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18th out of 37 books
—
11 voters
Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions
Sacrifice--ranging from the sacrifice of virgins to circumcision to giving up what is most valued--is essential to all religions. Could there be a natural, even biological, reason for these practices? Something that might explain why religions of so many different cultures share so many rituals and concepts? In this extraordinary book, one of the world's leading authoritie...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
January 13th 1998
by Harvard University Press
(first published May 1st 1996)
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The prose is somewhat stilted in this book. This is a translation from German and it isn't all that great. However, the ideas contained herein are worth the little extra effort it takes to read. I'm not so sure that Burkert's hypotheses about the evolutionary psychology of religion are all that robust, but they are on the right track. His explanation of sacrifice alone makes reading the book worthwhile.
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Dec 14, 2010
Paola
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5 of 5 stars
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review of another edition
Shelves:
storia-delle-religioni
Una teoria naturale per spiegare il fenomeno culturale religione. Può essere ostico senza conoscenze di base in di storia delle religioni.
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