God An Anatomy

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; Main Market edition (16 Sept. 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 608 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509867333
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509867332
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.4 x 5.5 x 24.3 cm

But as Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou reveals, God’s cultural DNA stretches back centuries before the Bible was written, and persists in the tics and twitches of our own society, whether we are believers or not. The Bible has shaped our ideas about God and religion, but also our cultural preferences about human existence and experience; our concept of life and death; our attitude to sex and gender; our habits of eating and drinking; our understanding of history. Examining God’s body, from his head to his hands, feet and genitals, she shows how the Western idea of God developed. She explores the places and artefacts that shaped our view of this singular God and the ancient religions and societies of the biblical world. And in doing so she analyses not only the origins of our oldest monotheistic religions, but also the origins of Western culture.

Beautifully written, passionately argued and frequently controversial, God: An Anatomy is cultural history on a grand scale.