Programme
Human culture is a non-natural system which is transmitted from generation to generation; it changes as a result of interactions with changing conditions, and produces diversified societies that are adapted to their natural and non-natural conditions. Studying cultural evolution mean accepting that cultures are transformed by natural and social forces, and the studying these forces explains the data we encounter, be it artefacts, texts, or human actions. Cultural evolution as an academic field has gained acceptance and visibility in the humanities throughout the world in recent years. It takes an evolutionary perspective at the development of culture.
Applying this approach to the domain of the Bible, its world and its reception means that scholars seek evolutionary explanations for the religious reality in the Near East in the ancient period, Late Antiquity and beyond.
Keywords:
Cognitive science of religion, Cultural evolution of religion, Early Christianity, Early Judaism