Why is it Customary to Worship God(s)?

[Sunstone]

Why is it customary to worship god(s)? How did the custom get started? Are gods worshiped for the same reasons today as they first were worshiped?

[michel]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Why is it customary to worship god(s)?

The etimology dictionary defines "Worship" as:-
O.E. worðscip, wurðscip (Anglian), weorðscipe (W.Saxon) "condition of being worthy, honor, renown," from weorð "worthy" (see worth) + -scipe (see -ship). Sense of "reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being" is first recorded c.1300. The original sense is preserved in the title worshipful (c.1300). The verb is recorded from c.1200.
I believe my God to be "Worthy", certainly "renowned" (amongst believers in ?him?, and I honor ?him?.

How did the custom get started? Are gods worshiped for the same reasons today as they first were worshiped?

I would suggest that early man attributed thunder and lightening, rainfall and alsorts of natural events as being displays from one - or more - Gods.

I believe that the way in which God might habe been worshipped then is very different from now - for a start, it was felt necessary to give him sacrifices to appease him in his anger (maybe the thunder and lightening); thank goodness, we have moved on from there.

[Rolling_Stone]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Why is it customary to worship god(s)? How did the custom get started? Are gods worshiped for the same reasons today as they first were worshiped?

First, because he is, then, because he is in us, and last, because we are in him.

[Copernicus]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Why is it customary to worship god(s)? How did the custom get started? Are gods worshiped for the same reasons today as they first were worshiped?

We worship gods for the same reason that we worship human potentates, and much in the same manner. Submissive postures while praying (kneeling, head bowed, hands clasped) are all postures that have been used before kings and emperors. So the answer to where the custom started is that it probably never actually started. It evolved with our social nature. We form submission-dominance hierarchies, just as any other social animal, and we use worship as a way to express our obedience to authority.

What benefits do we derive from worship of gods? They are the same as from worship of powerful people. We seek to ingratiate ourselves in order to avoid punishment and gain rewards. People pray that they won't be struck by tornadoes, and they are properly grateful to God when they are not. The also pray for favors, and many attribute good luck to the intervention of a god that has been suitably impressed by their loyalty.

[The_Her3tiK]

The most common theory behind the worship of deities is that they served as an explanation for phenomena that ancient people could not understand. A good example of this is the Greeks. Their history is filled with brilliant minds, and their gods served largely as a bridge between what they knew and what they, for whatever reason (likely a lack of the appropriate technologies) could not comprehend. As our our species came to understand how such events occurred, such as the ever-popular lightning example, such events were attributed to nature instead of a god; such is the reason so few scientists are religious.
As to why we worship gods to this day, that is easily a greater discussion/debate. For many people I know, religion is a place of comfort, that (the Judeo-Christian) god makes them feel more at ease when things aren't going their way or the satisfaction of "knowing" that even the most horrific of events have an underlying purpose. A large part of this is likely tradition. Our history is so ingrained in religion that it has been taught from parent to child, and the biblical accounts of God (The Christian god is the one I am most familiar with), especially the OT, are terrifying enough in several cases to cause young children to worship said deity for fear of punishment if they do not. With that said, religion may still be practiced largely due to the fact that the concept of a vengeful deity is implanted into our minds when we are most impressionable, and we grow to see the advantages of worshiping this god as the thought of him/her fills us with warmth and happiness.
In this case, the worship of any god is due to the concept being taught to young, impressionable minds that are incapable of conceiving of their parents possibly being wrong and this idea growing through events such as church/mosque/temple/etc. worship and other social gatherings. At least, this is how I have come to understand it.

[Charity]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Why is it customary to worship god(s)? How did the custom get started? Are gods worshiped for the same reasons today as they first were worshiped?

Because it is the thing to do, what else can we do with them?

Evidently someone saw Phil and thus the custom originated

I don't know what the reasons for worshipping the gods at first, but there is no doubt after seeing Phil as to why the custom is repeated today............

Since I don't really know about other gods, I just took what I thought was the best example.... I only worship one and you know how I would answer the questions you have already heard it before....................

[whereismynotecard]

Humans are weird... They have a lot of confusing aspects about them.

[L0gic]

I think the whole worshipping idea started when humans attempted to explain certain phenomena and those phenomena they didn't know how they occured. An example is thunder or wind. They may have seen it as something beyond their control, and so, it was given the idea that something else is doing it. That something else, would have to be stronger than they are or else they probably could've seen/killed it. Also, the idea that lightning seems to come from the sky can be seen as something controlling the lightning. Back whenever, lightning may have been seen as a spear being thrown out of some unknown compound. So, they gave the idea that a higher being is controlling a phenomena. Multiple gods/goddesses were used probably because they thought that 1 god couldn't pull all of the things together and that some phenomena came from different locations (i.e. water and lightning). Also, back whenever, female were more for caring and love, males more for hunting, killing, etc... . So, the gods were for such things as water, whereas goddesses were for love. An exception is the goddess, Hel. I'm not sure how that one comes about and I cant be bothered to look it up. For Poseidon, perhaps they saw water and horses somehow connected. I'm not sure and am not going to look it up.

Eventually, more and more beliefs and ideas were given, and so, more complex ideas were formed. Eventually, the idea of Christianity sprung about as well as other religions (don't know the dates) and people began believing simply because they didn't know anything else, didn't want to get in trouble with the god and later, with the church. That idea has stuck with people and people tend to believe in whatever belief.

The same primitive idea is still applied nowadays, with people consulting christianity to understand an idea of how life began and whatever else. Same ideas, just thousands of years later in an incredibly more technologically advanced society. I guess I could go on more but I'll leave it at that.