During the last years, a new, biological perspective on religiosity, defined as behavior towards supernatural agents (like ancestors, angels, gods or God), has developed and improved tremendously. In interdisciplinary and international networks, scientists in the humanities, cultural, psychological, social and religious studies teamed with evolutionary biologists, geneticists, neurologists and anthropologists to explore the evolutionary, natural history of religion(s).

Dr. Michael Blume was born in 1976 in Filderstadt, Germany. He lectured Religious Studies at the universities of Tübingen, Heidelberg and Leipzig. His promotional thesis focused on theories on religion in the brain sciences (the so-called "neurotheologies”). Dr. Blume then specialized on the reproductive benefits of religiosity - the complex workings of religious communities fostering higher birth rates (and thus: evolutionary success) of religious people in comparison to their secular neighbours of the same regions, educational and income levels worldwide.

Together with biologist Rüdiger Vaas, Dr. Blume recently published “Gott, Gene und Gehirn. Warum Glauben nützt. Die Evolution der Religiosität” (Hirzel 2009). He was the first German to be invited into the directory of the Evolutionary Religious Studies. His science-blog “Natur des Glaubens” won the German Scilog-Award 2009.

Dr. Blume is part of a Christian-Muslim family and works in the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg.

Homepage:
http://www.blume-religionswissenschaft.de/english/index_english.html

Web Resources on Religion & Reproduction:
http://www.blume-religionswissenschaft.de/english/wrrr.html