The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion

Offers a fresh and detailed take on the evolution of religious behavior from a biobehavioral perspective, promoting a new understanding that may help build bridges across the religious divide. There has been much recent interest in the study of religion from the perspective of Darwinian evolution. The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion offers a broad overview of the topic, written by internationally recognized experts. In addition to its primary focus on religious behavior, the book addresses other important aspects of religion, such as values, beliefs, and emotions as they affect behavior. The contributors approach the evolution of religion by examining the behavior of individuals in their everyday lives. After describing various religious behaviors, the contributors consider the behaviors with reference to their evolutionary history, development during the lifetime of the individual, proximate causes, and adaptive value. Happily, this foray into understanding religion from a biobehavioral perspective demonstrates that, at the biological and behavioral levels, what unites the different religions of the world is far greater than what divides them.

About the Author :
Jay R. Feierman, MD, is retired clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

Review :
Religion and science are compatible, asserts psychiatrist Feierman (retired, U. of New Mexico; B.S., zoology) in introducing the new non-theological approach to the study of religion through neo- Darwinian disciplines including ethology (the biology of behavior), evolutionary psychology, and cognitive science. International scholars describe the parallel biosocial evolutionary history of religious behaviors, their basis in brain development, causes, and adaptive roles. For example, closing one's eyes in prayer in monotheistic religions is viewed as akin to animal expression of submission to higher-ranked animals. Unlike other more opinionated works on the topic, The Biology of Religious Behavior invites readers to put aside their biases to consider how science and religion can assist one another in the search for truth. . . . the book provides a good, enriching framework from which one can understand and appreciate religions as an outsider . . . Recommended. General and academic audiences, upper-division undergraduates and above. …a splendid effort to show how religion evolved and how it creates the identity of religious communities…outstanding edited volume. …there is sufficient heft so that the non-expert will learn quite a bit, and the expert can find new ways of looking at old problems. In every way this is a very interesting book and it filled up some gaps in my knowledge. The volume offers an exciting read, running the whole gamut from seriously empirical to wildly speculative. . . . it is an inspiring overview, combining valuable pearls of empirical and theoretical work with open-minded forays into possible paths of future inquiry. It is a strong testimonial to recent dynamics in the field of revolutionary religious studies. . . .Those interested in bringing the scientific study of religion beyond outdated, disciplinary stagnations are recommended to enter this fray! Feierman has put together this very readable and useful study of religion as religion has 'evolved' from primitive times until today. . . . All in all, this is a tightly argued book, with a thesis that fills a void; it should be lauded due it taking up the idea of religion from a broad perspective, and not simply from a singularist perspective instead, which is often the omission of former attempted analyses. . . . Philosophy of religion courses would well benefit from this title, as it make valuable connections among various religions, opening up the possibility for further ecumenical dialogue. For this, it should be suited well for upper-division college courses as a supplementary text. The essays are of such a high caliber and so free of wooden materialism that they are well positioned to invoke or provoke ongoing query . . . This is a textbook that I shall assign to my students because it gets so much right so many times . . . the focus on biology puts the theological questions on the side lines, as it must. For the philosophical theologian the focus is also on the ontological nature of the referent and on the complexities of the self - world correlation where genuine sacred folds perennially punctuate our encounters with the heart of nature. …this is a strong book; it should be lauded, due to it taking up the idea of religion from a broad perspective…Philosophy of religion courses would well benefit from this title, as it makes valuable connections amongst various religionsm opening up the possibility for further ecumenical dialogue. For this, it should be used well in upper-division college courses as a supplementary text. The range is impressive, with many useful and insightful points being well-argued, and Feireman has structured the book well, both in the order of the contents, and in his topping and tailing the collection. … These contributions to the understanding of religion and its evolutionary roots are very welcome. … the chapters…admirably demonstrate how the ethological paradigm—investigating naturally occurring behavior in its typical environment—can shed new light on religion's evolutionary origins. … it does demonstrate by utilising a strongly empirical and widely comparative methodology that human religious behaviours have deep roots in general species behaviours and most definitely 'make sense' within the context of our mammalian heritage. That already, it seems to me, makes this a book well worth the focused attention of the reader's eye. The Biology of Religious Behavior contains insightful theoretical and methodological work that anyone interested in the evolutionary foundations of religion will want to browse. Complete with reviews of existing literature and original research not previously published, it certainly should not be ignored by researchers, scholars, and students pursuing current efforts to recast the supernatural as natural.