How Did Deity Evolve? (Earth, beliefs, evolution, myth, atheist)

[painted wolf]

Again the fact that evidence of religious thought predates H.sapiens in our Hominid line shows we likely inherited this trait from previous species.

I'm not sure there is a clear "progression" from animism to monothiesm.

wa:do

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

I'm not sure there is a clear "progression" from animism to monothiesm.

Really? Why do you think there is not?

Unless you're taking issue with the word progression, which i can understand.

[painted wolf]

do you know what the first religion preached?

can you know for certen that they didn't have a single 'god' or many 'gods'.
Many animistic faiths have a "great spirit" of some form or another, a single source from which all other things came. (all other spirits are treated with respect for how they influence the here and now)
Christian and other Monothiestic faiths are just an extention of this.

Many animistic faiths do not have a single source, but each spirit is powerful equily.

All of mankinds faiths have been evolving since before we were human, how can we look at examples even 3,000 years old and say that that was 'primitive' or earlier in a progression?

wa:do

[standing_on_one_foot]

Well, besides the fact that I do, in fact, believe that there is holiness for people to respond do...

I'd say it comes from our desire to understand the world, our hope that someone powerful cares for us or at least can be bargained with, our tendency to see order and patterns to even the most chaotic situations, our awareness that there are other beings out there (say, other humans), and so on and so forth.

[Willamena]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

How did the human predisposition to create deities evolve?

I myself think the human tendency to create deities is an outgrowth of the primate tendency to see personalities in all things. And that tendency to see personalities in all things is itself a very helpful adaptation to living in groups. A primate that can think of its neighbors as having personalities can predict their behavior better than a primate that is incapable of thinking of its neighbors as having personalities. That is, thinking of things as having personalities is a predictive mechanism.

But what do you think? How did the human predisposition to create deities evolve? What were the precursor behaviors to it? Why was creating deities a successful adaptive strategy (assuming it was indeed a successful adaptive strategy)?

I agree. Since we have the ability to 'see' personality in ourselves, we use that same ability to 'see' personality in objects. That's not the gods, though, but Images of God.

[sandy whitelinger]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

The fact that every culture on the planet has a form of deity (or has had one during its existence) along with the clear progression from animism to polytheism to henotheism to monotheism should be plenty of evidence.

Evidence there is deity?

[sandy whitelinger]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Nonsense. If we waited on every anti-evolutionist to catch up to 21st century science, we'd never get a thread on this Forum off the ground. If you want to dispute evolution, start your own thread. You're off topic here, because this thread presupposes it.

And that presupposition of the evolution of the concept of deity is a logical fallacy. Please read my posts carefully. I'm not asking for proof of evolution just the assertion in the OP.

[sandy whitelinger]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

Again the fact that evidence of religious thought predates H.sapiens in our Hominid line shows we likely inherited this trait from previous species.

wa:do

That's nonsense. For example if my father tells me something and I tell my children, that is not evidence of evolution of ideas.

[painted wolf]

so you believe exactly what your father, grandfather and so on believe? Do your children believe exactly in what you do... likely not. That is perfect evidence of the evolution of ideas.
your great great great grandfather likely believed that the earth is flat... we know it isn't now-a-days... the idea evolved with more evidence.

wa:do