I'd like to read a book about the Dreamtime of the Australians. I was kind of thinking about reading Chatwin, but these comments have made a little wary; I don't particularly want to read about another outsider's spiritual journey, and I don't want a New Agey attempt-at-universal-religion haphazardly mixed in with basic anthropological records. Can you recommend a solid book about Dreamtime?
posted by Greg Nog on Oct 19, 2009 - 10 answers

How exactly did Christianity come to dominate the Western world to such an extent? [more inside]
posted by timepiece on Jun 24, 2009 - 42 answers

Is there an evolutionary family tree for religions? [more inside]
posted by coffeefilter on Dec 6, 2008 - 9 answers

I've never read the Bible, and I'd like to. Which version should I read and what resources are good ones to help me understand and historically contextualize what I'm reading?
posted by arcticwoman on Oct 16, 2008 - 25 answers

Does America's religious history have a parallel in England? Give me the details. [more inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Jul 16, 2008 - 14 answers

Good books on Shaker history? [more inside]
posted by Julnyes on Jul 9, 2008 - 8 answers

I am searching for examples of The Infinite, or the immeasurably large, in our mythologies and archetypes. I am also interested in the categories of Truth which came out of the emergence of Western, ontological thought. Does the trust in a rationally conceivable reality deny us the infinity of the mythological realm? By rooting ourselves in the present, and denying atemporal mythologies, do we also deny the infinite origins from where we came? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Nov 28, 2007 - 22 answers

Has religion ever helped to end a war? [more inside]
posted by brevity on Feb 21, 2007 - 22 answers

Has there ever been a war that hasn't had religion or religious persecution at its heart? [more inside]
posted by feelinglistless on Nov 25, 2006 - 35 answers

I'm looking for a book I read back in 1999/2000 about Jesus. [more inside]
posted by katyggls on Nov 17, 2006 - 5 answers

There are no contemporary extra-biblical references to Jesus. Has there ever been a count of the historical references of individuals during new-testament times to see where he ranks? [more inside]
posted by notcostello on Nov 21, 2005 - 29 answers

I'm interested in picking up an annotated Bible--something that treats it as a cultural document rather than the revealed word of God. [more inside]
posted by adamrice on Apr 21, 2005 - 16 answers

Has data ever been assembled showing the religous convictions of Americans over time, starting at the countries conception? A sort of compendium of the religious history of the United States... It seems as though such a thing should certainly exist, but I've yet to find it.
posted by phrontist on Feb 23, 2005 - 8 answers

AncientHistoryFilter: When did the worship of the gods of the ancient Greeks - Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, and so on - die out? (+) [more inside]
posted by ikkyu2 on Dec 1, 2004 - 17 answers