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)

Fascinating description of the evolution god.

"The Evolution of God" is a convincing explanation of how "Homo Sapiens" has come to believe in gods, and then in one god. He quotes (sometimes at great length) anthropolical research and the books of the (now) mono-theistic religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to support his thesis, and comes to a surprising, unconventional conclusion about the validity of belief in divinity.

A great read and very informative

Many interesting facts and a a good perspective on the economic drivers of the monotheistic religions.

This is an amazing book everyone should read

I love this book and recommend it to folks whenever religion comes up. It's full of interesting information about people over thousands of years and miles. I feel like I have taken a college course, this is just excellent.

Worth a read

Perhaps better titled "What Man sees though his culture,history and intellect as God." Not what IS or is not God. Never the less well researched with plenty of interesting information. Roberts comes to many conclusions true or not true, but with food for thought.

Nice overview of the history of GOD.

Very good flow and the author keeps you interested.
Very good history of God and the evolution of religious belief. It is amazing what people have and do believe. It has something for everyone.

Exceptionally informative and entertaining.

This is one of my favorite books of the year. A great listen, filled with provocative and piercing analysis. It made me smarter and kept me entertained. Very, very, very well done.

Interesting, but was a Lecture

This book was extremely interesting, and enlightening, but was definitely a lecture. I normally listen to books during my commute (about 1 hour 15 min each way), and go for entertainment. I figured that I would give this a try. It was interesting enough to keep my interest, but didn't help shorten the commute at all. Kind of felt like listening to a good lecture in college, but not something I would listen to normally on my "free" time

Very interesting read

I am challenged by Robert Wright’s The Evolution of God in many of the same ways I was by Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature. The subject of the evolution of how humans think about a god is such a sweeping subject, and this book appears to be such a scholarly work, that it is difficult for me, a mere mortal, to know what is fact and what is fiction. I will take a couple of examples. Wright makes the point in the book that the Jews were actually the Canaanites, worshipers of Baal, for whom they purportedly annihilated in the bible. What? And, did we know that the el in Israel actually comes from this same Bull God, Baal? This is some pretty heady stuff. I do not doubt for a second that many of what seem to be incredible, and seemingly contrary stories about the past are indeed true. But their veracity is quite beyond my background and study to judge. Did that diminish my enjoyment of the book? Not for a second.

The Evolution of God is an incredible title in and of itself. The concept of such a thing is for at least believers, unfathomable. What does the evolution of God even mean? Firstly, while I do not normally, I am going to capitalize the word God because that is how it is to be understood within the context of this book. God may or may not exist. That is not the point of the book. The book is about how humans have perceived or understood their God, gods or goddesses throughout history. Some of this must be speculative at best and some probably incorrect at worst. How can we know? While we cannot know for sure, that does not detract from a very interesting question and the very nature of this book.

From ancient times of why and when polytheism evolved to monotheism to modernity when, like Pinker’s belief, we are moving toward a more universal concept of God for all religions, I believe Wright makes arguments that sometimes seem esoteric but for the most part are not too terribly difficult to follow. Wright like Pinker sometimes seems (maybe only my own perception) to pick and choose anecdotes from times, places and peoples to make a case for how God evolved. This is possibly unavoidable. How long would a book have to be to be all inclusive.

In parts, the narrative is extremely detailed and it is easy to get lost. The ancient and biblical histories are difficult to follow for one unschooled in such things but maybe this can serve as an introduction into such study. Eventually, however, that which is arcane seems to either be dispelled or the story advances to arcs more ordinary and easily understood.

I have difficulty rating books such as this because while one might seem scholarly, it not always is. In this case, I want to give the author the benefit of the doubt just based on my enjoyment of it. Lastly, I think the narrator was quite good. It would be easy to diminish a book of this nature by a less than excellent narrator. In fact, the narrator was not just quite good, the narrator was excellent. With changes in modulation, as is [too] often the case with Audible, the production was adequate but less than stellar.

Great book

A wonderful read that deals with the historical, philosophical, and societal standpoints. The author is clear separates all three very well.

Saved by the Narrator

Morey does another excellent job but the content failed to consistently hold my attention in the later chapters. I found the over use of the term “zero sum” annoying but some new and interesting ideas were presented. For me, any listen that causes me to hit the pause button and ponder something I just heard is worth my time and this was one of those.