The Shadow of God: An Atheist Podcast

Ep #14: An Introduction to the Cognitive Science of Religion

Sun, 10 May 2026 19:20:11 +0200

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction: The Universality of Religious Beliefs
8:31 Case Study: Buddhism and Christianity
16:06 Can "Truth" Explain the Universality of Religious Beliefs?
22:30 Can "Culture" Explain the Universality of Religious Beliefs?
31:59 The Basics of Cognitive Science
38:37 The 6 Foundations of the Cognitive Science of Religion
41:52 1. The Epidemiology of Representations
56:41 2. The Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (HADD)
1:03:08 3. Animism and Anthropomorphism
1:15:44 4. Ritual Representations
1:32:15 5. Minimally Counter-Intuitive Ideas
1:49:41 6. Modes of Religiosity
2:00:50 Conclusion

Ep #13: Why Religious Explanations are Bad Explanations

Mon, 04 May 2026 07:13:48 +0200

Discusses the features which an explanation must possess to be a "good" explanation, and whether or not religious explanations - whether or not they might be said to be "true" - could ever be counted as good explanations.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction: What makes a good explanation?

5:37 Is It Fair to Judge Religious Explanations Against Scientific Ones?

13:09 Dawes' Six Features of Good Explanations

15:36 1. Testability

38:13 2. Compatibility With Background Knowledge

47:48 3. Past Explanatory Success

55:39 4. Simplicity

1:31:47 5. Ontological Economy

1:46:10 6. Informativeness

2:10:53 Conclusion

Ep #12: What New Religious Movements Can Teach Us About the Origins of World Religions

Mon, 04 May 2026 07:11:39 +0200

Explores the various sociological dynamics that are involved in the creation of "New Religious Movements" in the contemporary world, and what this might be able to teach us about the origins of the world's major religious traditions. Chapters:

0:00 Introduction: What Are NRMs?

3:49 What Studying NRMs can Teach us About the Origins of the World Religions

17:05 Why We Can't Trust Religious Traditions about Their Own Origins

29:25 Becker's 4 Types of Religion

33:00 Sectarian NRMs

46:43 Cultic NRMs

57:43 The Origins of Judaism

1:06:15 The Origins of Buddhism

1:22:42 The Origins of Christianity

1:30:02 The Origins of Islam

1:36:36 The Origins of the Chinese Religions

1:44:50 Why New Religions Emerge: The Erosion of Legitimacy

2:01:22 Charismatic Authority in NRMs

2:27:10 Charismatic Authority in the Origins of the World Religions

2:53:52 Why New Religions Perish or Survive: The Transfer of Authority

Ep #11: King Josiah and the Violent Origins of Monotheism

Mon, 04 May 2026 07:08:34 +0200

Explores the reign of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 BCE) and the violent policies he enacted to spur the development of monotheism.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction: The Contemporary Relevance of Josiah

6:42 The Reliability of Our Sources

12:45 Who Was King Josiah?

19:03 The "Discovery" of Sacred Scripture

27:12 The Religious "Reforms" of Josiah

39:26 The Babylonian Exile

46:46 Josiah's Post-Exilic Legacy

1:04:15 Conclusion: Monotheism and Violence

Ep #10: Why God Doesn't Matter (Part 2: Divine Love)

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:28:24 +0200

Explores the nature of divine love, and questions the extent to which God's love could be said to be of any genuine importance to human beings.

Ep #9: Why God Doesn't Matter (Part 1: Introduction)

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:26:43 +0200

Introducing a new series of videos in which I explore a number of the putative benefits of God's existence, explaining why none of these are really of any importance to human beings. In this introduction to the series, I lay the groundwork for the conditions that must be met to say that the existence of God really "matters".

Ep #8: Why the Fine-Tuning Argument Fails

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:35:21 +0200

Discusses the many philosophical challenges that the fine-tuning theory faces as a justification for God's existence.

Ep #7: Why A Priori Arguments for God's Existence Fail

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:05:29 +0200

Discusses 7 general reasons why a priori arguments for the existence of God never succeed.

Ep #6: Do Religious People Actually Believe What They Say They Believe?

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:27:37 +0200

An exploration of the ambiguities and controversies surrounding the nature of "belief" in a religious context.

Ep #5: The Rhetoric of Mystical Experiences

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:59:16 +0200

Explores the linguistic and rhetorical tools that believers use to talk about "mystical" or "religious" experiences, and what this can teach us about the nature of the experiences themselves.

Ep #4: What Religion Is (Part 3: Religious Institutions)

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:25:55 +0200

An exploration of the nature of religious institutions. Here I discuss why it is that religious people participate in the various behaviours, practices, rituals and social structures that they do, and why all of these are so central to to the phenomenon of religion.

Ep #3: What Religion Is (Part 2: Religious Groups)

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:56:39 +0200

An exploration of the nature of religious groups, religious identity and their centrality to the phenomenon of religion.

Ep #2: What Religion Is (Part 1: Religious Concepts)

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 16:06:18 +0200

An exploration of the nature of religious concepts. Here I discuss why religious concepts in different traditions are so similar, how they are developed, and why it matters.

Ep #1: What Religion is Not

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:54:28 +0200

Clearing up common misconceptions about what religion is and how religion functions.

Channel Introduction

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:40:25 +0200