Discovering God: The Origins of The Great Religions and The Evolution of Belief
Stock No: WW626012
Discovering God: The Origins of The Great Religions and The Evolution of Belief  -     By: Rodney Stark

Discovering God: The Origins of The Great Religions and The Evolution of Belief

HarperOne / 2008 / Paperback

In Stock
Stock No: WW626012

Buy Item Our Price$16.19 Retail: $17.99 Save 10% ($1.80)
In Stock
Quantity:
Stock No: WW626012
HarperOne / 2008 / Paperback
Quantity:

Add To Cart

or checkout with

Add To Wishlist
Quantity:


Add To Cart

or checkout with

Wishlist

Product Close-up | Editorial Reviews
This product is not available for expedited shipping.
* This product is available for shipment only to the USA.
Others Also Purchased (15)
Select this Item Product Title/Author Availability Price Quantity
$31.24
In Stock
Our Price$31.24
Add To Cart
$31.24
$27.00
In Stock
Our Price$27.00
Retail: $30.00
Add To Cart
$27.00
$9.59
In Stock
Our Price$9.59
Retail: $11.99
Add To Cart
Quantity for The Forgotten Church: Why Rural Ministry Matters for Every Church in America - eBook0
$9.59
$17.09
In Stock
Our Price$17.09
Retail: $18.99
Add To Cart
$17.09
$13.46
In Stock
Our Price$13.46
Add To Cart
$13.46
$3.99
In Stock
Our Price$3.99
Retail: $4.99
Add To Cart
Quantity for Hope Inside Out: Approaching Depression with Purposeful Hope - eBook0
$3.99
$54.00
In Stock
Our Price$54.00
Retail: $60.00
Add To Cart
$54.00

Product Description

"Starred review. In this wide-ranging investigation, Stark detects sacred reality---not pious deception---at the heart of transcendent beliefs shared by Aborigines and Anglicans. However, it is in the revelatory faiths---and not the meditative religions of Eastern Asia---that Stark discerns the fullest manifestation of God. An essential sourcebook"---Booklist. 496 pages, softcover. HarperOne.

Product Information

Title: Discovering God: The Origins of The Great Religions and The Evolution of Belief
By: Rodney Stark
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 496
Vendor: HarperOne
Publication Date: 2008
Dimensions: 8.00 X 5.31 (inches)
Weight: 1 pound 2 ounces
ISBN: 0061626015
ISBN-13: 9780061626012
Stock No: WW626012

Publisher's Description

Winner of the 2008 Christianity Today Award of Merit in Theology/Ethics

The History of God

In Discovering God, award-winning sociologist Rodney Stark presents a monumental history of the origins of the great religions from the Stone Age to the Modern Age and wrestles with the central questions of religion and belief.

Author Bio

Rodney Stark is the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University. His thirty books on the history and sociology of religion include The Rise of Christianity, Cities of God, For the Glory of God, Discovering God, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Stark received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

More Info

Discovering God is a monumental history of the origins of the great religions from the Stone Age to the Modern Age. Sociologist Rodney Stark surveys the birth and growth of religions around the world---from the prehistoric era of primal beliefs; the history of the pyramids found in Iraq, Egypt, Mexico, and Cambodia; and the great "Axial Age" of Plato, Zoroaster, Confucius, and the Buddha, to the modern Christian missions and the global spread of Islam. He argues for a free-market theory of religion and for the controversial thesis that under the best, unimpeded conditions, the true, most authentic religions will survive and thrive. Among his many conclusions:
  • Despite decades of faulty reports that early religions were crude muddles of superstition, it turns out that primitive humans had surprisingly sophisticated notions about God and Creation.
  • The idea of "sin" appeared suddenly in the sixth century BCE and quickly reshaped religious ideas from Europe to China.
  • Some major world religions seem to lack any plausible traces of divine inspiration.
  • Ironically, some famous figures who attempted to found "Godless" religions ended up being worshiped as Gods.
Most people believe in the existence of God (or Gods), and this has apparently been so throughout human history. Many modern biologists and psychologists reject these spiritual ideas, especially those about the existence of God, as delusional. They claim that religion is a primitive survival mechanism that should have been discarded as humans evolved beyond the stage where belief in God served any useful purpose---that in modern societies, faith is a misleading crutch and an impediment to reason. In Discovering God, award-winning sociologist Rodney Stark responds to this position, arguing that it is our capacity to understand God that has evolved---that humans now know much more about God than they did in ancient times.

Editorial Reviews

Stark’s retelling of the origins of the world’s great religions is fascinating and excellent. — Newsweek

“[A] wide-ranging investigation...serious students of religion will recognize this as an essential sourcebook.” — Booklist

Ask a Question

Author/Artist Review