10 Top philosophy books like Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen

Cover of Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen

Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

By: Neil Van Leeuwen

4.52

Format: 312 pages, Hardcover

To understand the nature of religious belief, we must look at how our minds process the world of im…

If you liked the philosophy plot in Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen , here is a list of 10 books like this:

Cover of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, Lech Jęczmyk

1. The Left Hand of Darkness

By: Ursula K. Le Guin , Lech Jęczmyk

4.10

Format: 304 pages, Paperback

A groundbreaking work of science fiction, The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human… read more

Similar categories in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

"The king was pregnant."

-Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

"Truth is a matter of the imagination."

-Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

"The light is the left hand of darkness"

-Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

"Science fiction is not prescriptive; it is descriptive."

-Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

Cover of Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard, Alastair Hannay

2. Fear and Trembling

By: Søren Kierkegaard , Alastair Hannay

4.75

Format: 335 pages, Paperback

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian and religious author interested in human psy… read more

Similar categories in Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction
  • psychology
Cover of The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics by Elaine Pagels

3. The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics

By: Elaine Pagels

3.88

Format: 136 pages, Paperback

From the religious historian whose The Gnostic Gospels won both the National Book Award and the Nat… read more

Similar categories in Elaine Pagels's The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of Confessions by Augustine of Hippo, Henry Chadwick, Albert Cook Outler

4. Confessions

By: Augustine of Hippo , Henry Chadwick , Albert Cook Outler

3.41

Format: 400 pages, Paperback

Augustine's Confessions is one of the most influential and most innovative works of Latin literatur… read more

Similar categories in Augustine of Hippo's Confessions book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction

5. On Bullshit

By: Harry G. Frankfurt

3.77

Format: None pages, Hardcover

A #1 "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLER One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is s… read more

Similar categories in Harry G. Frankfurt's On Bullshit book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

6. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

By: Mark Fisher

4.00

Format: 176 pages, Paperback

read more

Similar categories in Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

7. How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee

By: Bart D. Ehrman

3.87

Format: None pages,

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus's divinity became … read more

Similar categories in Bart D. Ehrman's How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

Cover of American Zion: A New History of Mormonism by Benjamin E. Park

8. American Zion: A New History of Mormonism

By: Benjamin E. Park

4.21

Format: 512 pages, Hardcover

The first major history of Mormonism in a decade, drawing on newly available sources to reveal a pr… read more

Similar categories in Benjamin E. Park's American Zion: A New History of Mormonism book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
  • sociology
Cover of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

9. A Grief Observed

By: C.S. Lewis

4.22

Format: 76 pages, Paperback

Written with love, humility, and faith, this brief but poignant volume was first published in 1961 … read more

Similar categories in C.S. Lewis's A Grief Observed book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction
"Time itself is one more name for death."

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

"The death of a beloved is an amputation."

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

"I need Christ, not something that resembles Him."

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Cover of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

10. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

By: Cat Bohannon

4.32

Format: 624 pages, Hardcover

THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved,… read more

Similar categories in Cat Bohannon's Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
Cover of The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell

11. The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

3.54

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blen… read more

Similar categories in Amanda Montell's The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • nonfiction
  • sociology
  • psychology
"While magical thinking is an age-old quirk, overthinking feels distinct to the modern era—a product of our innate superstitions clashing with information overload, mass loneliness, and a capitalistic…"

-Amanda Montell, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

"Information transmission research suggests that folks with higher anxiety are quicker to engage with, and slower to disengage from, negative information; so "as a trait and state," anxiety itself per…"

-Amanda Montell, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

Cover of Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices by Noah Whiteman

12. Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices

By: Noah Whiteman

3.73

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

An evolutionary biologist tells the story of nature’s toxins and why we are attracted—and addicted—… read more

Similar categories in Noah Whiteman's Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
Cover of Lost Man's Lane by Scott  Carson

13. Lost Man's Lane

By: Scott Carson

4.28

Format: 516 pages, Hardcover

A teenager explores the darkness hidden within his hometown in this spellbinding supernatural thril… read more

Similar categories in Scott Carson's Lost Man's Lane book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

Cover of How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil

14. How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

By: Vaclav Smil

3.97

Format: 326 pages, Paperback

* THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 'Another masterpiece from one of my favorite authors . . . If … read more

Similar categories in Vaclav Smil's How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
"Найліпше нашу пасивність і надзвичайну складність проблеми глобального потепління можна проілюструвати таким фактом: тридцять років масштабних міжнародних кліматичних конференцій ніяк не вплинули на …"

-Vaclav Smil, How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

"У 2010-х роках саме джипи стали другою найбільшою причиною зростання викидів CO2, лишивши позаду важку промисловість, вантажоперевезення й авіацію. Обігнала їх тільки електроенергетика. Якщо народна …"

-Vaclav Smil, How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

Cover of How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

15. How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

By: Daniel Immerwahr

4.46

Format: 513 pages, Hardcover

A pathbreaking history of the United States' overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empir… read more

Similar categories in Daniel Immerwahr's How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
"At various times, inhabitants of the U.S. Empire have been shot, shelled, starved, interned, dispossessed, tortured, and experimented on. What they haven't been, by and large, is seen."

-Daniel Immerwahr, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

"Hoover’s greatest challenge was one of the least visible: the humble screw thread. Screws, nuts, and bolts are universal fasteners. They function in industrial societies, as one writer put it, like s…"

-Daniel Immerwahr, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

Cover of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi

16. The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017

By: Rashid Khalidi

4.50

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A landmark history of one hundred years of war waged against the Palestinians from the foremost US … read more

Similar categories in Rashid Khalidi's The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it by Will Storr

17. The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it

By: Will Storr

4.14

Format: 437 pages, Kindle Edition

For centuries, philosophers and scholars have described human behaviour in terms of sex, power and … read more

Similar categories in Will Storr's The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • nonfiction
  • sociology
  • psychology
"Whilst we play life as a game, our conscious experience of it takes the form of a story."

-Will Storr, The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it

"We build an infinite variety of imaginary games. Groups of people gather together, agree what symbols they’re going to use to mean “status,"

-Will Storr, The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it

"The story idealists sometimes tell of humanity says we're natural seekers of equality. This isn't true. Utopians talk of injustice whilst building new hierarchies and placing themselves at the top. W…"

-Will Storr, The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It: On Social Position and How We Use it

Cover of Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries by Greg Melville

18. Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries

By: Greg Melville

4.00

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

A lively tour through the history of US cemeteries that explores how, where, and why we bury our de… read more

Similar categories in Greg Melville's Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
"Every life holds an epic tale, even if no one alive remembers it."

-Greg Melville, Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries

Cover of Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier by Benjamin E. Park

19. Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier

By: Benjamin E. Park

4.17

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Compared to the Puritans, Mormons have rarely gotten their due, often treated as fringe cultists or… read more

Similar categories in Benjamin E. Park's Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others by T.M. Luhrmann

20. How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

By: T.M. Luhrmann

4.15

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps expl… read more

Similar categories in T.M. Luhrmann's How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • psychology
  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction
  • sociology
Cover of Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right by Matthew L Harris

21. Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right

By: Matthew L Harris

4.34

Format: 288 pages, Paperback

Ezra Taft Benson is perhaps the most controversial apostle-president in the history of the Church o… read more

Similar categories in Matthew L Harris's Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism by George Monbiot

22. Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism

By: George Monbiot

4.44

Format: 224 pages, Paperback

A sharp, fiercely argued takedown of neoliberalism that not only defines this slippery concept but … read more

Similar categories in George Monbiot's Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • nonfiction
Cover of America On Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s by Elizabeth Hinton

23. America On Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s

By: Elizabeth Hinton

4.22

Format: 396 pages, Hardcover

What began in spring 2020 as local protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapol… read more

Similar categories in Elizabeth Hinton's America On Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
  • sociology
Cover of Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe by Hugo Mercier

24. Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe

By: Hugo Mercier

3.91

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

Why people are not as gullible as we think Not Born Yesterday explains how we decide who we can … read more

Similar categories in Hugo Mercier's Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • philosophy
  • nonfiction
  • sociology
  • psychology
Cover of Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins by Jacob L. Wright

25. Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins

By: Jacob L. Wright

4.23

Format: 300 pages, Kindle Edition

 "A revelation, even to those who have read the Bible for a lifetime! "We witness how in the afterm… read more

Similar categories in Jacob L. Wright's Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
"Law without a story was ineffective."

-Jacob L. Wright, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins

"In the Song (of Songs), love defies death itself."

-Jacob L. Wright, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins

"Both then and now, the most powerful means of creating community is to tell stories."

-Jacob L. Wright, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins

"Without partnership between two, it is not realistic to expect a community of thousands to survive let alone thrive."

-Jacob L. Wright, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins

Cover of The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture by Konrad Schmid

26. The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture

By: Konrad Schmid

3.86

Format: 448 pages, Hardcover

The Bible as we know it today is best understood as a process, one that begins in the tenth century… read more

Similar categories in Konrad Schmid's The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism by Taylor G. Petrey

27. Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism

By: Taylor G. Petrey

4.59

Format: 290 pages, Kindle Edition

Awards and Distinctions 2021 Best Book Award, Mormon History Association Finalist, 2020 Associati… read more

Similar categories in Taylor G. Petrey's Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • religion
  • nonfiction
Cover of Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence by Sara Imari Walker

28. Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence

By: Sara Imari Walker

4.06

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

None read more

Similar categories in Sara Imari Walker's Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
Cover of Lovely One: A Memoir by Ketanji Brown Jackson

29. Lovely One: A Memoir

By: Ketanji Brown Jackson

4.64

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her inspiring, intimate memoir, the first Black woman to ever be … read more

Similar categories in Ketanji Brown Jackson's Lovely One: A Memoir book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • nonfiction
Cover of Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen

30. Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

By: Neil Van Leeuwen

4.52

Format: 312 pages, Hardcover

To understand the nature of religious belief, we must look at how our minds process the world of im… read more

Similar categories in Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity book and Neil Van Leeuwen's Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity

  • atheism
  • psychology
  • philosophy
  • religion
  • nonfiction
  • sociology

13 must-read religion books like Religion as Make-Believe: A Theory of Belief, Imagination, and Group Identity by Neil Van Leeuwen

Transform Your Habits

Fear and Trembling

Søren Kierkegaard , Alastair Hannay

4.75

Transform Your Habits

The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics

Elaine Pagels

3.88

Transform Your Habits

Confessions

Augustine of Hippo , Henry Chadwick , Albert Cook Outler

3.41

Transform Your Habits

American Zion: A New History of Mormonism

Benjamin E. Park

4.21

View all the books

20 best-selling audiobook books like Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices by Noah Whiteman

Transform Your Habits

Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic

Emily Monosson

3.87

Transform Your Habits

How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes

Cody Cassidy

4.06

Transform Your Habits

Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet

Ben Goldfarb

4.45

Transform Your Habits

The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance

Dan Egan

4.23

View all the books

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