oblige the academic student of religion to become engaged with those matters. Indeed, to do so - not as a citizen but as a member of the academic guild which has responsibility to the field/discipline of Religious Studies and the modern research university at large - is to fuse and therefore confuse advocacy and scholarship. The task of the student of religion, qua scientist, is to seek to understand and to explain religion and religions, not to create the good society. I attempt to show here that with the infiltration of the ideal of the student of religion as public intellectual - whether as religious critic, critic of religion, or member of a new secular clerisy - the scientific agenda of seeking disinterested knowledge about religion and religions has been, and continues to be, eroded if not displaced.

/pdf/the-politics-of-wishful-thinking-disentangling-the-role-of-23w0p6kqkf.pdf

The Politics of Wishful Thinking? Disentangling the Role of the Scholar-Scientist from that of the Public Intellectual in the Modern Academic Study of Religion

Religion and Truth: Towards an Alternative Paradigm for the Study of Religion

Theology and the Philosophy of Science

faithfully’’ (chap. 4). Engaging biblical attitudes toward death, historical, theological, and experiential wisdom, the authors argue that when Christian practices are healthy, dying well embraces both lament and hope, as well as a sense of divine judgment and mercy. Lament, an ancient practice that acknowledges the despair and anger evoked by death, is seen as integral to Christian practice (21). The book includes an excellent practical articulation of how modern medicine employs the ‘‘language of restoration’’ to avoid the painful and difficult real conversations of suffering and dying. Titled ‘‘The Wrongheadedness of ‘Glorious Medicine’’’ (121), this practice deprives patients and families of doing necessary end-of-life work such as healing of relationships, forgiveness of self and others, and preparing for death. A theology of the cross is given as a starting place for the practical and theological insights into the nature and goals of end-of-life care (chap. 6). The authors reiterate the ‘‘treasured promise’’ of Romans 8:38–39 that death does not separate us from the love of God or those we love on earth (22). With an understanding that healing is more than cure and that the patient participates in spiritual and emotional healing in the midst of dying, specific examples are offered of how pastors and chaplains can bring the wisdom of the Christian tradition to the bedside, using tools of spiritual assessment and care. This, they argue, rather than offering more treatment when it is no longer effective, brings dignity and hope (chaps. 8, 10, and 11). The target audience is Christians of Euro-American descent, primarily of mainline theological traditions. While the book argues for the primacy of Christian theological and spiritual themes over contemporary medical practice in very useful ways, it makes little attempt to broaden the language so that these themes become more accessible to those outside of Christianity. It also fails to challenge classical fall–redemption theology with feminist hermeneutics, or insights based on Creation-centered or evolutionary Christian theologies. Such reflection would be useful for those who offer end-of-life care in multicultural and multi-faith settings. A Canadian perspective, especially as it relates to working in a socialized medical context, is also lacking. In a primarily secular culture as we are in Canada, is it possible to offer the richness of our Christian theological and spiritual resources in a way that the non-churched can appropriate?

The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain: A Neurologist's Search for the God Experience (review)

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