Evolving God, Barbara King

Evolving God, Barbara King

This fascinating book looks back at the full history of human evolution and asks when people first began to imagine gods and spirits and create rituals and religions.    King states that she is fascinated with “the evolutionary history of empathy; meaning-making; rule-following; imagination; and consciousness.  As a researcher she has worked with many of the ape species and sees these closest relatives as a place to look for clues.

There is no written record, no continuous oral tradition so she must reach, sometimes a little far for comfort, but as she looks at the findings of the Neandertals and the cave paintings, rock sculptures, and burial excavations of the cave people of Europe there is a pattern that seems to recognize or at least hope for a continuation of life.

Boyer has established a list of eight findings of anthropology that convey the diversity of beliefs and practices and this becomes the beginning point for defining a religion – Religion Explained.  In some cultures (like the Osage Indians) the elders deny that there is a religion The “whole cuture and social structure was and still is infused with a spirituality that cannot be separated from the rest of the community’s life at any point.”  George Tinker.

Some of us, like Frank Lloyd Wright say “I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”  And Emily Dickiknson’s poem captures that sense of spiritualism absent religion.

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church-
I keep it, staying at home -
With a Bobolink for a Chorister-
And an orchard, for a Dome-

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice-
I just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton ---sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman-
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last -
I’m going all along.

Behavior in a group setting requires cooperation, co-regulation and order and ritual is one tool for creating order.

I suggest studying the cave paintings at Lascaux and other sites and the burial at Regourdou to understand some of the observations.  Anthropologist Roy Rappaport states that “ritual does not just contact the sacred, it creates the sacred.”

It is a fascinating look at pre-history, artifacts and anthropological sites through the lens of discovering religion.

 http://www.barbarajking.com/evolving_god_96577.htm

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/index.php