When and how was religion born?

Question

Please answer with an open mind and put yourself on a time before that and don't guess. Thanks!

Answer 1

It was created as a way for a bunch of ignorant people to explain the world around them. Cavemen didn't know about the Coriolis effect or convection currents, so they blamed the wind and rain on a sky god. They didn't understand the effects of the Earth's axial tilt on the seasons (or even that the Earth WAS tilted in relation to its rotation, or that the Earth rotated on axis or revolved around the sun, etc), so they came up with gods to explain why it got hot for a while, then cold. Death scared them, so they made up a place for their loved ones to go so they wouldn't feel so bad about it. Og died of infection (which they didn't understand was caused by microbes or viruses) or anything else less obvious than "Og didn't move fast enough when that POed mammoth came through," so it was an evil spirit that was to blame.

It was basically "the god of the gaps" on a grand scale, simply because there were more gaps than things they knew about.

This is why religion should be allowed to die already. We understand the universe now, and don't need gods to fill in the gaps anymore. The only purpose religion serves anymore is to steal money and services from the followers, and make people hate each other because they don't believe in the right magic book.

Answer 2

When was religion created [it cannot be born since it isn't a living thing]? It was created when humans began questioning or trying to understand their surroundings. The paintings in caves are believed to have been for survival purposes because the people of those times believed that if one drew a certain herd of animals that it would create that herd and they would have a plentiful hunt.

As humans became more sophisticated, so did their questioning and attempts to understand the world around them. Beings [often animalistic or associated with earth, moon, sky, sun, etc] were thought to control the weather, and natural occurrences in life. Sumerians created the first historically documented pantheon [groups of gods and goddesses] and rituals. You then see many different polytheistic religions sprouting Ancient Greek/Roman, Egyptian. Monotheism did not start until the Late Bronze Age... About 1600-1100 BC.

But before then It was all polytheistic religions.. and stray beliefs of how the world worked. Many of the modern day religions [Christianity included] would not be here today if it wasn't for those polytheistic beliefs, and said modern religions are heavily influenced by polytheistic religions before them... Christians have this idea that they were a newly created religion with original ideas and concepts... Not true. Christianity and most of its tales and stories are originally taken from polytheistic religions or were tales about God's wrath/love upon the world which can now be explained through looking at geological findings [Sodom and Gomorrah can be explained by these findings as being an earthquake, and the people there used Sulfer [AKA Brimstone] in the solid phase as fuel for fire and used as lighting. When the earthquake hit, the flaming brimstone fell in big chunks onto the people and their homes.]

Answer 3

Don't guess?

That's absurd. Anyone who tried to tackle such an ephemeral question would have to guess.

It seems to me that religion was probably born with the advent of some sacred ordinary miracle like fire. The person who tended the fire might have gained power, particularly if they not only tended it but knew how to revive it when it got put out.

Sacred mysteries lead to priests, and priests, in order to gain power would logically say they have the ear of some secret powerful being.

My evidence for this comes from my reading of egyptian history and mythology.

The priests had run simple plumbing from the river to the temple, so that they could observe the level of water in a basin in the temple. When that water rose they would proclaim the gods told them the river was rising. The 'faithful' would run down to the river, and lo, the water was rising.

I am suggesting that in the beginning, the cleverest men used parlor tricks and basic science to fool others into believing...

from then on it was conspiracy between the powerful leaders and the priests.

I too am powerful: I wrote what I did not knowing what the person above me was going to write.

Worship us both please! (:/)

Answer 4

A long time ago there was a village by a river which, every year, would flood the surrounding plain and ruin the village and its buildings - but it left behind rich soil that allowed for bountiful harvests.

One day, one of the villagers went to the marketplace and proclaimed to them, "Fellow villagers! I know when the floods come, for my god Sirius tells me!" Of course, he was laughed at.

Months later, that same villager appeared again in the marketplace shouting "The god Sirius has told me that the floods are coming! Gather your stuff and head to the hills!" He was laughed at, but a few saw that they had nothing to lose, so they followed. Sure enough, two days later the river swelled and flooded the village. From then on, whenever the man said that Sirius told him that the floods were coming, they packed their belongings up and moved to the hills.

He had become the first priest.

Years later, he said to his son, "Now that you are almost a man I will let you meet our god, Sirius." In the evening, he led his son up the hills and pointed to a star. "You see that star? That's Sirius. When that star is on the horizon, the floods come."

And so Religion was born.

________________________

"To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today." — Isaac Asimov.

Answer 5

Which one?

Religions were formed because people were afraid of the unknown since the beginning of time.
First it was lightening, rain, and thunder (etc) and they came up with nature gods to explain it. Now we use gods to explain the existence of DNA, the origin of the universe, and all other "scary" things we don't know the answer to yet.

It is also a political tool used to control the masses. Very useful and clever.

Answer 6

Since the beginning of time. Out of the need to learn about the world around us.

Answer 7

man was created with the desire to worship something. since the beginning of time, there has been a "religion". Depends on your belief. As a christiank,i say it began as a "relationship" not a religion, in the Garden. Other faiths will tell you different. The decision on what or whom to follow is all yours.

Answer 8

out of our want to understand the unknown

the first religions worshipped our life givers: the sun and the earth

almost every major religion, including christianity, are offshoots of these original ideas (Sunday, Easter the pagan holiday celebrating an equinox, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the story and character of Jesus were cobbled together from ancient sun gods, specifically Mithra

Answer 9

People got bored. No TV, radio or internet so, they made up stories that only the weak minded would believe & hand down to the generations.

Answer 10

That's impossible to answer but I could humor you..... likely occurred when man found it no longer tolerable to cope with their own mortality and came up with something that suited their needs to make them feel all warm and cozy about death.