All about Adam & Eve: How We Came to Believe in Gods, Demons, Miracles, & Magical Rites

by Robert J. Gillooly

Many of society's current religious beliefs are the same as those held by ancient civilizations and even by savage tribes. All About Adam and Eve, a fascinating and revealing look at religious history, explains, in a clear and accessible way, the origin of gods from many cultures, tracing their evolution from primitive to sophisticated societies.While publishing the first opinion survey of 20th-century America's anthropologists and theologians on...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573921874
• ISBN13: 9781573921879
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Tons of info, tons of facts.

This book is full of facts to allow you to make your own decisions. Although some of the facts are harsh, it's an honest analysis of religion. He doesnt just cover christianity either, hinduism, buddism, etc are in there as well. He covers the bible, religious leaders, rituals. It's well written covering a good amount of topics. I learned a lot and enjoyed the book a lot.

Bible Stories ARE Borrowed

Gillooly succinctly puts all the sources of derivation of Bible stories under one roof. Isn't it interesting that the ritual of Attis involved bread and wine used in a way similar to the Last Supper? that eqyptian, babylonian, and zoroastrians shared so many symbols with Christianity and Judaism?Any of us who have looked in to the culture at the time of the Bible stories vaguely know some of these stories and their connections to the Bible. Here Gillooly keeps them tightly packed with their Jewish and Christian counter-parts. This book will be offensive to those who are afraid to look at the facts of Bible authorship square in the face. But for those of you who are intrigued by the derivation of Bible stories and rituals, this is a gripping read. Particularly fascinating are Gillooly's more medieval investigations involving demons, magic, and how these are intertwined with a Biblical sense of what illness is. How the Christian Church has evolved in its relationship to these doctrines in the light of science is one of the most telling aspects of what the church does.The style and organization of the book make it difficult to put down. Gillooly finds the humor, but is likewise fair in his assessment of the meaning of the findings of archeology, and the study of ancient texts.