The Believing Primate: Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Reflections on the Origin of Religion describes and assesses the latest scientific accounts of how religious belief and behavior developed. The volume begins with essays by leading researchers in the field, who discuss the evidence for a naturalistic understanding of religion's origins, and concludes with a series of diverse reflections on this research by leading philosophers, theologians, and scientists.

The Believing Primate addresses such questions as: Is religion an accidental by-product of our evolutionary development or an adaptation shaped by natural selection? Do scientific accounts of religion's origins undermine the justification of religious belief? Even if human beings are naturally disposed toward religion, would we fare better or worse without it?

Edited by Jeffrey Schloss (distinguished professor of biology and director of the Center for Faith, Ethics, and the Life Sciences at Westmont College in Santa Barbara) and Michael Murray (vice president for philosophy and theology at the John Templeton Foundation), the volume is the result of summer seminars at Calvin College sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation on "Science and Religion" and "The 'Nature' of Belief: Evolutionary Explanation, Biological Function, and Divine Purpose."