How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

Description

The hard work required to make god real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people-as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn't

Tanya Marie Luhrmann is the Albert Ray Lang Professor at Stanford University, where she teaches anthropology and psychology. Her books include When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. She has written for the New York Times, and her work has been featured in the New Yorker and other magazines. She lives in Stanford, California.

"Winner of the PROSE Award in Theology & Religious Studies, Association of American Publishers" "One of The New York Times' Three Books That Gaze Upward to Heaven and Inward to the Heart" "Fascinating. . . . Provocatively orchestrated, meticulously argued, and lucidly written."---Sarah Iles Johnston, Los Angeles Review of Books "Luhrmann has brilliantly illuminated the magical attunement that constitutes a great deal of evangelical charismatic belief."---James Wood, New Yorker "Drawing voraciously on her own and others' research into faiths as far-flung as Messianic Judaism, the Goddess movement, Indigenous spirituality and Santeria, Luhrmann seeks to map how modern believers make their gods real."---Ariel Sabar, New York Times "Brilliant . . . destined to become a classic."---Timothy Larsen, Marginalia "A serious work of anthropological research, yet its conversational tone and fascinating anecdotes will hold the attention of even nonspecialists, especially those troubled by the elusiveness of an intimate relationship with God." * America Magazine * "An immensely enjoyable read." * Journal of the American Academy of Religion * "A generous and erudite study of how people believe." * Kirkus Reviews * "Tanya Marie Luhrmann is brave to have written such a daring book but it is a book which needed writing, it is a subject which needed addressing, and-amazingly I think-in the process of writing, she has given us a challenging, thought-provoking work. . . . What we have in the end is a fascinating and accessible book, taking us far out of our comfort zones to discover how what we do, and how what people in different cultures to our own do, can enable each person to grow in awareness of the invisible other, how each one of us can make the invisible other real."---Luke Penkett, Heythrop Journal "This insightful, challenging study, to be commended for its richly researched scholarship, throws fascinating light on how people fasion and express their faith practice and experience."---Rev. Brian Cooper, The Gandhi Way "A cause for celebration."---Brian Collins, Religious Studies Review