Religion: A Contemporary Exegesis

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleReligija: Savremena egzegeza
3. Language term Serbian
4. Alternative title Religion: A Contemporary Exegesis: Philosophical-Scientific Tractate (en)
5. lemma author Stevanovic, Aleksandra
6. lemma category Co-existence - Atheism - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning
7. Publication date 18-11-2018
8. lemma work Jovanović, Srđan M. [Author]. Religion: A Contemporary Exegesis: Philosophical-Scientific Tractate
9. lemma manifestations Religion: A Contemporary Exegesis : Philosophical-Scientific Tractate - Belgrade: Medijska knjizara Krug, 2011.
10. Keywords
    1. atheism
11. Keywords atheism - Dawkins, Richard - exegesis
12. Lemma body

    1. In the book Religion: A Contemporary Exegesis the author presents how religion, which has been with us since the beginning of civilization, but whose development was successfully and continuously slowed down, at the end of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first, finally received a valid, scientific explanation.

       With the introduction to a relatively new discipline of evolutionary psychology, together with the chronological and cultural presentation of religion and the presentation of local religious instances, the author explains the origin and development of religion, as well as the presentation of the latest scientific achievements of Dawkins, Harris, Kirkpatrick, Guthrie and others. Thus, the author provides a kind of “contemporary analysis of religion” pointing at the newest scientific developments and the impact of religion on the social reality.

       The author also ascertains that there has been the rise of atheistic thought in academia, as well as understanding its significance. In the final part of the book, examining the role of religion in the world, the author sees atheism as a “positive social force”. Atheistic education, proposed by some scholars, may be for instance the key to understanding religion. On that note, the author implies the side effects of the contemporary research on religion.

       Even though it is not utterly clear how the book contributes to the science–religion dialog, it may be seen as valuable for putting together atheists, theists and scientists in a way confronting their views on religion, which may further contribute to the understanding of this interrelation.