Creating God: The birth and growth of major religions

 Creating God: The birth and growth of major religions

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       July 23, 2021

 

Author  Robin Derricourt

Distributor:      New South Books
ISBN:                 9781526156174
Publisher:         Manchester University Press
Release Date:   May 2021  

Website:    https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au 

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Creating God: The birth and growth of major religions is a massive read, but well worth the time spent to marvel at the past and present concept of God; religion as we know it in the world of today and religion as it was being created for many and vast reasons.

God as an etheric entity is considered as the basis of all belief that goes back to the earliest of cultures but as time has marched onward the concept of one entity, God, has been explored and spread into many religions, creating a deep and firm belief in many of the major religions that influence people, drive politics and offer abiding hope when all else appears to have failed.

Award winning author Robin Derricourt takes the question, ’What do we know about how and where religions began, and how they spread,’ exploring this through three major monothestheistic faiths, looking at their archeology and history to recreate the rise and fall and rise again of these singular faiths.

Zoroastrianism has a history that predates most, which still has a following today. Then along came Judaism and Christianity followed closely by Islam and then Mormonism, the most recent and consistently growing religion of our times. The one thing all these religions have in common is a prophet who claims divine intervention with God. This unshakeable belief laid the foundations of these and many other religions, many that have long since faded into history.

But what particular thing is it that has led to the rise and rise of these major faiths: what supports them and more importantly, what is their effect on the followers of these religions. Sensitively written the journey towards building a faith that has remained is fascinating, as there are many aspects that have to be considered to be able to have a relatively comprehensive understanding of what drives people, what forms beliefs and in many instances is ‘religion’ used as a means of controlling people, to using people for a greater or lesser good.

If you are a student of Theology, History or simply someone who enjoys discovering much about the history of humanity, the good, the bad and the indifferent and where the fundamental beliefs that form a part of our society and bloody history were formed, Creating God is a very good place to begin.

Fascinating, well researched and very readable Creating God is not a light read but one that is very worthwhile.

Non Fiction