I've become really interested in the history and evolution of religion. I would like to get a basic understanding of all the major religions in the world. What books should I read?
I'm an Anglican (Episcopalian) deacon – your question is perhaps slightly problematic, in that "religion" is extremely difficult to define. Westerners (confessional Christians or not) tend to have in mind something that looks a bit like protestant Christianity. Faith traditions intersect with culture and history and everything else.
Brent Nongbri's "Before Religion" is good on this; he engages with the whole concept of "religion" and pulls it apart; you mention the idea of evolution of religion, which is itself an idea he critiques. You might find it very interesting.
I can't speak for any other major faith, but if you want a thousand-mile in the sky view of the history of Christianity, Alister McGrath's "Christian History" is a decent start. You might find short courses being run at a local university or theological college.
And for Islam, I recommend Karen Armstrong’s “Islam: A Short History”. This book gives context to Muhammad as a Man in addition to the influential religion he adapted/created (for most major religions are adaptations, “modernizations” of what came before.)
Is this a book that adherents of Islam would be cool with?
I ask because…
From my experience as a reader and an adherent to a slightly-less-than-mainstream Christian, I’ve observed that books about religion come in three general flavors:
- extra extra! Read all about our awesome religion!
- have you heard about that religion over there? Read here to learn ingesting tidbits that are inclined to make sure it remains that religion, out of your circle
- here’s just an honest attempt to shed light without an agenda, make of it what you will, practitioners and non-adherents are mostly cool with the content
My experience is that first two categories dominate; the third is harder to come by. Always interested in that third kind.
I second the recommendation for Nongbri's "Before Religion". It definitely improved my understanding of what it is we even mean / have meant by "religion".
For a more evolutionary understanding of religion, I'd recommend Joseph Henrich's "The WEIRDest People in the World" and "The Secret of our Success".
Finally though certainly not least importantly, I'd recommend Iain McGilchrist's "The Master and His Emissary" and "The Matter with Things". Both touch on how it is we see and understand the world and how the current default perspective differs from those of other times and places.
I'm a big fan of the "Very Short Introductions" series from Oxford University Press. They're usually brief and gives a wide starting point to a lot of different viewpoints of a subject, useful as a starting point into a topic. Seems there are about 730 books published in the series so far, with a wide range of topics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Short_Introductions
I personally haven't read it, but there is one for religion as well, "Religion: A Very Short Introduction" (9780190064679). Then there are a bunch of them around specific subjects in religion as well, browse the list in the Wikipedia article and you'll find them.
I've read maybe ~20 books from the series and all besides two or three have been of utmost quality, so probably this one is at least a good starting point.
I have had the opposite experience and don’t recommend this series at all. Every book I’ve read from it is either rambling and hard to follow or simply not written for a beginner audience. You’re better off reading the Wikipedia page.
For Buddhism I might recommend Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" [1]. He's very clear and is careful to make sure he points out when a particular teaching he's describing might not be emphasized in other schools of Buddhism, but are still there as a foundation across all of them.
There are tons of sutras available at Access to Insight [2], which all schools of Buddhism use, but one (the Theravada) uses almost exclusively.
Another book that I found really illuminating was Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" [3]. It helps point out how the teachings can be put into practice.
She has published all kinds of different work: comprehensive surveys, biographies of key figures, memoir, the works. She’s so prolific, clear, and consistent that you can just follow your nose to whichever entry point strikes your fancy.
I like this book but I don't think it's a good fit for what the OP is looking for. James is interested in the religious experiences that individuals have, and writes from a Protestant Christian point of view. It doesn't have much to say about the history or evolution of religion as a general global phenomenon.
I guess I took the word evolution to mean he was interested in how religions develop at all, and maybe James has some insight by showing how the human animal has similar religious beliefs around the world. Maybe the reason humans develop religion, is because they all have a neural network that provides a similar 'religious experience'.
I'm not an expert on religion, especially comparative religion. So, I will forego any personal recommendations.
But, in general, when looking for books on a topic, one of my first stops is fivebooks.com, where they have experts recommend their favorite books on some topic. I know this is a list of books, plural, rather than "book", as the literal text of your question would imply. Still, here is their page on religion:
You are asking this question on Pentecost Sunday, observed by many Christians. Today we celebrate the arrival of person of The Holy Spirit, who supernaturally empowered Jesus's disciples in Jerusalem, following his death. You can read about this in the book of Acts in the Bible.
As you study I would encourage you to pray. If I was interested in learning to drive, I just wouldn't read about it :-)
Bart D. Ehrman has written a lot of interesting books on Christianity (some of his work might be considered controversial to some practitioners). E.g.,
"Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior"
"Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics"
"Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew"
And, many more. I don't know of a commercial book site where I can just link to a search by author:
Readit News
Brent Nongbri's "Before Religion" is good on this; he engages with the whole concept of "religion" and pulls it apart; you mention the idea of evolution of religion, which is itself an idea he critiques. You might find it very interesting.
I can't speak for any other major faith, but if you want a thousand-mile in the sky view of the history of Christianity, Alister McGrath's "Christian History" is a decent start. You might find short courses being run at a local university or theological college.
I ask because…
From my experience as a reader and an adherent to a slightly-less-than-mainstream Christian, I’ve observed that books about religion come in three general flavors:
- extra extra! Read all about our awesome religion!
- have you heard about that religion over there? Read here to learn ingesting tidbits that are inclined to make sure it remains that religion, out of your circle
- here’s just an honest attempt to shed light without an agenda, make of it what you will, practitioners and non-adherents are mostly cool with the content
My experience is that first two categories dominate; the third is harder to come by. Always interested in that third kind.
For a more evolutionary understanding of religion, I'd recommend Joseph Henrich's "The WEIRDest People in the World" and "The Secret of our Success".
Finally though certainly not least importantly, I'd recommend Iain McGilchrist's "The Master and His Emissary" and "The Matter with Things". Both touch on how it is we see and understand the world and how the current default perspective differs from those of other times and places.
I personally haven't read it, but there is one for religion as well, "Religion: A Very Short Introduction" (9780190064679). Then there are a bunch of them around specific subjects in religion as well, browse the list in the Wikipedia article and you'll find them.
I've read maybe ~20 books from the series and all besides two or three have been of utmost quality, so probably this one is at least a good starting point.
There are tons of sutras available at Access to Insight [2], which all schools of Buddhism use, but one (the Theravada) uses almost exclusively.
Another book that I found really illuminating was Chogyam Trungpa's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" [3]. It helps point out how the teachings can be put into practice.
[1] https://plumvillage.org/books/the-heart-of-the-buddhas-teach...
[2] https://www.accesstoinsight.org/
[3] https://www.shambhala.com/cutting-through-spiritual-material...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong
She has published all kinds of different work: comprehensive surveys, biographies of key figures, memoir, the works. She’s so prolific, clear, and consistent that you can just follow your nose to whichever entry point strikes your fancy.
But, in general, when looking for books on a topic, one of my first stops is fivebooks.com, where they have experts recommend their favorite books on some topic. I know this is a list of books, plural, rather than "book", as the literal text of your question would imply. Still, here is their page on religion:
https://fivebooks.com/category/religion/
As you study I would encourage you to pray. If I was interested in learning to drive, I just wouldn't read about it :-)
"Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior"
"Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics"
"Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew"
And, many more. I don't know of a commercial book site where I can just link to a search by author:
https://libgen.rs/search.php?req=Bart+D.+Ehrman&lg_topic=lib...