In Zealot > Reza Aslan replaced the staid > well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book > Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God > writ large.

In layered prose and with thoughtful > accessible scholarship > Aslan narrates the history of religion as a remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan > this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains > making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes > ?Whether we are aware of it or not > and regardless of whether we?re believers or not > what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.?

But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature?our compassion > our thirst for justice?but all that is bad in it: our greed > our bigotry > our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions > cultures > and governments.

More than just a history of our understanding of God > this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God > many gods > or no god at all > God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives.