Customer Reviews

The Invention of God: The Natural Origins of Mythology and Religion

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The Invention of God by Bill Lauritzen

"The Invention of God" is a fascinating look at how early humans made sense about the world. Bill Lauritzen's interesting background as a psychologist, engineer, inventor, and just pure curiosity of our world has lead him to some fascinating theories about the origins of religion and science. This 432 KB digital book is composed of the following nine chapters: 1. The Pharaohs' Volcanoes, 2. Volcanic Lightning Bolts, 3. The Bible's Volcanoes, 4. The Volcano Gods, 5. Geological Creation and Destruction, 6. The Chemistry of the Soul, 7. The Oxygen Gods, 8. The Worship of Oxygen, and 9. Connecting the Dots.

Positives:
1. A meticulously researched book that provides a unique look at the origins of religion and science.
2. A well conceived theory backed by compelling evidence.
3. How the religions of the world emerged from the same natural phenomena.
4. I will never look at volcanoes the same way ever again.
5. An interesting look at historical gods.
6. Fire, earth, air and water...
7. How volcanoes inspired creation stories.
8. Did Atlas held the world on his shoulders? Find out.
9. How volcanism was responsible for the large percentage of the land-masses of the Earth.
10. An interesting list of potential catastrophic mega-explosions in the near future.
11. Absolutely loved the chapter about the origin of spirits and souls!
12. Thought- provoking interesting thoughts and quotes, "Man would rather believe than know..."
13. The origin of science, an interesting look.
14. The value of simplicity to convey ideas.
15. A new twist on tornadoes.
16. Hunter, gatherers and seafarers oh my.
17. The purpose of pyramids.
18. Great use of converging knowledge to reach sound conclusions.
19. Tidbits of wisdom abound. "There is a conflict between truth by revelation and truth by observation and experiment".
20. Good use of illustrations and tables.
21. Streamlined version makes for an easy read.
22. Great Timeline Appendix.
23. Links work, bravo!

Negatives:
1. Some may object to some speculation but I conclude that some of it was necessary and the author does a wonderful job of using converging knowledge to connect the dots. Well done!

In summary, the best way to describe this book is to compare it to a great independent movie. It may not have the budget, the polish, the backing of a major distributor but it has a great story propelled by the love and curiosity of its author. I enjoyed this book because it provides a unique look at religion and science and does so with very strong compelling arguments. I highly recommend it!

Further recommendations: "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright, "Man Made God..." by Barbara G. Walker, "Religion Explained" by Pascal Boyer, "The Third Basic Instinct" by Alex S. Key, and "50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God" by Guy P. Harrison.

This non-fiction book is criminally underrated. It's a crime that more people have not read it. After reading it myself (in a little more than 24 hours, mind you) I found "The Invention of God" awesome and spectacularly seminal: i.e., useful. I originally felt that perhaps anything contained in this book will have been information already covered in my previous readings or studies. However, it truly offers new knowledge and insight (at least to me) in the historical sense. Meaning - to my admitted surprise - it offers to me and contributes to my knowledge, despite that I've read Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Democritus, Lucretius, Dante, Montaigne, Bacon, Ibn Sinna, Ibn Rushd, Voltaire, Descartes, Marx, Nietzsche, Goethe, Darwin, Paine, Russell, Mencken, Heidegger, Twain, Orwell, Sagan, Harris, Plantinga, Dawkins, Dennett or Hitchens (and etc). So, I thought this book would not offer me any new information as so many "New Atheist" authors tend to belabor the ideas and concepts of the history of anti-theism, but then I took a chance on this novel (in purchasing it) and found it useful despite all of that. Definitely worth the purchase! That is why I'm writing my first review on Amazon about this book: it's an injustice that it isn't more popular. If only [the author] were a professor of History (because this book is highly historical and geological and gives a rare historical look into the myths of religions), then perhaps this book would have more clout in the publishing world (since full professors are usually required to publish with academic publishing houses and have "their foot in the door"). Definitely a must-read for any theist-apologist (Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Jain, Hindu, Shinto or ANY) and a must-have in the book-shelf of any anti-theist literary collection.

First and foremost I echo everything that has already been said about the contents of this book. Absolutely sheds light on the whole topic of religion and their origins. I began reading this unaware of what was in store for me and quickly found myself mesmerized by the contents of this book. Simply put it just makes perfect sense to me, and I highly recommend it. Reading it I immediately felt like I had to share this with anyone interested in such a subject, I can't recommend this book enough. If you have made it this far, reading this review, then your obviously the right person for this book, just buy it, you can thank me later, and write your own review to help get this word out.

Bill's book is an essential read for anyone who wants to put perspective into all religious myth and legend and get a grip on how and why it all came about in the first place. We may think we have an idea but many would be entirely wrong. Bill takes us step by step through the origins of everything and how and why legend has evolved into what billions of people erroneously believe today. Myth and legend evolved, as humans did, but not for the betterment of society. Easy reading and no jargon - pleasingly plausible supposition in the rare instances where Bill allows himself to speculate. I learned a lot from Bill's book and I highly recommend it. Saying more would really include 'spoilers' so that's it from me. Just read the book.

Jim Whitefield ~ Author of 'The Mormon Delusion' series.

I highly recommend this book. Using earth science as a model for the invention of god is a brilliant concept. I especially enjoyed the chapters on how man interacts with oxygen (chemistry of the soul), to develop the god concept. This book is no frivolous undertaking. Mr. Lauritzen has hundreds of footnotes to back up his concept and research.

This book is a thought provoking look at an original idea that was written before it's time and is now a truly acceptable theorem of how religions possibly came to be. I cannot wait for a hopeful part two to this delightful and thought provoking read...

I tried to come up with my own words, there is no other better way to speak of this enlightening book. These words kept running through my mind the moment I read them...

Who should read this book? Anyone who is intellectually
courageous. Anyone who wants some clarity on some of the
fundamental questions of our age. Anyone who wants to understand
the beginnings of religion and science. This book could be used in a
class on critical thinking, comparative religions, anthropology,
psychology or the history of science and religion. It could be used as
the basis to clarify translations from ancient tongues. This book also
could be used to combat religious dogma, wherever it might appear:
East, West or Middle East. - Bill Lauritzen - The Invention of God:
The Natural Origins of Mythology and Religion preface page 5

I think this is a great book, I urge you to read it. Bill Lauritzen gives his observations, along with logical and rational explanations, that make unmitigated sense.

Without wanting to say too much, Bill, in The Invention Of God, pushes the origins of religious belief back, right to the very start. To when our ancestors first started to examine and then tried to explain the world in which they were in. Their experiences, musings, experiments and what they learned were passed on through primitive language at first, then through pictorial writing. Unfortunately, over a vast time, the findings became misinterpreted, warped and became religious belief. But, above all, there was a warning... which has not been heeded!

Mr. Lauritzen gives a great list of items that early man had dealt with, and ended up making god, god like thought from said items. The info is exhaustive and comprehensive, yet concise. I really enjoyed this book. It is a "make you think" type of book. Imagining what it must of been like for early man with little science of any kind and only observation. It was so very interesting. It wasn't what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised. I would recommend it to anyone.

An excellent linking book if one is reading across myths, which I am.
Very refreshing point of view. Enthusiastic and determined.
Needed to be written down and published.
It certainly can be one of the applications of thought in mind when reading text ancient. I find myself thankful for the insights!

The main complaint I have about this book is that it just wasn't long enough. I enjoyed each new hypothesis as to how this aspect or that aspect of religion may have originated. I was really disappointed to arrive at the last page.
Non-fiction does not mean everything is to be accepted without question as to this or that proposition. Thought and speculation is part of the learning process. If you put some consideration and thought into the possibility that volcanism, floods, lightning, and thunder might explain ancient man's fabrication of Gods, rather than dismissing it reflexively due to rigid dogmatic beliefs, you will find the comparisons, inferences, very plausible.