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

[painted wolf]

predisposition is not nessisarily physical... it could more likely be mental.

Flat earth was widely believed in Europe, I assume you are of European decent (forgive me if I am mistaken)
It was widely believed by the average person and many of the nobility... unless all of your ancestors, you have ancestors from centuries ago, were of the ultra-rich, rennesance scientific class then the odds are, that one or more of them believed the Earth was flat. And flat Earth isn't just centureis old, it was still upheld by the Flat Earth society up though the 1990's (a fire wiped out thier office and caused thier operation to shut down)

back to the OP...

evidence shows that previous hominid species had religious leanings... H.neandertalis for example. H. erectus shows the beginings of 'human' morality and likely they too had a concept of the "religious" though it wasn't likely anything as developed as our own.

wa:do

[Sunstone]

As the title clearly states, this thread is about how deity evolved, not whether deity evolved. If anyone wants to discuss whether deity evolved, it would be best for them to start a new thread on the subject, least this one never get past square one. Thanks!

[michel]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

As the title clearly states, this thread is about how deity evolved, not whether deity evolved. If you want to discuss whether deity evolved, it would be best to start a new thread on the subject, least this one never get past square one. Thanks!

Your first line of the OP was "How did the human predisposition to create deities evolve?" - which I read as assuming that deity/ies is/are only of human construct...

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by sandy whitelinger

Evidence there is deity?

Evidence that humans have a disposition towards believing in the divine.

Originally Posted by 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?

I see your point.

Although, we do have some theories that Judaism evolved into a monotheism from a henotheism, and that that henotheism developed from an earlier polytheism.
And since religions tend to evolve alongside cultures, often driven by technological revolution (eg. hunting to farming), and since the cultures we still find animism in are generally of the hunter gatherer kind (Shinto being the obvious exception), i think that it is reasonable to suppose that animism was the theological ancestor of polytheism.

I wouldn't say animism is primitive though, but i couldn't think of a better word to describe the change from animism to polytheism to henotheism to monotheism than progression. I wouldn't say its a progression of getting better, which i guess is a contradiction in terms. But i can't think of another suitable word.

Also, personally i would suggest that mysticism/panentheism is the next logical step along from monotheism which, in a way, leads us back to a form of animism.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by michel

Your first line of the OP was "How did the human predisposition to create deities evolve?" - which I read as assuming that deity/ies is/are only of human construct...

Thanks, Michel! I was begining to wonder whether I had been clear enough about the assumptions taken for granted in this thread.

BTW, Even if we assume deity/ies exist, I think it is still an interesting question to ask, if only in that case as a hypothetical.

[standing_on_one_foot]

Originally Posted by michel

Your first line of the OP was "How did the human predisposition to create deities evolve?" - which I read as assuming that deity/ies is/are only of human construct...

Mind you, unless you believe that all deities in which humans believe exist, it seem to would follow that at least some result from a human predisposition to belief.

[painted wolf]

animism is more convienient for a hunter/gatherer in that you have no complex "stuff" to carry around. ie no alters, churches ect.

The example of the evolution of judaism/Christiantiy only works for them... it does not nessisarily work for all monothisitic examples. Egyption monothism shows no solid connection to animism at all. Egypt was polythistic from its earliest inception. Even long before the advent of the 'civilization'.
(monothism was short lived in Egypt admitidly but hey)

Polythism in Central/South America as practiced by the Olmec/Mayan/Aztec/Inca/ect. show no great evolution from animism. They actually appear quite suddenly, likely they were long held ideas before the advent of cities.

Animism can be monothistic remember. Certenly it is for me and others I know. While many spirits are highly reviered and important there is only one Creator.

Like language and 'civilization' I think religion sprang indipendantly in different areas with later intermixing. Polythism likely sprang indipendantly of animism as did panthiesm and henothism. I think that the proto-religion that links all of these was the proto-spirituality of H.erectus. Much like all language and tecnology sprang from thiers.

So while we know our earliest ancestors had religion, we can not guess as to what form that religion took. From our earliest roots we show an amazing divercity of practices and rituals. Likely we already had the nebulous beginings of all religious theories.

wa:do

[Rolling_Stone]

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.

Your explanation is a bottom-up theory and is plausible for primitive religions, but there is also a top-down explanation. History is full of people acquiring knowledge of Deity, God, Ultimate Reality, etc. without the intervention of beliefs and people having reason to believe them without fully understanding why or what the teachings really mean. Of course, you can say they are all deluded, but that's like a colorblind man telling the artist he's deluded for thinking colors exist.