Religion Evolving

Rather than treating religion as a fixed set of beliefs, this book argues that religious traditions are best studied as systems that change over time in response to their surroundings. The authors contend that faiths adjust to the economic conditions, ecological pressures, and health threats of the places where they are practiced, and they support this with a broad body of ethnographic and experimental research.

Each tradition is examined within the specific social and environmental setting that shapes it, showing how religious practices can shift in response to changes in livelihood, resources, and disease. The work is grounded in evolutionary theory, cognitive science, and anthropology. Instead of isolating a single cause, it considers the many interconnected elements of religious life and how they operate together.