Discovering God: The Origins of The Great Religions and The Evolution of Belief

Rodney Stark is the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University. His thirty books on the history and sociology of religion include The Rise of Christianity, Cities of God, For the Glory of God, Discovering God, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Stark received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Discovering God is a monumental history of the origins of the great religions from the Stone Age to the Modern Age. Sociologist Rodney Stark surveys the birth and growth of religions around the world---from the prehistoric era of primal beliefs; the history of the pyramids found in Iraq, Egypt, Mexico, and Cambodia; and the great "Axial Age" of Plato, Zoroaster, Confucius, and the Buddha, to the modern Christian missions and the global spread of Islam. He argues for a free-market theory of religion and for the controversial thesis that under the best, unimpeded conditions, the true, most authentic religions will survive and thrive. Among his many conclusions:

• Despite decades of faulty reports that early religions were crude muddles of superstition, it turns out that primitive humans had surprisingly sophisticated notions about God and Creation.
• The idea of "sin" appeared suddenly in the sixth century BCE and quickly reshaped religious ideas from Europe to China.
• Some major world religions seem to lack any plausible traces of divine inspiration.
• Ironically, some famous figures who attempted to found "Godless" religions ended up being worshiped as Gods.

Most people believe in the existence of God (or Gods), and this has apparently been so throughout human history. Many modern biologists and psychologists reject these spiritual ideas, especially those about the existence of God, as delusional. They claim that religion is a primitive survival mechanism that should have been discarded as humans evolved beyond the stage where belief in God served any useful purpose---that in modern societies, faith is a misleading crutch and an impediment to reason. In Discovering God, award-winning sociologist Rodney Stark responds to this position, arguing that it is our capacity to understand God that has evolved---that humans now know much more about God than they did in ancient times.

“[A] wide-ranging investigation...serious students of religion will recognize this as an essential sourcebook.” - Booklist

“Professor Stark’s new book is a tour de force of scholarship, economy in presentation and shrewd observation. As a social scientist he brings out many contrasts that other scholars miss. His comparison of Islam with Christianity is especially penetrating.” - Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute

Stark’s retelling of the origins of the world’s great religions is fascinating and excellent. - Newsweek

“Writing with his accustomed clarity and sure command of his subject, Rodney Stark here offers the newest masterful book in his distinguished series on religion. Stark’s views, supported firmly by the evidence, should bring about a profound reorientation in the study of religion. Discovering God is rich, deep, and enjoyably readable.” - Jeffrey Burton Russell, author of A History of Heaven and of Paradise Mislaid

“A highly provocative book, proposing a model for interaction among the study of religions, theological methodologies, and the social and physical sciences. A daring departure from many of the traditional treatments of such matters.” - Justo L. Gonzalez, author of The Story of Christianity and A History of Christian Thought

“In an intellectual marketplace full of crude, prejudiced and dogmatic speculations about the genetic basis of religion, for good or (mostly) for ill, a properly historical and cultural study is extremely welcome. Rodney Stark, as ever, writes clearly and with erudition for a lay as well as a learned public and explores the hypothesis that God is discovered, not merely projected or fabricated.” - David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics