The good book of human nature
Subtitle: an evolutionary reading of the Bible
By: Carel van Schaik and Kai Michel
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2016
Place of publication: New York City, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 472
ISBN-13: 9780465074709
Subjects: Criticism, interpretation; Philosophy; Psychology; Bible; Bible and anthropology
Description: "In The Good Book of Human Nature, evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik and historian Kai Michel advance a new view of Homo sapiens' cultural evolution. The Bible, they argue, was written to make sense of the single greatest change in history: the transition from egalitarian hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. Religion arose as a strategy to cope with the unprecedented levels of epidemic disease, violence, inequality, and injustice that confronted us when we abandoned the bush--and which still confront us today, "--Amazon.com.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 397-453) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part I: Genesis: When Life Became Difficult; title: 1 Adam and Eve: The Real Fall of Man; title: 2 Cain and Abel: The Birth of Violence; title: 3 Sons of Man, Sons of God: Dubious Relatives; title: 4 The Flood: God's Wrath; title: 5 The Tower of Babel: Death Traps; title: 6 Patriarchs and Matriaarchs: Family Feud; title: Part II: Moses And The Exodus: Becoming The One And Only; title: 7 Moses: God's Will Becomes Law; title: 8 Yaweh: The God with Two Lives; title: 9 The Murmuring People: Our Clamoring First Nature; title: 10 The Torah's Legacy: the Lesson of Exodus; title: Part III: Kings And Prophets: Morality Made Divine; title: 11 Judges and Kings: God Gives You Strength; title: 12 The Prophets: God's Word from the Mouths of Men; title: 13 How Can a Good God Be So Bad? On Heavenly Morality; title: Part IV: Psalms And Co.: The Other God Of The Bible; title: 14 The Psalms: My God; title: 15 Job: How God Got Himself into a Devil of a Mess; title: 16 Daniel: The Discovery of the Afterlife; title: Part V: The New Testament: Salvation; title: 17 Jesus of Nazareth: God Becomes Human; title: 18 When Jesus Stayed in Heaven: The Birth of Christianity; title: 19 The Book of Nature: God's Second Bible.