New York Instances bestseller

Among PW’s Best Books of the entire year

One of Amazon’s Best Books of the Month

Why is religion still about in the twenty-first hundred years? Why do this many still believe? And how do numerous traditions still form the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to greatly help address these questions.

These questions took about a fresh urgency for Pagels when dealing with unimaginable about Why Religion?: AN INDIVIDUAL Story loss-the death of her youthful son, implemented a year later on by the shocking lack of her spouse. Right here she interweaves an individual story with the task that she enjoys, illuminating how, for better and even worse, religious traditions have shaped how exactly we understand ourselves; how exactly we relate to each other; and, most of all, how to get through the most challenging challenges we face.

Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, aswell as her have research, Pagels opens unexpected means of understanding persistent spiritual areas of our culture.

A provocative and deeply moving account in one of the most compelling religious thinkers at work today, Why Religious beliefs? explores the religious dimension of individual experience.