The Seshat History of Moralizing Religion: VOLUME 2: World Survey (Seshat Histories)
What do the gods want? Will we be judged after death? What is the aim of religious practice? In all the major religions recognized today, interpersonal morality is a primary concern, reinforced by supernatural systems of punishment and reward. In the Abrahamic faiths, an all-powerful god monitors and judges human conduct, and in Asian karmic religions, every action has consequences, in this life or the next. Yet this focus is recent compared to beliefs in supernatural agency and life after death, and ritual practices designed to ensure good relationships with gods, spirits and ancestors. How did moralizing supernatural punishment and reward (MSP) become so important, and what impact have these beliefs had on human societies? Since 2011, teams of scholars affiliated with the Seshat: Global History Databank have used quantitative methods to explore these questions. The Seshat History of Moralizing Religion is a qualitative companion to this work, providing a more detailed exploration of cultural context. It is the first book to offer a worldwide comparative perspective on moralizing religions. Volume 2 is a world survey of beliefs in moralizing supernatural punishment and reward, using the Seshat Databank’s sampling scheme and ranging from the Neolithic to around 1900. In a series of analytic narratives, authors examine the evidence for moralizing religion, allowing temporal and geographical patterns to emerge from the empirical evidence.