Rodney Stark

Discovering God

The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief

Talking Points

RODNEY STARK is University Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Before earning his Ph.D. at Berkeley, he was a staff writer for several major metropolitan newspapers and his prose style retains the clarity and rhythm developed under tyrannical copy desk editors. His 26 books on the history and sociology of religion include The Cities of God, The Rise of Christianity, One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism, and For the Glory of God which won the 2004 award of merit for history/biography from Christianity Today, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.

Description

Charting the rise of religion from Stone Age spirituality to the recent spread of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and South America, Discovering God asks the age-old question, if god was present from the beginning of time, why did god wait to reveal god’s self to humans until Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Buddha, etc., came along?