In a lengthy feature article in the New York Times Magazine this weekend, writer Robin Marantz Henig tackles the concept of how evolutionary biology fits in with the believe in God. [The debate] is taking place not between science and religion but within science itself, specifically among the scientists studying the evolution of religion. These scholars tend to agree on one point: that religious belief is an outgrowth of brain architecture that evolved during early human history. What they disagree about is why a tendency to believe evolved, whether it was because belief itself was adaptive or because it was just an evolutionary byproduct, a mere consequence of some other adaptation in the evolution of the human brain. This isn't an article to skim, but if you have some time to sit down with it, it's worth a read.
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