EAN: 9780465074709

THE GOOD BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE - CAREL VAN SCHAI...

The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. It has been veneratedor excoriatedas God s word
but so far no one has read the Bible for what it is: humanity s diary  chronicling our
ancestors valiant attempts to cope with the trials and tribulations of life on Earth.  In "The
Good Book of Human Nature " evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik and historian Kai
Michel advance a new view of "Homo sapiens" cultural evolution. The Bible  they argue  was
written to make sense of the single greatest change in history: the transition from egalitarian
hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. Religion arose as a strategy to cope with the
unprecedented levels of epidemic disease  violence  inequality  and injustice that confronted
us when we abandoned the bush and which still confront us today.  Armed with the latest
findings from cognitive science  evolutionary biology  archeology  and religious history  van
Schaik and Michel take us on a journey through the Book of Books  from the Garden of Eden all
the way to Golgotha. The Book of Genesis  they reveal  marked the emergence of private
propertyone can no longer take the fruit off any tree  as one could before agriculture. The
Torah as a whole is the product of a surprisingly logical  even scientific  approach to society
s problems. This groundbreaking perspective allows van Schaik and Michel to coax unexpected
secrets from the familiar stories of Adam and Eve  Cain and Able  Abraham and Moses  Jesus of
Nazareth and Mary. The Bible may have a dark side  but in van Schaik and Michel s hands  it
proves to be a hallmark of human indefatigability. Provocative and deeply original  "The Good
Book of Human Nature" offers a radically new understanding of the Bible. It shows that the
Bible is more than just a pillar for religious belief: it is a pioneering attempt at scientific
inquiry. "

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