Religion 101

What This Book Covers

1. Chapter One - The Sacred Instinct
2. Chapter Two - The Gods of the Earth and Sky
3. Chapter Three - Temples, Kings, and Sacrifice
4. Chapter Four - Prophets and Promises
5. Chapter Five - The Books They Called Holy
6. Chapter Six - Crosses, Crescents, and Dharma Wheels
7. Chapter Seven - The Blood of the Faithful
8. Chapter Eight - Reformation and Revelation
9. Chapter Nine - Enlightenment and the Death of God
10. Chapter Ten - New Prophets, New Churches
11. Chapter Eleven - Faith in the Age of Screens
12. Chapter Twelve - What We Worship Now

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE The Sacred Instinct BEFORE THERE WERE gods, there was fear. Before temples, fire. Before belief had a name, it had a feeling. That creeping sense that something out there was watching. You’re a hairless ape in the middle of the woods. The thunder cracks. A shadow moves. Your buddy just got eaten by something you couldn’t see. You don’t need theology. You need an explanation. So you make one. That’s where it starts. Not with scripture, but survival. The brain hates chaos. So when the river floods or the crops fail or the moon turns red, the mind fills in the blanks. There must be someone behind this. Someone angry. Someone powerful. Someone who wants something from us. It’s not...