In Gods We Trust

Author: Scott Atran
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019988434X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 748

Book Description
This ambitious, interdisciplinary book seeks to explain the origins of religion using our knowledge of the evolution of cognition. A cognitive anthropologist and psychologist, Scott Atran argues that religion is a by-product of human evolution just as the cognitive intervention, cultural selection, and historical survival of religion is an accommodation of certain existential and moral elements that have evolved in the human condition.

In God We Trust

Author: Jean Shepherd
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 030776866X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories—the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas Story Before Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean Shepherd: a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immensely resonant—and utterly hilarious—works of comic art. In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement, a compound of irony, affection, and perfect detail that speaks across generations. In God We Trust, Shepherd's wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage “You can never go back.” Bending the ear of Flick, his childhood-buddy-turned-bartender, Shepherd recalls passionately his genuine Red Ryder BB gun, confesses adolescent failure in the arms of Junie Jo Prewitt, and relives a story of man against fish that not even Hemingway could rival. From pop art to the World's Fair, Shepherd's subjects speak with a universal irony and are deeply and unabashedly grounded in American Midwestern life, together rendering a wonderfully nostalgic impression of a more innocent era when life was good, fun was clean, and station wagons roamed the earth. A comic genius who bridged the gap between James Thurber and David Sedaris, Shepherd may have accomplished for Holden, Indiana, what Mark Twain did for Hannibal, Missouri.

The Story of in God We Trust

Author: John Hudson Tiner
Publisher: Master Books
ISBN: 9780890513927
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Reveals the events that led to the phrase "In God We Trust" finding a place on American coins and currency.

Why We Believe in God(s)

Author: J. Anderson Thomson
Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
ISBN: 0984493239
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 89

Book Description
In this groundbreaking volume, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, with Clare Aukofer, offers a succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief. Dr. Thomson, a highly respected practicing psychiatrist with credentials in forensic psychiatry and evolutionary psychology, methodically investigates the components and causes of religious belief in the same way any scientist would investigate the movement of astronomical bodies or the evolution of life over time—that is, as a purely natural phenomenon. Providing compelling evidence from psychology, the cognitive neurosciences, and related fields, he, with Ms. Aukofer, presents an easily accessible and exceptionally convincing case that god(s) were created by man—not vice versa. With this slim volume, Dr. Thomson establishes himself as a must-read thinker and leading voice on the primacy of reason and science over superstition and religion.

In Gods We Trust

Author: Thomas Robbins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351513060
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 809

Book Description
Much has changed since publication of the first edition of this established text in the sociology of religion. Revised and expanded, this edition emphasizes new patterns of religious change and conflict emerging in the United States in the latter part of the twentieth century. Leading scholars describe and analyze developments in five main areas: The fundamentalist and evangelical revival; challenge and renewal in mainline churches; spiritual innovation and the so-called New Age; women's movements and issues and their impact; and politics and civil religion. Chapters include an examination of religious movements' responses to AIDS; Christian schools; quasi-religions; healing rites and goddess worship; recruitment of women to charismatic and Hassidic groups,; televangelists and the Christian Right; racist rural populism; contemporary Mormonism and its growth; cults and brainwashing; Jonestown; dissidence in the Catholic church; and trance-channeling, among other topics. A new introductory chapter by the editors establishes an integrating framework in terms of three themes: increasing conflict and controversy associated with American religion; increasing focus on various forms of power in American religion; and challenges to models of secularization and modernization inherent in religious revival, innovation, and politicization. A concluding chapter by the editors looks at new trends and assesses their possible impact in coming years. Like its predecessor, this outstanding collection is a significant contribution to the literature as well as a valuable resource for the classroom.

In God We Trust

Author: B. B. Hicks
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 1973656841
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 58

Book Description
Today we are facing insurmountable problems because we have taken God out of our homes, schools, churches—and now our nation. Have we taken God out of our lives? Have we become too busy for God? Are we so preoccupied with the cares of this world or the things of this world that we don’t take time or make time for our God? In God We Trust is based on the fact that America started as a nation trusting God, and author B. B. Hicks goes on to look at where we are today as a nation, as a church, and as people of God. In God We Trust teaches us about how to get to know God, trust God, and turn back to God. And most importantly, it will help us learn how to stay connected to God. In God We Trust is a clarion call to the nation, as well as to the church, to turn back to God. We, as people of God, need to put first things first—and God should be first in our lives. We should perform a self-assessment to determine what are our priorities and what is first on our agenda. The Bible tells us that God is a jealous God, and he wants to be first in all things (Exodus 20:4–5). Through Jesus Christ, we can learn to put God first.

Supernatural Agents

Author: Iikka Pyysiainen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019970175X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
The cognitive science of religion is a rapidly growing field whose practitioners apply insights from advances in cognitive science in order to provide a better understanding of religious impulses, beliefs, and behaviors. In this book Ilkka Pyysiäinen shows how this methodology can profitably be used in the comparative study of beliefs about superhuman agents. He begins by developing a theoretical outline of the basic, modular architecture of the human mind and especially the human capacity to understand agency. He then goes on to discuss examples of supernatural agency in detail, arguing that the human ability to attribute beliefs and desires to others forms the basis of conceptions of supernatural agents and of such social cognition in which supernatural agents are postulated as interested parties in social life. Beliefs about supernatural agency are natural, says Pyysiäinen, in the sense that such concepts are used in an intuitive and automatic fashion. Two dots and a straight line below them automatically trigger the idea of a face, for example. Given that the mind consists of a host of such modular mechanisms, certain kinds of beliefs will always have a selective advantage over others. Abstract theological concepts are usually elaborate versions of such simpler and more contagious folk conceptions. Pyysiäinen uses ethnographical and survey materials as well as doctrinal treatises to show that there are certain recurrent patterns in beliefs about supernatural agents both at the level of folk-religion and of formal theology.

Lies We Believe About God

Author: Wm. Paul Young
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501101412
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 163

Book Description
From the author of the bestselling novel The Shack and the New York Times bestsellers Cross Roads and Eve comes a compelling, conversational exploration of twenty-eight assumptions about God—assumptions that just might be keeping us from experiencing His unconditional, all-encompassing love. In his wildly popular novels, Wm. Paul Young portrayed the Triune God in ways that challenged our thinking—sometimes upending long-held beliefs, but always centered in the eternal, all-encompassing nature of God’s love. Now, in Wm. Paul Young’s first nonfiction book, he invites us to revisit our assumptions about God—this time using the Bible, theological discussion, and personal anecdotes. Paul encourages us to think through beliefs we’ve presumed to be true and consider whether some might actually be false. Expounding on the compassion fans felt from the “Papa” portrayed in The Shack—now a major film starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer—Paul encourages you to think anew about important issues including sin, religion, hell, politics, identity, creation, human rights, and helping us discover God’s deep and abiding love.

Big Gods

Author: Ara Norenzayan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691169748
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
Examines how the belief in gods has lead to cooperation and sometimes conflict between groups. The author also looks at how some cooperative societies have developed without belief in gods.

Trusting God

Author: Jerry Bridges
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1631467948
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Over 500,000 copies sold “Why is God allowing this? What have I done wrong?” Many of us have asked these questions when life hits us hard. When our circumstances defy explanation, it is difficult to untangle our emotions from the truth. Before long, we feel confused and frustrated. We doubt His care for us. We wonder how He could allow these circumstances at all, or if He is really in control. During a time of darkness and adversity in his own life, Jerry Bridges dug deep into the Bible for answers on God’s sovereignty. What he learned changed his life—and it will change yours too. Find the answers to some of your most heartfelt questions, such as: Is God in control? Can I trust God? What is our responsibility when things are hard? How can I grow through adversity? And more Explore the scope of God’s care and control over nations, nature, and the tiny details of your life. You’ll find yourself trusting Him more completely―even when life hurts. Now with an added study guide for personal use or group discussion so you can dive deeper into this staple of Jerry Bridges’s classic collection. “The writings of Jerry Bridges are a gift to the church. He addresses a relevant topic with the wisdom of a scholar and the heart of a servant.” —Max Lucado, pastor and bestselling author