Eric's Birth of Religion Page

Eric's Birth of Religion Page

Many think that religion was invented by God. The truth, however, is that every religion on the face of the earth, every religious doctrine, and the very concept of religion, was invented by man.

The concept of religion was invented by early cavemen shortly following the invention of the god concept.

Once gods were created (by men) to explain natural phenomena that could not (at the time) otherwise be understood, early man sought to manipulate gods for his own benefit. If early man thought that an occurrence of thunder meant that an imagined "god of the sky" was angry, then it made sense to try to keep the imagined sky god happy (in order to avoid thunder).

Several innovative methods were invented to try to make the imagined gods happy. Among these were sacrifices (of animals, humans, and even human virgins), dances, chants, monuments, and other symbolic gestures.

If the inevitable thunder (in this example) returned anyway, early man might have imagined that he needed to increase his efforts to please the sky god (e.g., more sacrifices). If the thunder seemed to go away for a time, early man might have imagined that this confirmed that whatever they happened to have done in that instance seemed to work (i.e., a cause and effect relationship was assumed -- it gave man a comforting sense of power to imagine that he could exert some control over his environment in the form of these efforts to please the invented gods).

As time passed, the expansion and prevalence of certain cultures (e.g., Egyptian, Greek, Roman) allowed certain religions to become very prevalent. The emerging acceptance of certain religions among large populations resulted in establishment of religious leadership. These religious leaders imagined themselves to be the gods' mortal representatives/intermediaries. Theirs was a position of power similar to being a high government official. They would manufacture doctrines for their religions. Some of these doctrines, fortunately, were very beneficial for society in general (e.g., the notion that gods will be angry if people kill each other).

Births of religion are by no means an ancient phenomena. Even in modern times, new religions are being born. The reasons for inventing new religions these days may include: a legitimate dissatisfaction with current existing religions, financial gain, power (i.e., megalomania) or perhaps a schizophrenic dementia (i.e., actually imagining that one is being called by God to do something). Religions invented in the fairly recent past include:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (invented in 19th century by Joseph Smith, who imagined himself to have been approached by the angel Moroni and allegedly told how to interpret alleged golden tablets that the angel allegedly told him to dig up somewhere in NY)
Scientology (invented in mid 20th century by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard)
The United Unification Church (invented in mid 20th century by Sun Myung Moon, who allegedly had a variety of revelations in the mountains of Korea over a several year period)

Older Invented Religions include:

Buddhism (invented in the 5th century BC by Siddartha Gottama; had its roots in Hinduism)
Judaism (invented many centuries BC)
Roman Catholicism (invented in 1st century AD by followers of Jesus of Nazareth; had its roots in Judaism)
Islam (invented in 5th century AD by Muhammad; had its roots in both Judaism and Roman Catholicism)
Lutheranism (invented by in 16th century AD by Martin Luther; had its roots in Roman Catholicism)
Anglicanism (invented by King Henry VIII; had its roots in Roman Catholicism)

Here you see a frank, objective discussion of issues that often generate strong emotions. If you do not agree with my views, feel free to express your views to me and the logic behind them. If you have nothing constructive to say, however, please keep your opinions to yourself.

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This page last updated 01/04/02