Cris
MY BLOGS
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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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The Persistence of Religion
At the conclusion of Elaine Pagels’ lecture on the Book of Revelation, the first question someone asked her was why does religion persist? Pagels answered: “I... Read more
Posted on 10 November 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Elaine Pagels on Revelation
Elaine Pagels is an unlikely celebrity. It is not often that professors of religion write books which so thoroughly and successfully straddle the... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Ultra-Orthodox Slackers
Israel has an ultra-Orthodox problem. Males born into haredi families can look forward to the following: Exempted from military service; Exempted from work or... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
The China Rule & Cult of Confucius
China is big, old, and fascinating. Its importance in the larger scheme of things is such that there should be what I call “The China Rule.” This rule would... Read more
Posted on 06 November 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Bioarchaeology of Crucifixion
Fascinating post by Kristina Killgrove over at Osteons, with bonus clip from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Besides perfecting the dark art of crucifixion over... Read more
Posted on 05 November 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Your Homunculus is Credulous
Thanks to the hard work and serendipity of Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, who was recently profiled in the New York Times, we know that our left brain homunculus is a... Read more
Posted on 02 November 2011 BIOLOGY, DEBATE, RELIGION -
Promiscuous Believers
Americans are notoriously religious, which means that most believe in supernatural agents and forces. While most of these supernaturals are of the Christian... Read more
Posted on 02 November 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
Seeing Catholic: Design, Adaptation & Teleology
If I understand my Catholic friends and scholars correctly, God created the cosmos, earth, and life. He sparked the original organism and designed an... Read more
Posted on 31 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Your Homunculus Is A Liar
The person who lives inside your head may seem rational and honest, but who is fooling who? If you are fortunate there is only one voice and if you are sober th... Read more
Posted on 27 October 2011 BIOLOGY, DEBATE, PSYCHOLOGY -
The Non-Separation of Church & State
Review: Masking Hegemony: A Geneaology of Liberalism, Religion and the Private Sphere, by Craig Martin (Equinox Pub. 2010) “Separation of church and state. Read more
Posted on 25 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
“God” Debate Straitjacketed by Myopia
Over at Salon the MIT physicist and novelist Alan Lightman recently asked whether God exists, a question he poses in the service of reconciling science with... Read more
Posted on 24 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Göbekli Tepe: Series Conclusion
In the Göbekli Tepe series opener, I noted that several claims have been made about this exceptional archaeological site: It was built by nomadic... Read more
Posted on 21 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Göbekli Tepe: Houses of the Holy?
In the series introduction, I asked whether Göbekli Tepe was (as the excavator Klaus Schmidt suggests) an archaeological or metaphorical Stairway to Heaven.... Read more
Posted on 20 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Göbekli Tepe: Publications & Reports
In 1994 Klaus Schmidt discovered Göbekli Tepe and in 1995 he began the ongoing excavations. In 1998 Schmidt published his first site report. To date, Schmidt ha... Read more
Posted on 17 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY -
Göbekli Tepe: The Claims
Göbekli Tepe has received more press coverage in recent years than perhaps any other archaeological site, including Stonehenge. Some of this coverage is due to... Read more
Posted on 14 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Göbekli Tepe: Site & Surrounds
The 11,000 year old archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe sits on a hill in southeastern Turkey overlooking the surrounding plains and hills. Here is the... Read more
Posted on 14 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Göbekli Tepe: Series Introduction
The 11,000 year old archaeological site of Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey is undoubtedly one of the most important in the world. German archaeologist Klaus... Read more
Posted on 12 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Anti-Mormonism as Bigotry
Following hard on the heels of a prominent Texas pastor’s Rick Perry supporting declaration that Mormonism is a cult, James Fallows over at The Atlantic was... Read more
Posted on 11 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
From Paleolithic Diviners to Axial Prophets
A person of many astute observations, one of Robert Bellah’s most astute is his refrain (when talking about the history of religions) that “nothing is ever... Read more
Posted on 09 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Better Angels of Our Nature
Although I can acknowledge that the world is a better place because Steven Pinker is in it, it is harder for me to acknowledge — as Pinker argues in his new boo... Read more
Posted on 08 October 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION