Introduction

New York Times writer Nicolas Wade’s provocative new book “THE FAITH INSTINCT – How Religion Evolved & Why It Endures” contends that the growth and utility of religion can be explained by the principles of Darwinian evolutionary biology.

Highlights from a Wade’s synopsis of the book are below, followed by discussion questions….. Read more from Wade’s synopsis by clicking on the above book title.

Natural Selection Favors Religion

Wade central thesis is that “religious behavior was favored by natural selection because of the survival advantage it conferred on early human groups.”

Internal And External Threats To A Group’s Survival

“Early human … faced two social problems of the utmost severity—the threat of free riders from within [i.e., people who don’t contribute to society’s survival] and the threat of hostile neighbors from without. How were the new societies to be fortified against these threats?”

“A solution gradually emerged to counter the two acute threats of freeloading and of warfare: religion.”

How Does Religion Enhance A Group’s Survival

“Religious behavior addressed these two leading challenges to social order in the evolving human lineage. It both enforced the moral instincts and motivated people to pay any cost in defense of their community. Religion secured a new level of social cohesion by implanting in people’s minds a stern overseer of their actions.”

Religion Promotes Social Cohesion For Survival

Wade explains that religion’s key contribution for group’s survival is that it promotes social cohesion.  “It is striking that … evolution should have made cooperation and warfare two sides of the same coin [for survival]. Social cohesion is critical to … human systems.” 

Evolutionary Biology Does Not Challenge The Existence Of God

Wade contends that the evolutionary biology explanation for religion “does not challenge the central belief of either atheists or people of faith, since it offers no opinion as to whether or not God exists.”

***** Postscript *****

Controversy: Does Darwinian Selection Take Place At The Group Level?  Among evolutionary biologists there is a controversy as to whether Darwinian selection takes place only at the individual level, or at the group level as well? Central to Wade’s thesis is the assumption that Darwinian selection takes place at the group level – i.e., groups that effectively practiced religion to promote social cohesion where likely to prevail over those which did not.

***** Questions For Thought, Comment, And Small Group Discussion *****

(1) Do you agree with Wade’s evolutionary biology theory to explain religion – why or why not?

(2) Do you agree that the two most severe threats to a group’s survival are “free riders” and external hostile threats – why or why not?  What is a “free rider” and explain the threat to a group’s survival.

(3) How does religion control “free riders”?

(4) How does religion promote the defense of the community?

(5) Are there other threats to a group’s survival that Wade overlooks – and are these also addressed by religion?

(6) How does religion promote social cohesion? 

(7) Do you think the principles of evolution biology can be applied to “group selection” in the way that Wade theorizes – why or why not?

(8) Does the evolutionary biology theory of religion affect your religious views and your view of God – why or why not?

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