David Lewis-Williams. Conceiving God: the cognitive origin and evolution of religion.

David Lewis-Williams. Conceiving God: the cognitive origin and evolution of religion. DAVID LEWIS-WILLIAMS James David Lewis-Williams is a professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He was born in Cape Town in 1934.David Lewis-Williams, as he is known to his friends and colleagues, is regarded as an eminent specialist in the San . Conceiving God: the cognitive origin andevolution of religion. 320 pages, 50 illustrations. 2010. London: Thames& Hudson; 978-0-500-051641 hardback 18.95 [pounds sterling]. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a well-written book that draws on some, but not a greatdeal of archaeological evidence. The contents are well summarised in thepreface and unfold thus: following three 'vignettes' onBlombos Cave Coordinates: Blombos Cave is a cave in a limestone cliff on the Southern Cape coast in South Africa. , the Maya and Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and GomorrahLegendary cities of ancient Palestine. According to the Old Testament book of Genesis, the notorious cities were destroyed by “brimstone and fire” because of their wickedness. , Chapter 1 considers'the history of scientific thought from ancient Greece to the RomanEmperor Constantine' (p. 8). Chapter 2 continues the same themefrom St Augustine of Hippo to Galileo. Chapter 3 looks at the lives ofCharles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace and Chapter 4 provides adiscussion of 'the ideas that have been advanced to explain howhuman activities that are readily identifiable as religious have beenunderstood (p. 9). Chapters 5, 6, and 7 examine religious experience,belief and practice, and Chapter 8 analyses Upper Palaeolithic religion.Chapter 9 discusses how religious belief, practice and experience workin medieval Europe (through a case study focused on Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen(hĭl`dəgärth', bĭng`ən), 1098–1179, German nun, mystic, composer, writer, and cultural figure, known as the Sibyl of the Rhine. )and South Africa (San rock paintings) and the similarities evident inreligious visions. Finally Chapter 10 looks at how people are achieving'freedom of thought' (p. 9) by turning away from religion asmanifest through the 'secularization of western civilization'(p. 9). Some reasonable points are made and it is an interesting read. Thisreviewer certainly does not want to live in a theocracy theocracyGovernment by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state's legal system is based on religious law. Theocratic rule was typical of early civilizations. andLewis-William places great emphasis upon science having demonstratedthat religion is the result of universal cognitive processes Cognitive processesThought processes (i.e., reasoning, perception, judgment, memory).Mentioned in: Psychosocial Disorders rather thanattesting to a supernatural or spiritual realm. Overall, though, thethesis is unconvincing primarily because the empirical basis for theargument is highly selective, with comparisons made between unconnectedpieces of evidence in proving the universality of these cognitiveexperiences. Perhaps more fundamentally it is the simplistic sim��plism?n.The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications.[French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple concept of'religion' that is worrying. Upper Palaeolithic ritual,symbolic behaviours, whatever one's terms of choice, are referredto as 'religion'--which is a wholly inappropriate projectionback in time of modern understandings of what 'religion' is.Even if 'religion' is accepted as a useful term to apply tothe Upper Palaeolithic then it is probably better described in theplural 'religions' rather than the singular'religion'. The use of 'religion' in this context isalso setting up a simplistic juxtaposition between what are termed'religious' behaviours, thoughts, etc. and those that are not.In reality it is unlikely such a neat division was made whereby'religion' existed as a domain separate from thought, actionetc. This is clearly evident in many contexts from both world and otherreligions even today. The title of the book, especially the subtitle The cognitive originand evolution of religion, suggests a universality of emphasis that is,unfortunately, not met by the contents. In reality it is aconsideration, or rather an assault, on Christianity and Westernthought. There is nothing wrong with this; Lewis-Williams provides agood summary of his thinking and recent research, but this is awell-trodden intellectual path and one feels that he should haveexpanded his thesis to include other religions. Christianity is a softtarget, more muscular alternatives such as Islam tend to be avoided bythose that do not like 'religion' and Lewis-Williams is noexception here. Hence the book would be better subtitled The cognitiveorigin and evolution of Christianity. Even the perspective on Christianity is simplistic and narrow. Thefinal chapter, the most interesting one as it explains Lewis-Williamspersonal philosophy and outlook on religion, focuses largely on theUnited Kingdom and the decline of the established Church. Whether thiswas because the marketing people said it would sell more copies as theaudience would better identify with it is unknown. But the data even onthe UK is flawed. Yes, the established Church is declining, as is RomanCatholicism and Methodism, but Islam and new Christian churches are not,they are growing, so religion is flourishing in some areas andcommunities. Much of the Christian re-emergence is in immigrantcommunities, African ones in particular. In portraying the withering ofChristianity one need only turn to Africa to witness the exact opposite.Lewis-Williams lives in South Africa; whether this is so there thisreviewer does not know, but elsewhere on the African continent and inits Diaspora, Christianity is flourishing as the Ghanaian and Nigeriancommunities in both West Africa and the UK indicate. Engaging with thiswould have strengthened the argument, and rewording the title to reflectwhat the book is actually about would have significantly increased itsvalue. TIMOTHY INSOLL School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a university located in Manchester, England. With over 40,000 students studying 500 academic programmes, more than 10,000 staff and an annual income of nearly ��600 million it is the largest single-site University in the United Kingdom and receives (Email: Tim.Insoll@manchester.ac.uk)