The prevalence of gods throughout history

[Amanda_B]

This is a thought that has been with me for awhile that I have tried to understand: does anyone have any theories about why the creation and worship of gods is so prevalent across practically every single culture and as far back as the beginning of human history, so far as I am aware? Few things are so reliable when comparing various cultures then the fact that human societies, no matter their geographical location or cultural particulars, have created gods to worship. In so far as worship of gods is considered an aspect of religion, religion too has been a seemingly universal cultural constant throughout time. In that regard, religious worship is clearly a natural inclination of human beings. What bugs me about this is the fact that because human beings do seem to be inclined towards religion and the worship of gods, it is easy to fall into the thinking that belief in the Judeo-Christian God is merely an extension and historically evolved process of the age-old human tendency to “create” and worship a god or multiple gods. I believe what Thomas Aquinas wrote about divine, eternal, natural, and human law, and as such I believe that human reason, and the use of reason to determine moral acts, is natural to humans and is a type of participation in the eternal law. And, as a catholic, I also believe what Augustine wrote about God’s truth being “written” on the human heart. What I’ve wondered is, since religious worship seems a natural inclination of human beings, and because humans have the capacity to discern the truth by way of it being written on our hearts and manifest through reason, is it then the case that all the instances of gods being created and worshiped by various cultures throughout history were all some sort of a misplaced attempt to find the one, true God due to the fact that these people were all, because of their humanity, naturally predisposed to the truth, which is God? Because I believe in God, and have weighed the arguments for and against the existence of God, I believe that it is rational to believe in His existence. But my belief in God is also based on the existence of a man, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be God and gave evidence for his divinity. Because of this, I just cant see how to somewhat haphazardly believe in a god of wine, a god of the sun, a god of the sea, etc, is rational. But if it is not rational, and all human beings have reason, and all human beings (it seems) have believed in some sort of a divine entity/entities, where did this belief come from?? Human beings seem to not only be created with a natural awareness of a power that is higher than oneself, but they also recognize the sacredness of that power. Just as we as catholics venerate certain objects associated with God, a saint, a particular location, etc, as sacred and holy, so too did the ancient Egyptians and pagan Romans ascribe an important aura of sacredness around temples and other things associated with their gods. Of course, as I believe as a catholic at least, this aura of sacredness was entirely misplaced, as these gods did not exist, and yet their awareness that things associated with a higher power are holy and special was not misplaced. So it seems to me that they were on the right track, so to speak, it was just that their conclusion about what or who that higher power was was entirely wrong. In the Old Testament, one of the most repeated themes is God’s abhorrence of pagan gods. This in my opinion seems to work against my theory that the worship of pagan gods was a misplaced attempt to discover the one true God and a manifestation of the fact that His truth is written on our hearts because, if my theory were correct, would it really require a direct intervention by God into human affairs in order for people to be made aware of the fact that He is the one true God and so put an end to all of this multiple gods nonesense? Would they not instead be able over time to gradually discern the truth of his existence through reason, since reason is supposed to lead humans to the truth? Maybe I am thinking way too hard about this and no one can even understand what I am getting at but if any does, and has an opinion, I’d love to hear it…

 

[Samuel63]

I can try. Your post is too long but base on the thread title, I can offer the following.

Deep thinkers occasionally appeared in history to advance collective thought. After some time of growing as a human family, thought progressed to the point of wondering, “where did all of this come from?” Other factors were noticed as well, such as the lack of higher intelligence in animals.

Anyway, it became obvious there was a great creator. Some civilizations dreamed up multiple gods (greek and roman). Others civilizations rationalized there could only be one god. They were right! None had revelation from God except the nation of Israel.

 

[Dorothy]

There were a lot of thoughts in your post, …I will respond with some thoughts that your post brought to my mind.

There is an emptiness in man without God.

Before God’s Divine Revelation to man,(Moses, the prophets, and finally our Lord Jesus Christ) people fashioned ways of thinking about God and how to please Him. They knew that there was something bigger than them, but, of course they did not get it right all by themselves.

Evil had a hand in the ways that pagans, without Divine Revelation, would come to the conclusion that they needed to “appease” the gods they thought existed by doing horrible things such as throwing their first-born child into a volcano. (I am thinking of the Aztecs in that instance.) There are many other abominations that I will not bring up here used by various pagan nations down through the centuries.

God did intervene in human affairs to show who He truly is. He did so through the prophets, and finally through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now it is our job to go forth with His grace and bring His Truth to whoever will hear it.

 

[Heuchler]

Well you seemed to answer your own question. There is within us the knowledge that something greater created the world. However, even reason could not have predicted the God of Christianity (nor have made it up). Who would invent a God who is one but also three. Who would ever think up the Eucharist where you actually eat the Body and Blood of God. Who would think on their own that the world is inherently good but has been skewed toward evil through human actions?

Paganism works pretty well from a rationalistic point of view. The only problem with it is that it does stem from pure reason and has not had any evidence for. You can easily predict that the ancient people would create a religion to explain why it rains and why there is thunder. Of course they would have angry gods who are essentially humans with super-powers. The gods of paganism are anthromorphic and represent what a super-powered person would be. But Christianity represents the unthinkable truth. The plot twist that no one expects but which fits perfectly. That is why it has to be right, because no fool would make this up. Anyone could predict the customs of the pagans, no one would make up this complicated relgion.

 

[tonyrey]

This is a thought that has been with me for awhile that I have tried to understand: does anyone have any theories about why the creation and worship of gods is so prevalent across practically every single culture and as far back as the beginning of human history, so far as I am aware? Few things are so reliable when comparing various cultures then the fact that human societies, no matter their geographical location or cultural particulars, have created gods to worship. In so far as worship of gods is considered an aspect of religion, religion too has been a seemingly universal cultural constant throughout time. In that regard, religious worship is clearly a natural inclination of human beings.

In his book **The Perennial Philosophy **Aldous Huxley shows how all the great religions of the world have the same fundamental beliefs, values and practices.

What bugs me about this is the fact that because human beings do seem to be inclined towards religion and the worship of gods, it is easy to fall into the thinking that belief in the Judeo-Christian God is merely an extension and historically evolved process of the age-old human tendency to “create” and worship a god or multiple gods. I believe what Thomas Aquinas wrote about divine, eternal, natural, and human law, and as such I believe that human reason, and the use of reason to determine moral acts, is natural to humans and is a type of participation in the eternal law. And, as a catholic, I also believe what Augustine wrote about God’s truth being “written” on the human heart. What I’ve wondered is, since religious worship seems a natural inclination of human beings, and because humans have the capacity to discern the truth by way of it being written on our hearts and manifest through reason, is it then the case that all the instances of gods being created and worshiped by various cultures throughout history were all some sort of a misplaced attempt to find the one, true God due to the fact that these people were all, because of their humanity, naturally predisposed to the truth, which is God?

I don’t see why that should bug you! It would be very strange if all religions were accurate - given human fallibility.

Because I believe in God, and have weighed the arguments for and against the existence of God, I believe that it is rational to believe in His existence. But my belief in God is also based on the existence of a man, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be God and gave evidence for his divinity. Because of this, I just cant see how to somewhat haphazardly believe in a god of wine, a god of the sun, a god of the sea, etc, is rational.

It is irrational but it still reveals a belief in a Creator.

But if it is not rational, and all human beings have reason, and all human beings (it seems) have believed in some sort of a divine entity/entities, where did this belief come from?? Human beings seem to not only be created with a natural awareness of a power that is higher than oneself, but they also recognize the sacredness of that power. Just as we as catholics venerate certain objects associated with God, a saint, a particular location, etc, as sacred and holy, so too did the ancient Egyptians and pagan Romans ascribe an important aura of sacredness around temples and other things associated with their gods. Of course, as I believe as a catholic at least, this aura of sacredness was entirely misplaced, as these gods did not exist, and yet their awareness that things associated with a higher power are holy and special was not misplaced.

You are right!

So it seems to me that they were on the right track, so to speak, it was just that their conclusion about what or who that higher power was was entirely wrong. In the Old Testament, one of the most repeated themes is God’s abhorrence of pagan gods. This in my opinion seems to work against my theory that the worship of pagan gods was a misplaced attempt to discover the one true God and a manifestation of the fact that His truth is written on our hearts because, if my theory were correct, would it really require a direct intervention by God into human affairs in order for people to be made aware of the fact that He is the one true God and so put an end to all of this multiple gods nonsense? Would they not instead be able over time to gradually discern the truth of his existence through reason, since reason is supposed to lead humans to the truth?

To discern the most important truths about God - like the fact that God is Love and made us in His image - is obviously beyond the power of human reason. That is the reason for the Incarnation!

 

[cornbread_r2]

Some possible secular explanations for belief in god, gods and religious practice.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions

 

[Contarini]

What bugs me about this is the fact that because human beings do seem to be inclined towards religion and the worship of gods, it is easy to fall into the thinking that belief in the Judeo-Christian God is merely an extension and historically evolved process of the age-old human tendency to “create” and worship a god or multiple gods.

I think that’s a problem only if you assume that this human tendency to worship “gods” must be totally unrelated to the worship of the true God. I would see this tendency as evidence for the existence of the divine, not against it.

I believe what Thomas Aquinas wrote about divine, eternal, natural, and human law, and as such I believe that human reason, and the use of reason to determine moral acts, is natural to humans and is a type of participation in the eternal law. And, as a catholic, I also believe what Augustine wrote about God’s truth being “written” on the human heart. What I’ve wondered is, since religious worship seems a natural inclination of human beings, and because humans have the capacity to discern the truth by way of it being written on our hearts and manifest through reason, is it then the case that all the instances of gods being created and worshiped by various cultures throughout history were all some sort of a misplaced attempt to find the one, true God due to the fact that these people were all, because of their humanity, naturally predisposed to the truth, which is God?

Yes, that’s pretty much what Paul says in Romans 1 and Acts 17 and what the Church Fathers said. Though early Christians generally believed that pagan “gods” were actually demons who deceived people into worshiping them by perverting their natural desire to worship God. I don’t think it’s necessary to believe this (or at least to believe that this was true across the board), but it’s a point worth taking seriously.

Because I believe in God, and have weighed the arguments for and against the existence of God, I believe that it is rational to believe in His existence. But my belief in God is also based on the existence of a man, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be God and gave evidence for his divinity. Because of this, I just cant see how to somewhat haphazardly believe in a god of wine, a god of the sun, a god of the sea, etc, is rational.

I don’t think it’s haphazard at all. It is natural, and wholly rational in my opinion, to believe that the phenomena of nature have some kind of living force behind them. What that force is one or multiple or one in many forms is something people differ on. But the Christians are under no obligation to say that the basic intuition is irrational.

Of course, as I believe as a catholic at least, this aura of sacredness was entirely misplaced

Why entirely?

as these gods did not exist

How do you know this?

What we believe as Christians is that whatever multiple powers there are in the world are created by God and either subject to Him or in rebellion against Him. The traditional view is that such beings, unlike us, are either wholly one or wholly the other–“angels” or “demons.” This does not seem necessary to me, but I recognize that I’m going out on a limb there. However, Christians certainly do not deny that “gods”–superhuman beings who are not the one God–exist. On the contrary, we affirm that they do–and the OT occasionally uses terms such as “gods” or “sons of God” about them. The NT calls them by names such as “powers” and “principalities” (as well as the more familiar “angels/demons,” of course!).

In the Old Testament, one of the most repeated themes is God’s abhorrence of pagan gods. This in my opinion seems to work against my theory that the worship of pagan gods was a misplaced attempt to discover the one true God and a manifestation of the fact that His truth is written on our hearts because, if my theory were correct, would it really require a direct intervention by God into human affairs in order for people to be made aware of the fact that He is the one true God and so put an end to all of this multiple gods nonesense? Would they not instead be able over time to gradually discern the truth of his existence through reason, since reason is supposed to lead humans to the truth?

Well, to some extent they did. The Greek philosophers came to believe in some kind of supreme Deity, for the most part. This development eventually was subsumed under Christianity, but it helped prepare the way for Christianity. Hinduism carried this line of thought much further, not rejecting the worship of many deities but coming to understand them as manifestations of one divine Reality.

However, in a Christian understanding (again, see Romans 1) human beings are fallen, and this affects our ability to “reason our way to God.” (Of course, some truths about God, as Aquinas said, are beyond reason anyway.) So I don’t think it’s at all surprising that God would need to intervene through revelation, and would need to establish very strict guidelines forbidding the worship of other “gods” in order to establish how different He was from the beings people called “gods.”

 

[Contarini]

Maybe I am thinking way too hard about this and no one can even understand what I am getting at but if any does, and has an opinion, I’d love to hear it…

I don’t think you’re thinking too hard about it at all. I encourage you to go on thinking hard about it. I think hard about this question myself!

I am heavily influenced on this question (as on others) by C. S. Lewis. Lewis attributed his youthful embrace of atheism in part to the fact that he had been taught to regard paganism as simply a weird, irrational mistake. Since it seemed obvious to him that Christianity was in many ways similar to other religions, he concluded that logically Christianity was the same kind of mistake, and his Christian teachers were simply biased in favor of their own traditions. Lewis returned to Christianity after being convinced (largely by J. R. R. Tolkien) that in fact all mythology reflected divine truth. I am indebted to Lewis and Tolkien, under God, for preventing me from repeating Lewis’ mistake, which I think I might very well have done had I encountered the diversity of human religions and the great degree of goodness and truth found in them with only my very conservative upbringing to guide me.

In Christ,

Edwin