Religion, Politics and Sapiens
There are three discussion topics that will surely invoke a lively conversation at your next family dinner: religion, politics and the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Over the course of our learning in this program we have read other authors who have graveled with the most known historical narratives and tried to provide a new account of how faith and life came into existence. Thomas C. Oden in How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity emphasizes that ” [t]he thesis of this book can be stated simply: Africa played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture. Decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood first in Africa before they were recognized in Europe, and a millennium before they found their way to North America.”[1] Peter Frankopan in The Silk Roads: A New History of the World discussed the importance of the east and not the west in history. The Silk Roads were key in the shaping of civilization, economics, politics and religion. He prefaces his book by establishing his intended outcome for seeking out this information “My hope is that I can embolden others to study peoples and places that have been ignored by scholars for generations by opening up new questions and new areas of research. I hope to prompt new questions to be asked about the past, and for truisms to be challenged and scrutinised. Above all, I hope to inspire those who read this book to look at history in a different way.”[2] Both authors were motivated by their curiosity of the world around them. They sought out answers to questions and were not afraid to challenge scholars, theologians and historians to see beyond the Eurocentric / western narrative in order to discover something new and different.
Yuval Harari is attempting to also push the envelope. Not quite in the same way as Oden and Frankopan (*insert awkward smirk*) but in a way that does cause any reader to think, react and want to engage in discussion. His book takes us from what is historically described as the evolution of humankind to today. This is a lot to put into 400+ pages. [Side Note: It became apparent to me from the beginning that Harari has some contention with systematic structures and cultural constructs i.e. legal systems, politics and religion. He slides in occasional jabs throughout his book.] I will not summarize his entire book but I will highlight two things that struck me in his book.
- Survival of the Fittest– This is not a new concept. When discussing evolution this Darwinian ideal is at the core. In the beginning of his book, he writes “[t]he most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is that they were insignificant animals with no more impact on their environment than gorillas, fireflies or jellyfish.”[3] This is clearly not the creation narrative many Christians have adopted from the book of Genesis but it helps to set up his historical account of evolution. He also, disturbingly notes the occurrence of bestiality in early sapiens have sex with animals and producing children. He goes on to discusses how early Sapiens evolved into what we know as the human species. Many of the prehistoric sapiens (Neantherdals and Denisovans) died or were killed. He posed a series of questions aimed at religious ideals on life, salvation and life after death, in regards to the tolerance of other sapiens had they survived like the homo sapiens did. “Would the book of Genesis have declared that Neanderthals descend from Adam and Eve, would Jesus have died for the sins of the Denisovans, and would the Qur’an have reserved seats in heaven for all righteous humans, whatever their species?”[4] Even I chuckled at the thought of what he was saying. However, on a serious note it was alarming to think that in this historical account humans have been killing each other since the very beginning because of differences. If I were to go along with his narrative, it would beg the imaginative question of what the world be like if the Neantherdals and Denisovans had survived?
- Imagined Reality– He asserts that our ability to survive as Human beings has much to do with our cognitive ability to believe in fiction. The ideas of gods, money, laws etc. are all fictional cognitive concepts that derive from communal beliefs accepted and agreed upon by everyone. He writes “Unlike lying, an imagined reality is something that everyone believes in, and as long as this communal belief persists, the imagined reality exerts force in the world.”[5] While I do not agree with this as it relates to my understanding of the God of my faith, I can understand his point when it comes to money. Over time, what we have defined as money has changed. It is all about what value we place on something in order to use it to exchange it for something else of value. He states that “money isn’t a material reality – it is a psychological construct… Money is accordingly a system of mutual trust, and not just any system of mutual trust: money is the most universal and most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised.”[6] He further asserts “Take a dollar bill and look at it carefully. You will see that it is simply a colourful piece of paper with the signature of the US secretary of the treasury on one side, and the slogan ‘In God We Trust’ on the other. We accept the dollar in payment, because we trust in God and the US secretary of the treasury.”[7]
[1] Thomas C. Oden, How africa shaped the christian mind: rediscovering the african seedbed of western christianity (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2010), Location, 42.
[2] Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: a new history of the world (New York: Vintage Books, 2017), Preface.
[3] Yuval N. Harari, John Purcell, and Haim Watzman, Sapiens: a brief history of mankind (London: Vintage Books, 2015), 4.
[4] Ibid, 18.
[5] Ibid, 32.
[6] Ibid, 179.
[7] Ibid, 180.
About the Author
Christal Jenkins Tanks
8 responses to “Religion, Politics and Sapiens”
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“Would the book of Genesis have declared that Neanderthals descend from Adam and Eve, would Jesus have died for the sins of the Denisovans, and would the Qur’an have reserved seats in heaven for all righteous humans, whatever their species?”
While I won’t speak for Islam and the Qur’an, I would suggest that Harari’s understanding of Christianity is limited (which makes sense, as he’s a non-practicing Jew, and practicing Buddhist). Specifically answering his question about the Denisovans, I believe Colossians 1:20 would say “yes, God would reconcile even them to God”– “through Jesus God was pleased to reconcile to God all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
Regarding the creation myth, again, both Christians and Jews have different understandings of the literalism of the Genesis story. But could we agree that God created the Neanderthals? Most likely we could.
Katy I loved your comments. You also make a valid point on the variations of creation accounts between Christians and Jews. I agree with your point about God reconciling all things back to Himself.
“Yuval Harari is attempting to also push the envelope.”
That is an understatement.
Having said that, there are many mysteries when we look to our origins, even for conservative Christians.
For example, who are the Nephilim of Genesis 6:1-4?
Someone cannot take a literal view of the Genesis account and write them off as anything other than a human or sub human species.
SAPIANS may not be wholly true, but it does open the door to get people thinking.
As an accountant I’m really with you on that money argument.
It’s not only trust in God and the US Secretary, but also trust that somebody will exchange something with me for it. I can give them a piece of paper worth maybe 1 or 2 cents and get back a pencil worth a dollar.
In this way we do have a ‘communal belief’ that works until the government decides that something else will be money.
Harari said things that got me thinking but he just misses. As Christians I don’t think we should underestimate the power of real truth.
Yes Mary it is so interesting what we place our value on. Especially now that the exchange of money is becoming more virtual and less tangible as technology continues to advance.
Yes Christal, I also struggled with the imagined reality, especially when he talked about how people come together and cultures are developed on myths and imagined realities. Although there is truth to this, I also believe cultures and people come together on truths of what people see and experience. In my opinion, truth is stronger than imagined realities in bringing people together. Thoughts?
Yes Jen I do not believe that myths are the only communal beliefs we hold together. Being that he is not a Christian I do not think he would agree in one truth or the premise of God being the source of truth.
Crystal,
“money isn’t a material reality – it is a psychological construct… Money is accordingly a system of mutual trust, and not just any system of mutual trust: money is the most universal and most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised.”
This statement had me think back when we travel to various countries. We give them one dollar in exchange for more or less than a dollar. We trust that we have the correct exchange amount. When we purchase items how do we really know we are being charged the correct price?