I would like to know if the discussion of the Evolution of God is going to be an open discussion where a Christian perspective is welcome. If you guys want this to be a close in discussion group I will steer clear.

All perspectives are always welcome. But all comments, arguments, beliefs and perspectives are fair game for critical examination. Nothing is sacred or off limits. As long as people are reasonably respectful there shouldn't be a problem.

If you watch the author's interview videos you'll see he is a pretty moderate guy. He definitely isn't on the offensive towards religion. In fact I've read that this frustrates many atheists. Likewise, religious people don't exactly agree with his position either. Robert Wright is nothing like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Dennett, etc...

I wouldn't be concerned that you will be under attack in this discussion. That shouldn't happen. But you will get responses as will everyone else that types sentences here. We all have to try hard to be nice. I sure hope you participate.

To participate in a book discussion, you should generally read the book. Right?

Edit: This is Geo. I am testing out a new username to see if it is also plagued by the problem where I am logged out automatically. So far my new username is keeping me logged in.

FakeGeo wrote:To participate in a book discussion, you should generally read the book. Right?

It helps.

stahrwe wrote:I would like to know if the discussion of the Evolution of God is going to be an open discussion where a Christian perspective is welcome. If you guys want this to be a close in discussion group I will steer clear.

Robert Wright isn't a Bible scholar, just someone who has familiarized himself with the Bible and some of the scholarship. You might be able to present an alternate view of his facts, or to claim his facts are simply wrong. I would think, though, that it wouldn't suit anybody to have the argument of whether the Bible is a product of culture or of God. The assumption Wright begins with is that it was all produced by human minds and that what was going on in society at the time had a crucial bearing on what was written down. It follows that, of course, God--in the sense of the divinity given particular characteristics in the Bible--is humanly created. Wright says, though, that this doesn't disprove that the divine somehow exists. All our various attempts to describe this divinity might, he says, be taken as proof of this. He doesn't promote that, but he concedes that others who think so could be right.