The Natural And The Supernatural

This book provides a comprehensive discussion regarding the sacred aspects of human existence in their relationship with the material world.

Defends a unified conception of human nature and a view of what is natural that can cover both the physical and the psychological worlds.

Exploration of how medieval people categorized the world, concentrating on the division between the natural and the supernatural.

Spanning many different epochs and varieties of religious experience, this book develops a new approach to religion and its role in human history. The authors look across a range of religious phenomena-from ancestor worship to totemism, shamanism, and worldwide modern religions-to offer a new explanation of the evolutionary success of religious behaviors. Their book is more empirical and verifiable than most previous books on evolution and religion because they develop an approach that removes guesswork about beliefs in the supernatural, focusing instead on the behaviors of individuals. The result is a pioneering look at how and why natural selection has favored religious behaviors throughout history.

Did Moses turn rods into serpents? Does Uri Geller bend spoons? Did Socrates and Joan of Arc have spirit guides? Did Daniel Home levitate? Natural and Supernatural is the first full survey of the subject for over a century.