Bibliography 2: #BIB39501

Key	BIB39501
Reference type	Book
Title	The Evolution of religions : A History of Related Traditions
Author	Grande, Lance
Year	2024
Publisher	Columbia University Press
Place published	New York
ISBN	9780231212304 0231212305
Abstract	"Contemporary evolutionary biology has abandoned the colonialist "ladder of progress" approaches utilized by late 19th- and early 20th-century cultural anthropologists to study the history of religions and of cultures in general. The focus of the field in the 21st century is on shared similarities and historical relationships among different groups and cultures. Lance Grande, a prominent systematist in this field, is the first to investigate the historical diversification of religious ideologies worldwide. The book demonstrates how the widespread human attraction to the supernatural led to the formation over time of organized religions--the cyclically oriented Asian faiths, Asian and western polytheisms, Abrahamic monotheism, traditional and reform Christianity, the gnostic mystery religions, and Islam--and the impact that these diverse religions had on the societies in which they were embedded. He has developed a unique graphic system of evolutionary trees to demonstrate these connections, arguing that all religious traditions are interrelated despite the often violent debates between them. A broader understanding of these historical connections and shared characteristics may, he hopes, promote a better climate of tolerance and acceptance."
Notes	Bahá'í Faith: pp. 407, 438, 475-479, 506. LCCN 2023010675. Lance Grande. illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 26 cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Preface. A modern evolutionary approach to history of religion studies -- Introductory section. Applying evolutionary theory and philosophy to aspects of human culture. Religions, classification, and phylogenetic pattern -- Explaining hypothetical patterns with evolutionary process theory -- Main section. The historical diversification (evolution) of religions. Early supernaturalism and the development of organized religion -- Indigenous Eastern organized religion and Asian cyclicism -- Afro-Euro-Mediterranean organized religion, beginning with old world hard polytheism -- Linear monotheism -- The early diversification of Abrahamic monotheism -- Traditional Christianity -- Reformation Christianity -- Biblical demiurgism : a subgroup of "gnosticism" -- Islam -- Concluding section. Four historical trends in the evolution of religions and considerations for the future of humanity. Organized religions and the evolution of human society.
Keywords	RELIGION; EVOLUTION
Number of pages	xiii, 670
Accession number	23001377

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