| Religious Evolution and the Axial Age: From Shamans to Priests to Prophets Contributor(s): Sanderson, Stephen K. (Author), Wiebe, Donald (Editor), Martin, Luther H. (Editor) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1350047422 ISBN-13: 9781350047426 Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic OUR PRICE: $158.40 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 2018 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion - Religion | Comparative Religion - Religion | Christian Theology - Anthropology |
| Dewey: 200.9 |
| LCCN: 2017036763 |
| Series: Scientific Studies of Religion: Inquiry and Explanation |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.3" (1.45 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Religious Evolution and the Axial Age describes and explains the evolution of religion over the past ten millennia. It shows that an overall evolutionary sequence can be observed, running from the spirit and shaman dominated religions of small-scale societies, to the archaic religions of the ancient civilizations, and then to the salvation religions of the Axial Age. Stephen K. Sanderson draws on ideas from new cognitive and evolutionary psychological theories, as well as comparative religion, anthropology, history, and sociology. He argues that religion is a biological adaptation that evolved in order to solve a number of human problems, especially those concerned with existential anxiety and ontological insecurity. Much of the focus of the book is on the Axial Age, the period in the second half of the first millennium BCE that marked the greatest religious transformation in world history. The book demonstrates that, as a result of massive increases in the scale and scope of war and large-scale urbanization, the problems of existential anxiety and ontological insecurity became particularly acute. These changes evoked new religious needs, especially for salvation and release from suffering. As a result entirely new religions-Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism-arose to help people cope with the demands of the new historical era. |
Contributor Bio(s): Sanderson, Stephen K.: - Stephen K. Sanderson is a research fellow at the Institute for Research on World-Systems at the University of California at Riverside, USA.Slone, D. Jason: - D. Jason Sloane is Associate Professor of Cognition and Culture at the School of Arts and Sciences, Tiffin University, USA.Kundt, Radek: - Radek Kundt is Assistant Professor in the Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. He is also a Research Fellow at the LEVYNA Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion, Masaryk University, Czech Republic.Wiebe, Donald: - Donald Wiebe is Professor of Religion, Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada.Martin, Luther H.: - Luther H. Martin is Professor of Religion Emeritus at the University of Vermont, USA.McCorkle Jr, William W.: - William W. McCorkle is Associate Professor and Research Specialist at the Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion and Ritual, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. |