[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][12.29]

海王泪UID: 2673613

11# qisaiman

I have saw several comments delivered by you ,and it is helpful, thx.
first , i thought the author is a man,thus "Her book " is not accurate .
second, I wonder how religion help a group to survive while others without
suffer, dose this mean that
in a war ,the religion-armed one take an overwhelming advantage over the latter?

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I have adapted it from "her" to "his".  ^_^

About the religion and war, I think the ECO today has explained it clearly:

Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders.

I do not mean ownership of religion represents overwhelming advantage. In fact, in my comment I mean religion can "effectively" improve morale and fighting capability. We can take Muslim as one of the best examples.

It is clear that military forces (weapon, tech, financial support) also pose great effect on winning wars. The counterpart of military forces is belief. Since neither objective strength nor spirit power unilaterally serves as the overwhelming advantage, hardly can religion--only one form of belief--entirely determine which group should be the winner.

prettywraithUID: 197049

Comments (2009-12-29):

It is an interesting article, and it is one typical GRE reading material. But, without related information and concepts, I do not understand clearly about three places. The first place is author explained how the religion enhances a group’s survival. The author’s reason is obscure for me. Another place is the relationship among metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. The last one is the ending of article. Someone said it is ironical, but I cannot comprehend it.

Fortunately, I have caught the main idea of the author. At least, there are still some words to say in my comments. The article introduces one anti-traditional book and its author, Mr. Wade. Mr. Wade standpoints challenge my imagination indeed. Atheist as I am, I could understand the people who believe the God and respect their beliefs. Like other people who do not belong to religion, I always approve evolutionary biologists’ viewpoints on religion. Therefore, when Mr. Wade gives us one astonishing explanation, which religion enhances a group’s survival, I am interested in his reasons.

Because I do not read his book, for me, it is hard to say about Mr. Wade’s assertion. Only judged by this article’s introduce, Mr. Wade’s assertion is reasonable to some extent. Ironically, when reading the article, I usually remember the wars led by religion: Crusade, the French Religion War and Iran-Iraq War.

domudomuUID: 2670967

Well, at the first glance of the title-An evolutionary biologist on religion, I feel a little happy since my major is biology. Even though, I know the fact that GRE test will never relate with any specialized filed knowladge, I still feel a little comfortable.
This artical is about a book written by Mr. Wade, mainly talks about the evolutionary on religion. The author studies Great Darwin deeply and they both make contributions to human survive from biologist area and culture level. Darwin wrote the famous book "Origin of Species" and told us the origin of all the living creatures. So Mr. Wade cites some opinions of the book and expand it. As we all know, in the long river of history，creatures may change their bodily function and living habits to adapt the changable nature environment. Thus, diffrent acdemic fields also have some relationship. For instance, in the modern society, in order to survive in job-hunting world.

qxn_1987UID: 2610437

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacred also came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying: “nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving in hideous harmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with（与（某人）站在同一边，和（某人）抱同样的见解） those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly（僧的，僧侣似的） castes tried to monopolise access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.

Still, the modifications that religion has undergone should not, in Mr Wade’s view, distract from the study of faith’s basic functions. In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made. Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose style which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history. Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites.

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical（形而上学的，纯粹哲学的，超自然的） ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew the ecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour. In Imperial Russia, Peter the Great tried to pull the Russian Orthodox church from the former extreme to the latter: to curb its love of rite and mystery and make it more of a moral agency like the Lutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed. Russians liked things mystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As well as giving an elegant summary of modern thinking about religion, Mr Wade also offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism. He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history. He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. In their view, Islam（伊斯兰教（在中国旧称回教，清真教）） is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian（基督教（的），信徒，信基督教的） sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of （冲出，用力解脱）Arabia”, as the Muslim version of sacred history teaches.



Comments:

This passage is a little abstract for me to some extent. It seems more mainly about Nicholas Wade’s opinion or theory on religion and his book.

As for religion, different people have different opinions, Wade tried to explain the survival and evolvement of religion by dint of Darwin's evolutionary theory. Furthermore, different people have different religions of their own; and the religion plays different roles in different people’s psychological life, though their religion may be the same.

Since the topic is so hypersensitive and serious, it would be not better for me to say too much.

jinziqiUID: 2387034

Good words
human race 人类
sanctity 神圣
tribal 部落的
primordial 最初的
side with 支持
propensity 倾向
prevail 战胜
hymn 赞美诗
monopolize 垄断
divine 上帝的
limpid 清晰的
prose 散文
metaphysical 形而上学的
transcendental 超凡的
provocative 激起争端的
dissident 唱反调
myriad 无数的
有不少红宝词汇。。有的虽然查过了，但还是需要再加强一下印象。。

Good sentences
The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry fromthe sort of religion that later came to interest him as a sciencejournalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times.

In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function.

Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefitswere likely to prevail over those which lacked these advantages.

Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a waythat makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and todeal ruthlessly with outsiders.

At times, the book stumbles.

My comment
I did not realize that the article is a book review until I read others' comments. The author seems to be satisfied with the book except somewhere stumbled. The book is about religion, as an adaptive function, which gives an explanation of collective ecstasy. And Nicholas Wade also combined biology, social science and religious history into the book. However, the author reckons that Nicholas Wade should cite more autobiographical reference to Eton. The book could be better. As for religion, no matter Muslim or Islam, they are all a kind of faith which is holy.

I really don't have too much to comment on this article...

zhengchangdianUID: 2563082

2# splendidsun

"the evolution of society is similar to the evolution of individuals more or less" 同感啊！你的comment 很赞啊:lol

rodgoodUID: 2619326

Useful words and expressions:

is a far cry from与……大不相同

hunter-gatherer采集狩猎的人

primordial原始的，根本的

hideous丑陋的


sides with支持，同意


contested有质疑的
muddied使污浊

hymns

The advent of……的出现

priestly castes僧侣的社会等级

hidebound死板的，墨守成规的


Puritans清教徒


transcendental超越经验的

metaphysical 形而上学的

obsession困扰，痴迷


curb控制，抑制，勒马绳

elegant高雅的，优雅的

monotheism一神论


dissident唱反调的（人），意见不同的（人）

myriad无数（的），种种（的）

At times, the book stumbles. 有时，这本书也有失误。

Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail over战胜 those which lacked these advantages.

Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders.

Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose style平静的散文风格 which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history.

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience.


My comments:

This article mainly introduces a new book written by Nicholas Wade on evolutionary biology on religion as well as common views about this subject. In this book, Mr Wade presents his viewpoints such as religion’s irreplaceable effect on human history and history of monotheism.
For me, I agree with the opinion that religion has been playing an important role in human history, and I am always curious about things behind facts. Even today, religion is still influencing our life and even world situation. Apart from that still many countries are dominated by governments with a method called political and religious unity, a large number of conflicts and wars are brought about by religious problems. Religion is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, as mentioned in the article, it can prompt moral rules and cement cohesion, creating prosperity for human being, on the other hand, it can also lead to misunderstandings between nationalities with different belief. We can not imagine without religion what our world was and will be.

sunflower_irisUID: 2720580

Useful stuff
Wherever their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere.多好的开头
The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry from (大相径庭)the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times.
The customs of hunter-gatherer peoples who survived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms
In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function.(MS比support好)
Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested.就是想不起来用这样的词
As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection.
Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns.形象~
And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew the ecstatic.
He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history.
He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names.
In their view, Islam is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of Arabia”.
It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history.
COMMENT
This artical is a introduction of The Faith Instinct written by Nicholas Wade. I read this artical over three times to try to figure out what Mr. Wade mean about evolutionary biologist on religion. It’s easy to summarize that a Darwinain approach offers the key to understanding religion because he believe man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function. He guides the reader effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history to convince them faith has helped the human race to survive by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion.

What the author said “the more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules” do confused me. I can not understand the relationship between moral and mystical. Even though the author take some examples like Max Weber’s reserch and Peter’s trying. Maybe the religion is such a unfamiliar notion for me. I have no idea about mystical experience or ecstatic.

番茄斗斗UID: 2720914

REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][12.29

An evolutionary biologist on religion

Spirit level
Dec 17th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Why the human race has needed religion tosurvive

Alamy
TheFaith Instinct: How Religion Evolvedand Why it Endures. By NicholasWade. Penguin Press; 310 pages; $25.95. Buyfrom Amazon.com


WHEREVERtheir investigations lead, allanalysts of religion begin somewhere. Andin the final lines of his densely butskillfully packed account of faithfrom the viewpoint of evolutionary biology,Nicholas Wade recalls theplace where he first felt sanctity: Eton Collegechapel.

The “beauty of holiness” in a Britishprivate school is a far cry(不同的事物) from the sort of religion that later came to interesthim as a science journalist at Nature magazine and thenthe New YorkTimes. To examine the roots of religion, he says, it is importanttolook at human beginnings. The customs of hunter-gatherer peopleswhosurvived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms:the ecstasy（陶醉，入迷） of dusk-to-dawn tribal dances, for example.

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacredalso came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial（原始，原生）when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying: “nearlynakedfigures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving inhideousharmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities,Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understandingreligion. In other words, he sides with（支持）those who think man’s propensity forreligion has some adaptivefunction. According to this view, faith would nothave persisted overthousands of generations if it had not helped the humanrace to survive.Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Criticsofreligion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith isauseless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

Andthat controversy leads to another one.Does Darwinian selection takeplace at the level only of individuals, or ofgroups as well? As Mr Wademakes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive”phenomenon makesbetter sense if one accepts the idea of group selection.Groups whichpractised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits werelikely toprevail over those which lacked these advantages.

Of course, the picture is muddied by thevast changes that religion went through in thejourneyfrom tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent ofsettled,agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a newdivision oflabor, in which priestly castes tried to monopolize accessto the divine, andthe authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.

Still,the modifications that religion hasundergone should not, in Mr Wade’sview, distract from the study of faith’sbasic functions. In what way,then, does religion enhance a group’s survival?Above all, by promotingmoral rules and cementing cohesion,in a way that makespeople ready to sacrifice themselves for the groupand to deal ruthlessly withoutsiders. These arguments are well made. MrWade has a clear mind and limpidprose style which guides the readeralmost effortlessly through 200 years ofintellectual history. Perhaps,though, he oversimplifies the link betweenmorality, in the sense ofobedience to rules, and group solidarity based oncommon participationin ecstatic rites.

All religion is concerned in varyingdegreeswith metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But inthegreat religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension.Themore a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound(迂腐守旧的) byrules—especiallyrules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religiousnorms. Andreligious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel totheEnglish Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew theecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religioussociology, contrasted the transcendental（尤指宗教或精神方面）超凡的，玄奥的）feelings enjoyed by Catholicmass-goers with the Protestant obsessionwith behaviour. In Imperial Russia,Peter the Great tried to pull theRussian Orthodox church from the formerextreme to the latter: to curbits love of rite and mystery and make it more ofa moral agency like theLutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed.Russians liked thingsmystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As wellas giving an elegant summary ofmodern thinking about religion, Mr Wadealso offers a brief, provocativehistory of monotheism. He endorses theradical view that the story of the Jews’flight from Egypt is myth,rather than history. He sympathises with daringideas about Islam’sbeginnings: so daring that many of its proponents workunder falsenames. In their view, Islam is more likely to have emergedfromdissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out ofArabia”, asthe Muslim version of sacred history teaches.

At times, the book stumbles. In describingthe interplay between Hellenic（古希腊的） and Hebrew（希伯来人）culture at the dawning ofChristianity, Mr Wade makes exaggeratedclaims. He says there is no basis for amother-and-child cult in thereligion of Israel. In fact there are manyreferences in the Hebrewscriptures to the Messiah（耶稣基督，救世主） and his mother; the Dead SeaScrolls have made this even clearer. And his micro-history of Christiantheology is inaccurate in places.

These objections aside, this is a masterlybook. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science andreligious history. It also helps explain a quest for collective ecstasy thatcan take myriad forms. Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Etonshould have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like“Jolly Boating Weather”.



Sum-up:
Nicholas Wade, who is highly effected by Eton Collegechapel, trys to give us an objective description of How Religion Evolvedand Why it Endures. He asides with Darwinian approach as a key to understand the faith. As aresult, he remains us that the helpfulness of religion itself enalbesits persisitence.  However, this donesn'tmake sense to everyone, and controversy is inevitable. At issue is which level does Darwinian selection take place. In Mr Wade's view, the study of faith cannot exist without its function. At the same time,controversial as it was,question on Jew's story is raised by Nicholas Wade as well.At last, the article points out that micro-history of Wade leads to ancritical error related to the Christian theology,the book is none the less a masterpiece.

Comment:
Mysterious as it is, religion is around us world over. According to Mr Wade,the helpfulness of religion it self enalbes its persisitence;And this makes sense to me. When faced with the unpredicted weather and natural disaster, human leant to creat an idol,hoping rite would appease the anger of God. Years later, with the advent of civilization and the knowledge of the natural, religion doesn't fade away, on the contrary,it flourishes and lead to various of kinds.

Viewing the establishment of a mature religion, we never miss politics.Religion may appears purely as an appeasement, however,its prosperity is determined by politics as it always. As one of the biggest religions, Buddhism originated from India, even so, its exisitence can hardly be viewed today. Because of India's caste system, Hindu eclipous Buddhism and enjoys the greatest piligiams.

敛寒影UID: 2613052

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.
整段都很好！正反面观点都说清楚了！

As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection.

Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites.


Packed 充满。。。的
Account of
考虑
Primordial 原始的
Propensity for
倾向
Prevail over
胜过


Comment:

This article mainly talking about the function of religion between morality and group solidarity.Mr Nicholas Wade asides with Darwinian approach the propensity for religion has some adaptive function and he suggest that the religion promots moral rules and cementing cohesion.
Religion is a belief ,a spiritual pillar steady our faith.Groups with common religon is likely to prevail over those which lacked this connection from religion when confronting difficulties.According to human,s instinct,in the calamities,it is spiritual consolation turning for help to the religion,when we meet setbacks or in a difficult situation.In these situation the sriritual force is important than any thing else,the only way helping out of the predicament.But anything be of the extreme generates negative effects.They make people enter into a narrow way recognize the world aroud us,that contraversy leads to social advancements and do harm in individuals.

aladdin.ivyUID: 2596664

comments

Undoubtedly, all religions are concerned in varying degree with moral norms and ecstasy. With some sorts of mystical experiences, all believers of a specific religion would believe in their god, whose power will be considered that can surpass all the human beings, also, they would believe they can gain favors of the god hence complete their wish if they obey any moral rules of this religion. Thus, the relationship between moral norms and ecstasy in a religion is mutual support, that means, the more it mystery the more moral rules it may have, or, conversely, the more norms it has the more mystical it looks like. However, my opinion seems opposed with the author’s.

emteddybearUID: 2699606

religion：宗教

Endure：忍受，持久
sanctity：神圣
chapel：教堂
holiness：神圣
a far cry from：与什么相差很远
ecstasy：狂喜
hideous：难看的，令人讨厌的
propensity：癖好
notion ：概念，意念，观念

obedience：顺从，服从
metaphysical ：新而上学
The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules
eschew：避开
Catholic ：天主教
curb：控制
elegant：优美的

provocative：挑衅的
endorse:赞同
radical：根本的，激进分子
theology：神学的
myriad：无数的




good sentence：
1.WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere
.
2.faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive.
3.the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns.
4.by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made.
5.
Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.




MY COMMENTS:
This is a review of a book about religion, written by Nicholas Wade. Because I have no idea about religion, I just fellow the report’s idea when I was reading this report. However there is a place catch my eyes. Whether the religion is useful? I think it is a good ISSUE topic. Obviously, MR Wade thinks it is useful, and give the statement that faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. And I have the same idea.

What’s more, after having reading this report, I find that it’s useful to read something about religion, philosophy, even bible, in order to know well about the west culture.

kulewy531UID: 2603031

An evolutionary biologist on religion

Spirit level
Dec 17th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Why the human race has needed religion to survive

Alamy
The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures. By Nicholas Wade. Penguin Press; 310 pages; $25.95. Buy from Amazon.com

好词好句

生词
WHEREVER their investigations lead, all analysts of religion begin somewhere. And in the final lines of his densely but skilfully packed account of faith from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology, Nicholas Wade recalls the place where he first felt sanctity: Eton College chapel（小教堂）. (开头很有文气，学习之)

The “beauty of holiness” in a British private school is a far cry（遥远的距离, 大不相同的东西） from the sort of religion that later came to interest him as a science journalist at Nature magazine and then the New York Times. To examine the roots of religion, he says, it is important to look at human beginnings. The customs of hunter-gatherer peoples who survived into modern times give an idea of religion’s first forms: the ecstasy of dusk-to-dawn tribal dances, for example.

Charles Darwin, whose idea of the sacred also came from an English private school, witnessed religion at its most primordial when he went to Australia in 1836. He found it horrifying: “nearly naked figures, viewed by the light of blazing fires, all moving in hideous (repulsive) harmony…”

Whatever Darwin’s personal sensibilities, Mr Wade is convinced that a Darwinian approach offers the key to understanding religion. In other words, he sides with those who think man’s propensity (tendency) for religion has some adaptive function. According to this view, faith would not have persisted over thousands of generations if it had not helped the human race to survive. Among evolutionary biologists, this idea is contested. Critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene的作者) and Steven Pinker, suggest that faith is a useless (or worse) by-product of other human characteristics.

And that controversy leads to another one. Does Darwinian selection take place at the level only of individuals, or of groups as well? As Mr Wade makes clear, the notion of religion as an “adaptive” phenomenon makes better sense if one accepts the idea of group selection. Groups which practised religion effectively and enjoyed its benefits were likely to prevail over those which lacked these advantages.

Of course, the picture is muddied by the vast changes that religion went through in the journey from tribal dancing to Anglican hymns. The advent of settled, agricultural societies, at least 10,000 years ago, led to a new division of labour, in which priestly castes（种姓） tried to monopolise（垄断） access to the divine, and the authorities sought to control sacred ecstasy.

Still, the modifications that religion has undergone should not, in Mr Wade’s view, distract from the study of faith’s basic functions. In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders. These arguments are well made. Mr Wade has a clear mind and limpid prose style which guides the reader almost effortlessly through 200 years of intellectual history. Perhaps, though, he oversimplifies the link between morality, in the sense of obedience to rules, and group solidarity based on common participation in ecstatic rites.

All religion is concerned in varying degrees with metaphysical ideas, moral norms and mystical experience. But in the great religions, the moral and the mystical have often been in tension. The more a religion stresses ecstasy, the less it seems hidebound by rules—especially rules of public behaviour, as opposed to purely religious norms. And religious movements (from the “Deuteronomists” of ancient Israel to the English Puritans) that emphasise moral norms tend to eschew the ecstatic.

Max Weber, one of the fathers of religious sociology, contrasted the transcendental feelings enjoyed by Catholic mass-goers with the Protestant obsession with behaviour. In Imperial Russia, Peter the Great tried to pull the Russian Orthodox church from the former extreme to the latter: to curb its love of rite and mystery and make it more of a moral agency like the Lutheran churches of northern Europe. He failed. Russians liked things mystical, and they didn’t like being told what to do.

As well as giving an elegant summary of modern thinking about religion, Mr Wade also offers a brief, provocative history of monotheism. He endorses the radical view that the story of the Jews’ flight from Egypt is myth, rather than history. He sympathises with daring ideas about Islam’s beginnings: so daring that many of its proponents work under false names. In their view, Islam is more likely to have emerged from dissident Christian sects in the Levant than to have “burst out of Arabia”, as the Muslim version of sacred history teaches.

At times, the book stumbles. In describing the interplay between Hellenic and Hebrew culture at the dawning of Christianity, Mr Wade makes exaggerated claims. He says there is no basis for a mother-and-child cult in the religion of Israel. In fact there are many references in the Hebrew scriptures to the Messiah and his mother; the Dead Sea Scrolls（死海古卷） have made this even clearer. And his micro-history of Christian theology is inaccurate in places.

These objections aside, this is a masterly book. It lays the basis for a rich dialogue between biology, social science and religious history. It also helps explain a quest for collective ecstasy that can take myriad forms. Perhaps his brief autobiographical reference to Eton should have noted the bonding effect not only of chapel, but also of songs like “Jolly Boating Weather”.（不理解）

Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is a British biological theorist with a background in ethology. He is a popular science author focusing on evolution.
Dawkins is one of Britain's best-known academics. He came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he further developed the gene-centred view with his book The Extended Phenotype:The Gene as the Unit of Selection, emphasizing that the phenotypic effects of genes are not necessarily limited to an organism's body but can stretch via biochemistry and behaviour into other organisms and the environment. He is well-known as a presenter of the case for rationalism and scientific thinking. His later works continued to expand upon these ideas and their implications.
Dawkins is one of the world's most widely publicised atheists. He is a prominent critic of religion, creationism and pseudoscience. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design, he argued against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he described a dysteleological perspective on the process of evolution by natural selection as "blind", without a design or a goal. In his 2006 million-selling book The God Delusion, he contended that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist, writing that such beliefs, based on faith rather than on evidence, qualify as a delusion. He was a co-founder of the Out Campaign, as a means of advancing atheism and freethought.
Dawkins retired from Oxford University in 2008 and remains a writer and public figure.

Comments:

In the article, the author presents a new view of the evolution of religions by clear statements and abundant examples.

One of those facts is that the write consider that Islam orients from dissident Christian sectsin the Levant rather than the out-burst of Arabia. This kind of statement is similar to a believe that the advent of Taoism originally serve as an repulsive force of the invasion of Buddhism. Learning from the history, we can easily discover that both Islam and Taoism have a significant character of revolt. In China, Taoism, more often than not served as the ideology of rebellion of farmers. In Arab, Islam plays an important role in resist the Crusades. These facts may support the author’s opinion.

Possibly, the writer might have been influenced by Richard Dawkins’ famous book “The selfish Genes”. In his book, Dawkins makes a careful and innovative observation on history with the view of biology, which probably inspires the writer. One of his famous conclusions is men are born selfish, because only selfish genes can survive. To support the assertion, he demonstrates the example of Neanderthals, who are stronger and even cleaver than our ancestors. But they are finally defeated probably only because they are not as selfish as our ancestors. Probably the evolution culture is the same.