was religion created out of man's fear of death?

Answer 1

Like science it is the attempt to explain nature, with an emphasis on hierarchy. It gave early man a contemptuous way to control what he could not understand.

Answer 2

I assume you are talking about formal religion rather than a belief in a deity or deities. I think there is an inherent need for people to believe in a creator who is the final moral arbiter. Much of early civilization was based on this. Even loosely associated nomadic tribes seemed to have some sort of belief in a higher power.

Why formal religion? I suppose it was a way of consolidating their belief system, defining and organizing it's practice. It was also an opportunity to gather and feel part of something great.

The instinctive fear of death, maybe. More likely it was the same thing that has always plagued man. That is the fear of the unknown.

I am not a religious person but I do not dismiss what religious people believe. I know a lot of non-religious people like to blame religion for all the evil in world but evil acts in the name of anything does not mean the thing itself is bad. Just they way certain people decide to use it. I also see all the good organized religions do, too.

Answer 3

there is always that "assumption" that it is...
but i would rather believe that it isn't

why? because early people may not have feared death
as much as we do right now... (they may not have feared death at all)

i agree that all religions (or all forms of religion) are all manmade for it is humankind's way of trying to understand all the unexplainable things around them and in a general sense man's way of reaching out to a "higher being" (that holds the answers)

it is uncanny though that all cultures & civilization (or religions) have a form of sacrifice to "reach" their "god" & also there are legends & stories that seem to parallel accounts found in the Old Testamant Bible... people may say that this is proof that stories in the OT were rehashed stories of old... but it can also be that civilizations who drifted apart through time & circumstance all have the same basic stories handed to them by the previous generation & it might also indicate that these stories may have been infact historical fact.... if that is so, then religion may have been created because of humankind's previous experiences with that "higher being" we now call God (with a capital G).

(& because there were no internet, email, podcast, blogs, videos, tivos, & all that tech things before, all we have are the ancient manuscripts or Scriptures)

Answer 4

I wish people would seriously try to answer some of these questions. I am not a historian so I can’t begin to try to accurately answer this, but in a proper answer I would expect to see historical references to various religions and when they started and what existed before them.

Most of what people say in the religion discussions is more an expression of their ignorance, lack of faith, hatred of things, etc. With that in mind I would say that a lack of religion is more out of a fear of death. If there is no consequence for the life we have lead on earth then why fear death?

Answer 5

Not at all.

Death was created out of mans sin. Death was a curse of God, who is the true author and source of religion.

Answer 6

I wouldn't say "created," but many religions address that fear. Religions seem to be anthropomorphic abstractions - seeing and thinking of the universe in terms of our own condition rather than on its own terms. Thus to some there is a Daddy creator, sometimes with a Mommy, whom we have to obey and cherish on pain of punishment - but with a potential for great lollipops if we behave.

This abstraction can be made very comforting if we attribute to him/her/them everlasting life and power over life and death.

Answer 7

Religion was created to act as a guideline for human interactions within society.

Faith itself is the result of our attempts to confront death.

Answer 8

No, it was created out of fear of the unknown and to control other people.

Answer 9

It is one of the chief reasons, but also to explain the unexplainable.

People in general have difficulty living with ambiguity And so to be able to assert that God or the supernatural was the cause of otherwise unexplainable events (given the technology of the day) offered eased the pain of living with not knowing.

Answer 10

You know that does give it a little edge, also the fact that it's true gives reason for everything as it has progressed through the centuries to now. I like it personally I hope many undecided on Q&A look into it & ask God for a touch also it will uplift anyone.