Welcome to 'Faith Matters'

Why are human beings religious?

What does religion contribute to human communities?

What are the darker aspects of religion?

Can people be 'spiritual, but not religious'?

What is the future of religion in a pluralistic world?

These are some of the questions we'll be raising this spring as we discuss The Faith Instinct, by Nicholas Wade. You can participate in our discussions by reading and commenting on this blog, or you can join us on Thursday mornings (February 23-March 29), at St. Benedict's Church in Los Osos.

In The Faith Instinct Nicholas Wade explores the evolutionary origins of religious behavior in early humans, tracing the cultural development of religion from its origins up until the present day. The book does not challenge the central belief of either atheists or people of faith, since it offers no opinion as to whether or not God exists. It's about religious behavior and its value to the first human societies and their successors.

Based on evidence from anthropologists’ studies of religion, and new findings from genetics and archaeology, The Faith Instinct concludes that religious behavior was favored by natural selection because of the survival advantage it conferred on early human groups. The religion of early peoples underwent a profound cultural transformation as the hunter gatherers formed the first settled societies. The form of religious observance shifted from all-night communal dances, to the spring and harvest festivals of early agricultural societies, to the forms of religion more familiar today. The Faith Instinct also retraces the historical context in which Judaism, Christianity and Islam arose, and analyzes how religion has retained many of its ancient roles even in modern secular societies.

I hope you'll join our discussion! If you find this subject (and the questions it raises) intriguing, get your own copy of The Faith Instinct. Read it, enjoy it, argue with it -- and post your own comments and questions as we go along.