Excerpt from Of the Importance of Religious Opinions From' the midil of thele *claihin and contradic tions, continually recurring, a mtnlfier, poflelled of a reflecting mind, is incellantly called back to the idea of imperfection. V He will, ' undoubtedly, be forry, ' when he feese the great difprnportion which exxlls be tween his duty and his powers: and he will fome' times grieve and be'dtfcouraged, at perceiving the oh-r' {lacles he mull furrnount, and the difficulties he mufl' overcome. E He raifes; with labour' and care, banks on the {irand the waters fwell; their courfe becomte more rapid; and the firll precautions rendered infuf-v ficient, oblige him to have recourfe to new worksi which, thrown down in their turn, hurry on a contin' ued {uccellron of fruitlets *toil and' ufelefs attempts. What, then, would be the confequence, if once the' {almary chain of religious-{entiments were broken P, whatould be the event, if the action of that-pow erful fprmg were even entirely dellroy ed 3' 'you would) foon lee every part of the {ocial Bruflure tremble from its foundation - and the hand of government unable to fuflatn the vall and tottering edifice. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

How we feel is as vital to our survival as how we think. This claim, based on the premise that emotions are largely adaptive, serves as the organizing theme of Why We Need Religion. This book is a novel pathway in a well-trodden field of religious studies and philosophy of religion. Stephen Asma argues that, like art, religion has direct access to our emotional lives in ways that science does not. Yes, science can give us emotional feelings of wonder and the sublime--we can feel the sacred depths of nature--but there are many forms of human suffering and vulnerability that are beyond the reach of help from science. Different emotional stresses require different kinds of rescue. Unlike secular authors who praise religion's ethical and civilizing function, Asma argues that its core value lies in its emotionally therapeutic power. No theorist of religion has failed to notice the importance of emotions in spiritual and ritual life, but truly systematic research has only recently delivered concrete data on the neurology, psychology, and anthropology of the emotional systems. This very recent "affective turn" has begun to map out a powerful territory of embodied cognition. Why We Need Religion incorporates new data from these affective sciences into the philosophy of religion. It goes on to describe the way in which religion manages those systems--rage, play, lust, care, grief, and so on. Finally, it argues that religion is still the best cultural apparatus for doing this adaptive work. In short, the book is a Darwinian defense of religious emotions and the cultural systems that manage them.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.