Drawing together evidence from a wide range of scientific disciplines, this book presents an evolutionary history of religion. That history begins with the social lives and rituals of our primate ancestors. As our ancestors’ social world grew increasingly complex, their mental powers grew in concert. Among these mental powers was an increasingly sophisticated imagination. A supernatural world filled with gods, spirits, and ancestors was an outgrowth of that imagination—especially children’s imagination. Belief in the supernatural provided important adaptive benefits. Religion’s initial adaptiv ... More

Drawing together evidence from a wide range of scientific disciplines, this book presents an evolutionary history of religion. That history begins with the social lives and rituals of our primate ancestors. As our ancestors’ social world grew increasingly complex, their mental powers grew in concert. Among these mental powers was an increasingly sophisticated imagination. A supernatural world filled with gods, spirits, and ancestors was an outgrowth of that imagination—especially children’s imagination. Belief in the supernatural provided important adaptive benefits. Religion’s initial adaptive benefit was its power to heal. Quickly, though, this benefit was augmented by religion’s power to create highly cooperative and cohesive groups. So significant were these benefits that eventually human groups bonded together by religion out-competed all other groups and literally conquered the world. The book argues that at its core, religion is relational—it represents a supernatural extension of the human social world. Far from just a frivolous adornment, this expanded social world holds the key to what made us human.