Religious Evolution and the Axial Age
From Shamans to Priests to Prophets
- 320 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
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.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-title
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- List of Figures and Tables
- Prologue
- 1. What Religion Is
- 2. The Evolutionary Forms of the Religious Life
- 3. The Religions of the Axial Age
- 4. Explaining Religion
- 5. Religion as an Evolutionary Adaptation
- 6. The Sociocultural Evolution of Religion, 1: The Overall Pattern
- 7. The Sociocultural Evolution of Religion, 2: The Axial Age
- 8. Religion Past, Present, and Future
- Appendix A: Codes for Stage of Religious Evolution in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample
- Appendix B: Ancient Cities and Estimated City Sizes
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index