Were there ever any civilizations that didn't have a god?

Question

If not, does it mean that religious belief is the last remnant of the stone age?

Answer 1

All known societies have had religions, not all religions have involved gods.
Some of the most developed and prosperous countries today are well on their way to becoming godless (U.S. excluded), so there is reason to hope that religion can be outgrown.

Answer 2

I can't think of any civilization that didn't have some kind of god. Rather than being a remnant of the Stone Age, I think it speaks for the need of humans then and today to find meaning to life, why things are the way they are, and what will happen when their time on earth is up, otherwise, it would have died out in primitive form, rather than continued into modern day.

Answer 3

I think all societies have had a philosophy that can be called a religion not all depended on a God(s)/Goddess(es). Eastern philosophies or religions have not depended on a God. Buddhism makes no statement that there is a God or isn't. Individual followers may be totally atheistic or invent a pantheon of Gods. Taoism has a universal force but it really isn't a God in any western sense. Confucism was a philosophy with no Gods. In Greek civilization the Stoics had a God as Nature philosophy which was that God was completely naturalistic, nature is God or pantheistic belief.

Answer 4

Yes, but what they had was a multiplicity of spirit beings (gods) whose good will was necessary for the smooth running of the world.

The belief in one supreme Deity being the ONLY Deity was introduced by the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Amonhotep IV (Akhenaten). His claim that the only god was the Aten and no other beings then being worshipped or placated were anything but figments of the priests' imaginations lasted only as long as he did. His death caused the whole structure (including the royal city he had built and dedicated to the Aten) to be torn down, scratched or chiseled out and his heir Tutankhamon (yes, THAT King Tut), was induced by the priests to go back to business as usual with the whole pantheon of Egyptian gods.

Interesting side note: the Hebrews were resident in Egypt at that time and were probably the labor force behind the new city. And of course, they had their tradition from Abraham, their progenitor. Hmmmmmm. Wonder if Amonhotep had a Hebrew advisor, slave, friend or whatever?

Answer 5

There is no evidence of diety worship during the stone-age period. As silly as religion is (my opinion) i have to recognise that the formation of religion was an example of human beings reaching a higher plain in the evolutionary scale. Because it shows human-kinds ability to now think in abstract and philosophical ways. I believe that with the destruction of religion is actually a regressive step towards, or backwards i should say, our neanderthal stone age past. I am perfectly fine with that.

Answer 6

I tend to favor the arguments made by Richard Dawkins and other scientists -- that the tendency toward religion is an unintended side effect of a useful, evolved trait of our human brains. For example, an "obey parents and authority figures without question" gene that would be useful for passing on survival skills. Or the human tendency to assign intent and "will" to things (even inanimate objects) as a shortcut to understanding unfamiliar and potentially dangerous occurrences.

Answer 7

The Soviet Union was a practical Atheistic State and it failed. Communist China claims to have no "official God' and be an atheistic state. I don't think atheism is good for the life or economy of a country as shown by Russia and China.

Answer 8

America.

Answer 9

no, every group of people has a had a theory on how they got here.

I believe in evolution, but also think god made the first little cell or groups of cells that evolved into creatures

Answer 10

I don't believe a whole civilization is that way. God put it in man to have a need to worship. So I believe all civilizations (individuals in them) have worshiped a god.