Contents

pp v-vi

Preface

pp vii-viii

1 - The cognitive science of religion: a new alternative in biblical studies

pp 1-14

2 - Past minds: evolution, cognition, and biblical studies

pp 15-23

I - Memory and the transmission of biblical traditions

3 - How religions remember: memory theories in biblical studies and in the cognitive study of religion

pp 24-42

4 - Rethinking biblical transmission: insights from the cognitive neuroscience of memory

pp 43-61

5 - The interface of ritual and writing in the transmission of early Christian traditions

pp 62-76

6 - Computer modeling of cognitive processes in biblical studies: the primacy of urban Christianity as a test case

pp 77-97

7 - “I was El Shaddai, but now I'm Yahweh”: God names and the informational dynamics of biblical texts

pp 98-119

II - Ritual and magic

8 - Is Judaism boring? On the lack of counterintuitive agents in Jewish rituals

pp 120-143

9 - Ritual system in the Qumran movement: frequency, boredom, and balance

pp 144-163

10 - A cognitive perspective on magic in the New Testament

pp 164-179

11 - From corpse impurity to relic veneration: new light from cognitive and psychological studies

pp 180-196

III - Altruism, morality, and cooperation

12 - Why do religious cultures evolve slowly? The cultural evolution of cooperative calling and the historical study of religions

pp 197-211

13 - Empathy and ethics: bodily emotion as a basis for moral admonition

pp 212-233

14 - A socio-cognitive perspective on identity and behavioral norms in Ephesians

pp 234-250

15 - Emotion, cognition, and social change: a consideration of Galatians 3:28

pp 251-270

Bibliography

pp 271-304

Index of modern authors

pp 305-312

Subject index

pp 313-316