Live Screenshot
Source link:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/disbelieve-it-or-not-ancient-history-suggests-that-atheism-is-as-natural-to-humans-as-religionPublished by: UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE on 16 Feb 2016
1473 views · Last view: 2 hrs ago
News Text (from UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE)
People in the ancient world did not always believe in the gods, a new study suggests – casting doubt on the idea that religious belief is a 'default setting' for humans. Early societies were far more capable than many since of containing atheism within the spectrum of what they considerednormal
Despite being written out of large parts of history, atheists thrived in the polytheistic societies of the ancient world – raising considerable doubts about whether humans really are 'wired' for religion – a study suggests.
The claim is the central proposition of a new book by Tim Whitmarsh, Professor of Greek Culture and a Fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge. In it, he suggests that atheism – which is typically seen as a modern phenomenon – was not just common in ancient Greece and pre-Christian Rome, but probably flourished more in those societies than in most civilisations since.
As a result, the study challenges two assumptions that prop up current debates between [...]
Explore More
University of Cambridge AtheismSearch Google Search Explore Topics
Who are University of Cambridge?The University of Cambridge is a world-renowned collegiate public research institution in England, founded in 1209 by scholars fleeing a dispute in Oxford. As the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, it connects over 24,000 students from more than 140 countries across its historic campuses.
What is Atheism?Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists.
