Cris
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Genealogy of Religion
http://genealogyreligion.net/
Exploring the Origins, History, and Future of Religion
LATEST ARTICLES ( 560 )
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Plant Pantheism
A few years ago I attended a conference where some apparently serious people debated whether plants had consciousness. To me this seemed absurd, given that... Read more
Posted on 08 January 2014 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Profitable Proof of Heaven
In 2012, Eben Alexander published Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. The credulous, who had been smitten by Colton Burpo’s Heaven Is... Read more
Posted on 03 January 2014 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Free Will?
If you’ve ever spent time inside the ontologically arid box where atheists and religionists debate the issue of free will, you have probably been left gasping... Read more
Posted on 02 January 2014 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Christian Mysteries
Salon is a strange virtual place for an article titled: “Jesus’ Resurrection: What Really Happened?” I have italicized “really” because this word is usually... Read more
Posted on 16 December 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Paul Radin’s “Primitive Religion”
Note: This is another post in a continuing series on evolutionary theories of religion. The previous post in this series is “Lowie’s Primitive Religion. Read more
Posted on 14 December 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Robert Lowie’s “Primitive Religion”
Note: This is another post in a continuing series on evolutionary theories of religion. The previous post in this series is “Durkheim’s Elementary Forms. Read more
Posted on 14 December 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Emile Durkheim’s “Elementary Forms”
In continuing my survey of early evolutionary theories of religion, I have finally gotten to Durkheim and his successors. In an earlier post, I listed the... Read more
Posted on 09 December 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Evolving Worldviews
When thinking about hunter-gatherers, anthropologists and laypeople alike tend to assume that they are descended, in an unbroken line, from ancestors who were... Read more
Posted on 02 December 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Native American Worldviews
Most anthropologists who come to know Native American worldviews undergo a transformation. While these transformations differ in their effects, they have one... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Aztec Blood Ritual
Over at Abandoned Footnotes, Xavier Marquez gives a gorgeous and garish review of Aztecs: An Interpretation (1995) by Inga Clendinnen. Read more
Posted on 21 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
“First American” Religion
Books don’t usually sit untouched on my night stand for very long, but Ruth Underhill’s Red Man’s Religion: Beliefs and Practices of the Indians North of... Read more
Posted on 18 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Rising Star Expedition
Last month some spelunkers in South Africa discovered a deep-cave hominin fossil deposit that is now being excavated by Lee Berger’s team. This is a major... Read more
Posted on 15 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Spirit Quest
It is a curious fact that spirits manifest themselves and communicate only with those who believe they exist.[1] When skeptics investigate spirits, as they... Read more
Posted on 13 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Theological Nonsense
Over at The Atlantic, Tara Isabella Burton makes the best possible case for studying theology. As she describes her studies at Oxford (where she is working on... Read more
Posted on 11 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Death’s Moment
Is death having a moment? According to this Atlantic story, the answer for those involved in the “death movement” is yes:Forty years ago, the cultural... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Evolving Spooks
With the approach of Halloween we are getting some good spook stories. Most are categorized as “superstition.” While some claim that superstitions have nothing... Read more
Posted on 30 October 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Dishing Civil Religion
Over at The Dish, Andrew Sullivan argues that the Tea Party is like a religion (and is driven in large part by people who fuse religion with politics). Read more
Posted on 28 October 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Superstitious People & Pigeons
Over at The Atlantic, professor Stuart Vyse writes about superstition and the magical thinking that is especially prevalent among people who are intensely... Read more
Posted on 23 October 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Star Axis & Sky Gods
Over at aeon, Ross Anderson has written a gorgeous piece about Star Axis, an enormous art installation and observatory that has been slowly evolved, over 40... Read more
Posted on 16 October 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Newton & Shaman
With fall in the air it’s time for some fresh books. I’ve just ordered a couple, based on some intriguing reviews. Over at the LRB, Jonathan Ree covers Newton... Read more
Posted on 14 October 2013 DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY