How do you think the first one invented the first God?
4
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.No individual invented the first god. Gods were, and are, biocultural, emergent phenomena from the collective unconscious.
Animism was a natural consequence of the evolution of “theory of mind” in H.sapiens, without which social functioning could not exist.
It’s all a part of the natural developmental history of our species, not a deliberate, conscious act by an individual or small group of individuals.
skado
Level 9
May 18, 2021
2
Maybe, but still there should be some people who organized that and start talking with the name of God, which are the prophets for example.
In my imagination it might started because of the fear and the needs of support from superiour power, also the lack of understanding many different natural phenomena around us.
Then all of that started to be used by leaders to control people and to get more power and resources with the name of God.
@Agnobes
It’s a huge subject that can’t be properly addressed in a short social media post. The whole thing evolved very slowly. The word god shares etymological roots with the word good. It’s never as simple and quantifiable as our imaginations would have us believe.
I can’t see that religion is any more or less corrupt than any other human institution. But just like the others, it still retains some functional usefulness apart from all of its misuses.
We want to blame all of our problems on some evil cabal, so we have SOMEbody to blame and some way to explain it. But using our imagination to explain very complex natural phenomena... is exactly what you are accusing the inventors of religion of.
Imagination isn’t sufficient to explain the universe, or to explain religion. The scientific method is the best tool we have, and even it isn’t complete or infallible.
Shrooms were ingested or plants eaten to cause a state of euphoria and likely hallucinations. [theatlantic.com]
HelenRoseBuck
Level 6
May 17, 2021
1
Interesting
i think that mother earth gave birth to mother nature who gave birth to the father who gave birth to the son who gave birth to the holy ghost shit idea and shared it with the coworkers etc etc
i like to wonder if the writers were laughing their assses off as they were passing it around for contributions
i still to this day can't believe so many frikken americans believe this nonsense
HeAdAkE
Level 6
May 17, 2021
1
I wish if it was only about believing, it is even worest, in my communty, if you just show different thoughts you will be abandoned by your family and close friends and your life might be in risk as well.
You are a God, who invented you?
Word
Level 8
May 17, 2021
1
Mvtt:
On what evidence did this human create the universe or is a superhuman being worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes?
Word:
@Mvtt It is a cultural thing. Some cultures say god is only about pasta in the sky with meatballs.
While other cultures say gods is what we are.
Human = god. Human is a more modern invention of a word. People will call themselves "child of god". This is like saying "child of homo sapian ", because they are a homo sapian. Christians are not taught the original biblical understanding of "child (son) of God", but when one says they are a "child of God", they are saying they are a God.
I think I was reading some musing by Douglas Adams about this. He proposed that basically as humans developed complex thoughts they wondered why the world suited them so well. That the food they needed was here the animals that provided skins for clothing came when they needed them (migration patterns) etc.
They looked around and decided that they were the most sophisticated thing there so what must have "created" this place must be like them but bigger and better and thus the first god was created.
He likened it to a puddle of water that said the hole it was in must have been created especially for it as the hole fit it perfectly (not that the puddle changed to fit the hole)
Budgie
Level 8
May 17, 2021
0
In ancient times the god factories were legion, as there were likely as many gods as there were clans, bands or tribes, perhaps more. The issue in my mind is when and how the first organized religion was invented, because from that point on, humanity has been plagued by oppressive forces that seek to impose behavior, and even thought, by extorting tithes and offerings, using the reward or punishment in an afterlife as an incentive!
p-nullifidian
Level 8
May 17, 2021
1
Organized religion started with the hierarchies associated with civilization. The role of the priests was to keep the lower classes quiet.
Yes exactly, and this is the core of my question, the root of the first tribe or group of people who startedbthe isea of superior power thing or God, which became easy then for the idea to be spreaded to other tribes and people.
It is a very old concept of course, even before homosapian existqnce maybe, from the days of neanderthals!!
I don't know. I only know it wasn't me, although I would have loved to have done that, just for the laugh.
Paddypereira
Level 7
May 17, 2021
2
I think that animism certainly came first. People believed in spirits, which were found in everything, and were more or less all the same. A few of the spirits gradually got promoted however, especially as controlling heirachies grew up, in the early days of civilization, then some spirits had to become more powerful than others, to reflect the growing inequalities in human society. Until eventually some of the spirits had been promoted so far, that they were in a new class altogether, promoting in their turn, of course, the interests of the rich, powerful and nationalistic, who were now making a deliberate bid to control and modify human culture.
Fernapple
Level 9
May 17, 2021
5
Make since.
Interesting theory.
No invention. Gods were a gradual evolution from earlier beliefs of amorphous spirits. We can retrace this history by looking at societies at various stages of economic development starting with hunting-gathering. The answer lies not in speculation but in anthropology.
Krish55
Level 8
May 17, 2021
7
The real answer could be really frightening.
CuddyCruiser
Level 8
May 17, 2021
0
Scare us then 
He was definitely a father and also powerful and responsible for keeping peace within a community
He said this shit about trying to control people and make people act right is too damn hard. I need to make people believe that they are always being watched and put it in their minds they will be punished severely if they disobey. This will make people act right on their own because of fear of punishment
abyers1970
Level 7
May 17, 2021
2
i doubt it. i don't think that was how it began. it is certainly how it continued, and continues to this day, but not how it began. i think it began with a bunch of people who only recently figured out some kind of verbal communication, trying to figure out what thunder was, and what death was, and passing their conclusions down through the generations. whoever eventually organized it had motivations beyond that, perhaps such as you describe, but i can't see that being the origins of the concept of a deity.
g
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