The Evolution of God

By: Robert Wright

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.

He explains why spirituality has a role today and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism but to future harmony. Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking reexamination of the past and a visionary look forward.

©2009 Robert Wright (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[An] in-depth approach yields original insights." ( Kirkus)

Non Zero Sum

the explanatory power of evolution makes it one of the most robust theories available to us. Wright, for his part, uses the non zero sum game as an effective explanation contributing to the evolution of god. As mankind's circumstances have changed, so too has the concept of god. From Polytheism to Monaltry to Monotheism, Wright provides a linear directionality to show how, and why, the Abrahamic God would become the lone winner in Western religion. Great read with honest scholarship. Wright makes the point upfront this is a materialistic account. He follows the facts to their most logical conclusions, always aware of the messiness involved in a huge undertaking such as this.

great book

very interesting and thought provoking. the story can be a little hard to follow at times

interesting perspectives

a good read. interesting perspective comes well after having read non-zero by the same author.

Excellent Listen

Clear thought and opinion, the author steps through the evolution of God and history with remarkable insight. I was worried this might be a "Religious" book, but I was pleasantly surprised with the author's thoughtful treatment of all of the Religion discussed.

And then there was nothing?

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Evolution of God?

I rarely just take a book at face value and change long-held beliefs, so this book kicked off long hours of research for me into some of the claims of the author. While some of that research is still ongoing, Wright says a lot of things, but doesn't offer a lot of concrete evidence to back it up. For instance, that God had a wife at one point is supported only by a couple of temples that mention her. Two whole temples? Not a lot to make sweeping judgements on, but Wright, in his long windedness, seems to have got a quarter of the book out of these two temples.

To the charge that the Old Testament was originally written in mythological style, only later to be rewritten and purged not only of this style of writing but of other gods as well -- as the Jews "evolved" from polytheist to monotheist -- I could find hardly any real, hard proof. In fact, the oldest intact versions of the OT found in caves along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, do not support this claim. If someone can point me to real evidence to back up his claims, I would be happy to exam them. I've looked high and low and came up empty handed.

In doing my research for this claim, though, I did find plenty of evidence that the New Testament evolved over time and changed as theology changed. If anyone has any doubt on this statement, see "Misquoting Jesus," by Bart D. Ehrman. The evidence is there for people who have eyes to see. Believe me, I didn't really want to see it, but I have to go where the truth leads me. Much of the proof with the New Testament has been destroyed over time, but here is an example of a Christian sacred text evolving as theology "evolved" (and this was a sacred document at the time and existed right along beside canonical scripture for centuries):

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Differences Between the Coptic and Greek Versions of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

The third-century Greek fragments have theological differences with the Coptic version. the Greek fragments seem to find no issue with a woman's right to teach or lead, but the Coptic version, two centuries later, suggests patriarchal challenges to female leadership. Taken together, the versions elucidate a historical shift toward increasing exclusion of women as leaders in the early Christian churches and communities. The conflict between Mary and Peter illustrated in the Gospel of Mary has resonance in the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of the Egyptians and may have been indicative of tension within the church during the second century. -- The Everything Gnostic Gospels Book -- p. 145

-=-=-

Another topic Wright spent a good deal of time on was the fact that the reason Jesus was here was extremely important, but instead of plainly telling everyone what was going on, he intentionally spoke in parables so that they couldn't understand him. That's a good point. However, this topic was addressed perfectly in Brian D. McLaren's "The Secret Message of Jesus." I stumbled upon "Secret Message" after reading "Evolution of God," and I can't recommend it enough.

The last part of "Evolution of God" that I really enjoyed was the look at Islam. With this review being written from within the Bible Belt, honestly most of what I know about Islam comes from occasionally being forced to listen to conservative talk radio by coworkers at work. Let's face it, Glenn Beck probably isn't the most unbiased source of information on Muslims a person can find. In that respect, "Evolution of God" was pretty fair and I learned a lot. I just finished "The Lost History of Christianity" by Philip Jenkins, and for the most part, it backed up a what Wright had to say in "Evolution of God," though I did catch a few contradictions between the two here or there.

When I first got through with "Evolution of God," my first thought was, "I had to keep poking it with a stick until there was nothing." But really, the book did not shake my faith in God, what it really did was make me question organized religion. Another book I would recommend on this topic is "Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices" by George Barna and Frank Viola.

All in all, taken with a grain of salt, I think "Evolution of God," is a fantastically thought provoking book and one worth reading. I do have reservations about some of Wright's conclusions. Based on my own research, he makes some grand statements that don't hold up under close scrutiny. On his part, some more real evidence should have been included, and would be a welcomed addition to an updated edition of "Evolution of God."

Where Wright falls flat, I think, is his sort of wishy-washy view of God as something only slightly better than purely mechanical/biological evolution. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but again, he was not clear on exactly what he believed. So some sacred texts turn out to be the work of men rather than of God, does that really leave us with nothing?

I would suggest reading "Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences," by Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry. People from all over the world have survived death and had similar experiences while clinically dead for short periods of time, and this book goes a long way in scientifically looking at the issue. Also, check out "The Field," by Lynne McTaggart.

I sometimes think that evidence be damned, people are going to believe what they want to believe, but I do caution on taking Wright's word as gospel. There is evidence out there that there is something more than just evolution at work, and some of this evidence is by real scientist. The problem is, science mainly deals with concretes, and this area is much more subjective, so science just wants to pretend it doesn't exist.

If Mr. Wright is correct, humans have evolved, "God's chosen people" have evolved, even humanity has evolved, but it seems that for all the growing we have done over the millennia, science is still stuck in the Middle Ages.

Praise for this Anthropology of the Divine

Warning! Those offended by “Evolution” in the title, will not appreciate this book. To everyone else, I highly recommend it. I found it a wonderful experience. Just the history of the Bible and Quran, of the politics of the eras of their writing, and the textual analysis of these books, would have easily been worth the investment of time and effort. But this history is seen through the eyes of an author well versed in the sciences (Psychology, Game Theory, and Natural Selection). He speaks of the evolution of humans through genes, and of cultures through memes. While Mr. Wright is a believer in the divine, this long time atheist felt right at home with his analysis. Any disagreement I had with his views was easily dismissed by me, as one of semantics, not of concepts. I dare say his take on anthropomorphizing the “Logos” into the “Lord”, would be palatable even to Richard (“Yes Virginia, there is a Selfish Gene”) Dawkins. Of course, the author does not dismiss this human failing, to personify unknown forces, as needless; he puts it into the perspective of a necessary step in the evolution of an emergent meme. (Not once does he use the term “Emergence”, but his analysis is like that of one familiar with Systems Theory.) A very worthwhile 18 hours of listening to this history of the concepts found in the Abrahamic religions.

Heavy on the details, but very informative

This is not an easy audio book to digest. I've replayed a more than a few parts to try to suck in all the details. But the research put into this book is fantastic. I do feel as if I am getting a much broader understanding of western religion and it's evolution. If you want to put in the effort, you will be rewarded at the end with a deeper insight into modern religion.

Good Stuff

Extremely well researched, reasoned, and fair. For anyone who wants a materialistic explanation of religion via a detailed investigation of the specific contexts that led to conflicting ideologies, THIS IS YOUR BOOK. Of course, I really would like to know what the real scholars think of all of the claims and explanations. So far, I haven't found anything yet.

Picks up where Guns Germs and Steel left religion

I was fascinated by the tiny tidbit about religion in Guns Germs and Steel, and this book was what I found to give me the big picture. It was utterly fascinating. (I did have to listen at 1.5 speed instead of my usual 1.25, but I was captivated.)

Wow, what a terrific book!

Okay, I'll admit it. I bought this book because it was ON SALE! I ran through my credits kind of fast this year, and filled up the void with some interesting sounding stuff. Was I surprised! This book is a gem! This guy, Robert Wright, had a great idea, to approach the idea of how religions have evolved in human culture. He focused on the three Abrahamic faiths -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim -- going back to the dawn of recorded history, about 30,000 years ago and gave lucid and factual arguments for how religion came into being.
Let me say this, Mr. Wright is neither trying to proselytize or alienate the reader. He simply reports his research and allows you to draw your own conclusion. He argues both for and against the topic, which is really great. In the end, it is a very "thought-provoking" (how many times have you read that in these reviews?) piece on the reasons behind what we believe in. I came away with the opinion that the author wanted to shed light on how religious beliefs began and how they changed and why religion may be important to most people on the planet.
For a long time now I have questioned the existence of a god, as defined by the Abrahamic faiths. I have read several versions of the Bible, and at the start, found it difficult to believe some of the stuff that was in there. But I am a spiritual person, and cannot discount a divine intelligence in this universe. I'm just not sure that the god that the religions are touting is the god for me.
This book has given me insight to the God that I want to believe in, one that coexists grandly with the scientific discoveries that we are making every day about this world, our universe and everything in it. Well done, Robert Wright.
The one thing I did have a problem with was the non-zero-sum concept. I have just learned that the author penned a previous book that explained all that, but I hadn't read it. I think he should have recapped a little on the subject before he just started referring to it. Now I shall have to read the other book and possibly reread the Evolution of God book again. Psst! I have listened to this book three times already, and never got tired or bored.