God: A Human HistoryNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of Zealot examines humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this “timely, riveting, enlightening, and necessary” (HuffPost) history of our understanding of God. “A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. Now, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large. With thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to know the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As a result, we bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature—our compassion, our thirst for justice—but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. More than just a history, God is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives. |
Contents
| 3 | |
The Lord of Beasts | 19 |
The Face in the Tree | 37 |
Spears into Plows | 51 |
Lofty Persons | 67 |
The High God | 89 |
God Is One | 111 |
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According Adam agriculture Akhenaten Allah American ancestors ancient animals appear argued attributes became become began begin belief Bible body called Cambridge Cave Art caves century Chicago Christian claim cognitive concept created creation culture David deity divine early earth East Egypt Egyptian evidence Evolution existence experience explain face fact father figure force Genesis Göbekli Tepe God's gods Greek hands heaven Hebrew History human hundred hunting idea impulse Islam Israel Israelites Jesus Jewish John Journal kind king known land living London Lord meaning Mesopotamia Mind monotheism Moses myths nature notes Origins Oxford painted Paleolithic Pantheism Persian person Philosophy reason Reflections religion religious rituals scholars simply Society soul spirit story Studies symbolic temple Theological theory things thought thousand tion tradition Translated tree University Press worship Yahweh York