Tanrının Öyküsü: Tanrı mı İnsanı, İnsan mı Tanrıyı Yarattı?

by Robert Winston, Sinan Köseoğlu (Translator)

Tanrı Fikri, tarih boyunca insanın peşine düştüğü en uzun süreli fikir olmuştur. Çünkü hayatı ve evreni anlama gereksinimi, insan beyninin çevremizdeki dünyayı yorumlama biçiminin ayrılmaz bir parçasıdır. Zerdüştçülüğün Avesta'sı, Hinduizmin Vedalar'ı, Museviliğin Tevrat'ı, Hristiyanlığın İncil'i ve İslamın Kuran'ı... bütün kutsal kitaplar ve metinler aslında hep aynı öykünün peşine düşmüştür.

Robert Winston, BBC'de yayımlanan Tanrının Öyküsü adlı belgesel diziyi, dinleri çıkış noktaları ve temel esaslarıyla birlikte ele alarak, insanın bu Tanrı Fikri'ne nasıl ulaştığını gösteren bir kitaba dönüştürüyor. Altını çizdiği yerler kadar eleştirdiği noktaları da belirtmekten çekinmeyen Winston, kişisel deneyimlerini aktarmayı ve yüzyılımızın din algısıyla bağlantılar kurmayı da ihmal etmiyor.

"Din insan bilincinin şafağından bu yana var olmuştur, çünkü insanı insan yapan pek çok öğeyi kucaklamıştır: ayrılma ve birleşme, sevgi ve nefret, öfke ve merhamet, kesin yasalar ve yalın dindarlık, kesinlik ve belirsizlik. Hiçbir fikir bu denli uzun zaman varlığını sürdürmemiş, birbirinden tamamen farklı bu kadar çok gereksinim, istek ve duyguyu bir araya getirmemiş ve onu anlamaya yönelik bu kadar çok yol açılmasına esin kaynağı olmamıştır. "
-Robert Winston-

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Science, History, Philosophy, Theology

504 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

The Right Honourable Professor The Lord Robert Maurice Lipson Winston

Reviews

[Çağdaş T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tanrı'nın Öyküsü'nü sanırım 3-4 yıl önce okumuştum.
Hayatımı değiştiren demeyeyim de taşları yerine oturtan kitaplardandı. Kendisi Yahudi olan R. Winston'ın dinin ve dogmatik inançların kökenine inerken bu kadar nesnel davranması takdire şayan.
Kitabın yanılmıyorsam sonunda şöyle bir konu vardı: Winston, aslında tüm dinlerin insan zekasının ürünü olduğunu savunuyor ( kanıtlıyor ) bunla ilgili kitaplar yazıp, belgeseller yapıyıor ama yine de her Cumartesi Sinagog ayinlerine katılıyor. Dostları bu duruma şaşıp, alay ediyorlar fakat O, böyle daha huzurlu olduğunu dile getiriyor :)

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanrının Tarihi mi yoksa öyküsü mü yani Robert Winston mu Karen Armstrong mu diye düşünürken önceliği tarihine vermiştim. Ama dağınık bir anlatımla karşılaştım. Sanırım belgeselini seyretmek daha mantıklı olacak.

Tüm bunların, mitoloji ile birlikte, gerçek sanılarak bu zamanlara kadar nasıl geldiklerini, halen bu kadar etkin olmalarının nedenlerini görmek istemiştim. Fakat bu konuda farklı okumalar yapmak gerekecek gibi görünüyor. Eğitimsizliğin, bilgisizliğin ve sorgulamamanın nelere yol açtığını görmek, bu dünyayı bu hale getiren etkenler en büyüğünü incelemek sanıyorum farklı kitaplara nasip olacak :)
Halen bir yerlerde birileri bu din dışı diyerek, birilerinin yaşam hakkını elinden aldığı, kimsenin bu konuda bir şey yapmadığı günlerde, en azından bazı noktaları anlamak için okunabilir bir kitap.

İyi okumalar.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really deserves 3 stars. I gave it 2 for the following reasons:

1) The author uses BCE/CE, which is awful.
2) The author uses the word 'myself' when he should use 'me': "...of their attacks on people like myself"
3) He will say things like "Pilate, a notorious hanging judge with no sympathy for upstarts". According to who? No footnote. A Jewish crowd may or may not have chanted for Jesus' death. The fact that it is used as an argument by anti-Semites doesn't make it false.

[Kerem · Rating 5 out of 5]

İnançlardan uzak bilime yakin kalın. İnancın her türlüsü insanoğlu için bir salgın hastalık. Bu bağlamda, insanoglunu ve inançlarını tarihsel olarak cok güzel irdelemis ve büyük resmi net bir şekilde ifade ediyor. Okullarda ders olarak okutulmali ve üzerinde calistirilmali.

[Gerard Guzzo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self-described as an atheist, yet a devoted adherent to Judaism, and a big fan of Islam, Winston leads the reader in a confused, agenda-based journey through mans history of belief in God. From the first homo sapiens to modern day man, he attempts to use science to explain why humans believe in the supernatural. Unfortunately, is argument is weakly formed and based on huge assumptions. The book is heavily affected by his seething hatred of Christianity, which at times, is thinly veiled. Perhaps he should stick to his expertise in human reproduction and leave the theology to others.

[Azimah Othman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A person's search towards the understanding of religion from a scientific perspective. So far, his opinion has been fair. He takes us through ancient beliefs and all and espouses his own ratification of the circumstances of the time that developed the divine thoughts.

His introduction to Christianity is somehow quite unexpected. His views on religious schisms and acts of heresy more so under the cloak of divinity, drive a note on the troubles of the world throughout time but maintains a kind approach, perhaps a reflection of his rationality.

He espouses on some people's idea that evil and illness are products of erroneous thinking and that some people need ritual and symbol to induce the required state of mind which I totally agree.

He does not support nor deny belief in magic and mysticism even among the religious, but state them as they were. Ah, the "golem", a being created from dirt, sounds familiar. I first heard of it in Lord Of The Rings. It seems very much a Jewish tradition...created by recitation of the divine name and can perform a range of tasks for it's master.

Hey, I am almost there..................just 6 more pages to go!

There ..it's done. A totally interesting book.
His conclussion which I concur- man's knowledge is complete but man must continue to search for the point of life as the search itself bear sufficient meaning to man's existence.

[Inma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book to start reading about the history of religion from a more or less neutral stand. Easy to read. Very nice book.

[Jill Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very useful overview of the history of religion, engagingly written and never dull, but Winston commits the cardinal sin (despite the claim he makes in the book to hate this practice himself!) of thinking that because he is an expert in one field (the biology of human reproduction) he is thereby qualified to pontificate about completely different topics (such as Christian theology). He seems to subscribe to the old-fashioned and groundless view that Jesus was largely misunderstood by his own followers and that St Paul made up the Christian religion as we know it. He needs to read a few books by N T Wright and/or Kenneth Bailey to see that this is nowhere near the case.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an excellent book :)
I am not at all religious but I like to know why other people are and I like to learn about ALL the different religions.
This book has answered quite a lot of questions and provoked some thought.
It has also explained that the biggest 3 religions (Christian, Judaism and Islam) are all based on much the same theme and NONE of them condone killing in the name of religion!
So why do "religious" people still insist on killing those of a different religion ... this book helps to explain their (misguided) reasons.
Well worth the read even though a couple of the earlier chapters are a little difficult to get through.

[Anıl Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good source to learn about the story of god. It lacks of referance books/papers that is absolutely needed to support some propositions.
Some parts of the book feel really softened to make theist readers to continue to read :) He does not dig in the details and share opposing ideas about the religions but explain them briefly.

[Tugrul Akyuz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her bölüme çok farklı puan verilebilir. 2,3,4,5 arasında oldukça oynak bir kitap. Objektif olarak verdiği bilgiler adına 4 .

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Objektif bir bakış açısı ile dinler tarihi bu kadar güzel anlatılabilir. Mutlaka okumanızı tavsiye ederim.

[moi, k.y.a. · Rating 2 out of 5]

aslında güzel kitap da ben çok popüler kültür içeriği olarak gördüm. zaten bbc’de yayınlanmış bir program da varmış benzeri isimle, biraz onun kitaplaşmış hali o yüzden tatmin etmedi beni.

[Lou Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought this was brilliant, really interesting and hard to stop reading!

[Derbhile Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a meaty read, with plenty of information to chow down on. It explores why humans have such a strong urge to believe in God, in spite of slender evidence. As a crash-course in the world's great religions, it works really well. The chapters on how science has eroded religion were also fascinating. In the end, it comes to a hopeful conclusion. A recommended read for anyone wanting to find out more about world religions, a sort of Spirituality 101.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly well-researched and fascinating overview of the three main monotheistic religions and their development over time, this book offers a balanced and thoughtful perspective on the role spirituality plays in our lives and its impact on society in general. I particularly enjoyed the sections on the earliest evidence of human religious belief and practice, and on fundamentalism today. It is intriguing to note the difference between religion that binds people into groups and the kind of religion that transforms people inwardly, because history makes clear that the former is what is responsible for wars and terrorism while the latter is responsible for individual creativity, work and charity.

There were parts of the book that were heavy going but I persevered and read every word, simply because the text was so readable and the information so worthwhile. There are lots of stories taken from the news about various cults which make for intriguing reading. The author's clear explanation of how various religious movements are linked help to clarify many fuzzy areas. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the present state of Christianity, Judaism or Islam, because it raises important questions about the direction in which these religions are going and what to be wary of in the future.

[Eoin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging book, written in a very clear, well communicated style that attempts to chart the development and history of religion in the world.The book contains much interesting information and insight into Christianity and Islam and I found it greatly enlightening on the philosophy and development of Judaism, a subject about which I discovered I knew very little indeed. The particular emphasis given to Judaism is unsurprising as the author is himself Jewish.

While much of the book was interesting, I felt that its overall narrative arc was somewhat feeble, being let down by chapters on the prehistoric development of religion heavy on speculation and "cavemen might have felt like this" musings. There is little hard evidence for what drove the development of a sacred idea in man or whether all religions have sprung from the one source or developed independently. This is exacerbated by its focus on the Abrahamic religions, to the neglect of the origins of Eastern or indigenous religions and how they may be linked the development of Western monotheistic religions.

[Amithanand D'silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive book dealing with the concept of God from prehistoric man to the present day. Robert Winston has done extensive research on both monotheists and polytheists regions and touched upon the other concepts of God.

Being a believer himself he has manage to maintain an unbiased perspective throughout the book and being an Atheist myself, I found it very intriguing.

This is book that needs to be read at leisure and with a lot of curiosity, although there is a theme building over the chapters, it can be quite easily started from any chapter depending on interest.

[Ganesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

how do you reconcile religion and science, the former is intuitive and the latter objective. the author tries to explain the need for both without excluding either. tracing the origins OG religion and god/the divine idea and tracing it to the 21st century this book tries to reconcile both ideas. it is also a rather good primer of the abrahamic faiths. I just wish there had been a bit more on eastern religions as well. at times it can be a bit long but overall worth the time and effort.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stuffed full of facts. Tons of facts, mostly about older religions. I put it down for a week and read a chapter twice before realising that I had read it before, and had forgotten all those facts in a week. Oh, dear!

There's nothing wrong with this book, but there's no strong idea making the facts relevant, or memorable.

[Ricksuter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting points raised but Winston doesn't really explain how science and religion can work without contradiction. He provides a good analysis of fundamentalism but some of the chapters on the history of religion are a bit dull.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the history of how "God" and religions have changed over the centuries. Unfortunately, too many side stories skipped around and often left me confused.

[Lugwigvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for it's history of religion, which, to me, emphasised the fictional and means-to-an-end nature of religion.

[Elif Sağırkaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

details about christianan jewish history were hard too read,in my opinion.
but i liked the book generally.especially the evolution of 'god idea',really interesting.