Are Religions and Gods manmade?

[PAUL MARKHAM]

My house is full of Symbolism too. So is yours. It's still a moot argument, as it says:

evidence suggests the alternative hypothesis that the buildings at Göbekli Tepe may actually be houses .

Come on man, were discussing this site in my Archaeological Methods class. All this suggests is a more affluent housing structure, perhaps it was the first landowner in the area. Point is, there are still many possibilities, and unanswered questions.

So the building is a palace of the ruler of the territory. With religious artefacts inside it. No Stone Age tribe is going to carve monuments to decorate a home.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

Yes they are man-made but that doesn't make them any less true:

Abraham founded Judaism which eventually led to Jesus and Christianity which later branched off to Muhammad and Islam

Hinduism was founded by Ved Vyasa which in turn led to Siddartha Gautama founding Buddhism and Guru Nanak / Ravidass founding Sikhism

I personally believe in Jesus despite being a Dharmic.

Because evil is done in the name of religion. Men who create religions to exploit others. Scientology, Nxivm, etc.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

Have you studied Aboriginal Art in Australia? The oldest is around 28000 years old. Trying to determine whether it holds religious significance is hard, and might depend on what you consider religious, but worth reading up on if you're interested in the topic.

The evidence that societies created something that can be viewed as "religious" is overwhelming. Why did people take the time to do this if not a religion?

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

I believe that God has revealed Himself to man ever since man came into existence.
Just because we cannot find evidence dating back 200,000 years that does not mean it never existed.

I believe that religions have evolved over time, just as science evolves over time.

Did god tell different tribes to follow different religious practices at the same time?

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

I believe that some are real and some are not and of the real ones many offshoots came into being.

The old all other religions are false, but mine is real.

So what proof do you have?

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

Humans were very different in ancient times and that is why the religions that were revealed by God were very different, since religion is revealed to suit the needs of humans in the times they live in.

Then who created evolution?

Different tribes had different religions at the same time.

Religion is meant to serve a god, not Man. If Man created it he makes it to serve himself or the group he wants to entice.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...ZgBAKABAqABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&sclient=psy-ab

 

[ChristineM]

I don't see the date of when a religion was created has anything to do with the thread.

Your OP indicates otherwise. You provided the time dimension.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

Your OP indicates otherwise. You provided the time dimension.

So what are you trying to establish by saying when a religion was created?

Your statement about only 1 of the artefacts being older than 10,000 years is just your opinion. While others hold different opinions.

Here we reconstruct the evolution of religious beliefs and behaviors in early modern humans using a global sample of hunter-gatherers and seven traits describing hunter-gatherer religiosity: animism, belief in an afterlife, shamanism, ancestor worship, high gods, and worship of ancestors or high gods who are active in human affairs.

Paleolithic religions are a set of spiritual beliefs thought to have appeared during the Paleolithic time period. Paleoanthropologists Andre Leroi-Gourhan and Annette Michelson believe religious behaviour emerged by the Upper Paleolithic, before 30,000 years ago at the latest,[1] but behavioral patterns such as burial rites that one might characterize as religious — or as ancestral to religious behaviour — reach back into the Middle Paleolithic, as early as 300,000 years ago, coinciding with the first appearance of Homo neanderthalensis and possibly Homo naledi.

Two of these artifacts are older than 10,000 years. 8 Oldest Artifacts in the World – Oldest.org

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Ever since Man started to leave evidence of his existence other than his bones he has left artefacts that can be inteptetated as religious.

From ancient carvings to wall paintings.

Later as we became better at creating artefacts, monuments and buildings the evidence is overwhelming. Men were creating religions and gods.

So are modern religions more creations of Man. Or did gods wait 200,000 years to reveal itself to Man?

The hypothesis that gods and religions are human inventions, explains all the relevant facts. Like how distinct cultures tend to have their distinct religions. Like how not a single culture has the same religion or variation thereof as another culture with which it never came into contact with.

Then there's also the angle of psychiatry and psychology, which demonstrates how humans (and most other animals) are extremely prone to superstition (which is to say, a combination of cognition errors like false positives and a tendency to incorrectly infuse agency and purpose into rather random events).

So the "humans invented religions themselves" explains the facts about why the various religions exist and why they are distributed over cultures and history the way that they are.
While psychology etc explains why humans invent religions in the first place.


Couple that with that fact that not a single religion has any reasonable evidence going for it....


The result of this imo, is that it is close to perverse to deny that religions are man made.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

“Ex nihilo nihil fit”...

But we see **atomic material** everywhere! So, “something” seems to be behind it.

To me, when you then consider the extremely fine-tuning of the forces holding it together, that “something” is very intelligent!

Is that “something” one entity, or many entities? IMO, it must be one...simply because of the harmony, the interaction, existing between those finely-tuned forces: as if from one blueprint, from one Builder.

So, “one” Creator of all things, would only require “one” set system of worship. (And a lot of it, would be how we treat others of His creations, especially other humans, but also animals, the Earth, etc.)

All other systems of worship would be, let’s just say counterfeit, leading away from the Creator. Certain ones would be easy to spot as fake, if they didn’t show respect for innocent human life, especially.

Is my POV, ‘clear as mud’?

What is "clear as mud" here, is how you make assumption after assumption only to end up with the assumed conclusion you started out with and which you explicitly set out to conclude.


Bare assumptions that are not in evidence:

“Ex nihilo nihil fit”...

To me, when you then consider the extremely fine-tuning of the forces holding it together, that “something” is very intelligent!

Is that “something” one entity, or many entities? IMO, it must be one...

And what follows after that are mere statements that are explicitly constructed for no other reason then to lead to your specific religion of choice.

There's no reason, demonstration, verifiability or justification in anything you say. It's just one big statement of faith, disguised as an "argument".

 

[pearl]

Later as we became better at creating artefacts, monuments and buildings the evidence is overwhelming. Men were creating religions and gods.

Yes, religions are man made stemming from a sense of, belief, that there existed a 'wholly 'Other'.
With all our endeavors at defining this, the 'wholly Other' remains an incomprehensible Mystery.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The hypothesis that gods and religions are human inventions, explains all the relevant facts.

Let me fix this for you ...

The hypothesis that various understandings of god(s) as codified in religions are human inventions, explains all the relevant facts.​

There. Much better. Therefore?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I believe that some are real and some are not and of the real ones many offshoots came into being.

Okay. But on what basis do you have this belief? What are your reasons for having it?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

The evidence that societies created something that can be viewed as "religious" is overwhelming. Why did people take the time to do this if not a religion?

28000 years ago?
Feel free to link me, I'll read what you offer up.

 

[chinu]

Ever since Man started to leave evidence of his existence other than his bones he has left artefacts that can be inteptetated as religious.

From ancient carvings to wall paintings.

Later as we became better at creating artefacts, monuments and buildings the evidence is overwhelming. Men were creating religions and gods.

So are modern religions more creations of Man. Or did gods wait 200,000 years to reveal itself to Man?

Everything you all around you is God's body.

All rocks, mountains in universe etc = God's bones.
All liquid present in universe etc = God's blood.
All vegetation present in universe = God's flesh/skin.

You can consider yourself as small bacteria.

 

[viole]

Ever since Man started to leave evidence of his existence other than his bones he has left artefacts that can be inteptetated as religious.

From ancient carvings to wall paintings.

Later as we became better at creating artefacts, monuments and buildings the evidence is overwhelming. Men were creating religions and gods.

So are modern religions more creations of Man. Or did gods wait 200,000 years to reveal itself to Man?

God Man’s made? i don’t think so.

i am sure that some Woman was also involved.

ciao

- viole

 

[Bear Wild]

Ever since Man started to leave evidence of his existence other than his bones he has left artefacts that can be inteptetated as religious.

From ancient carvings to wall paintings.

Later as we became better at creating artefacts, monuments and buildings the evidence is overwhelming. Men were creating religions and gods.

So are modern religions more creations of Man. Or did gods wait 200,000 years to reveal itself to Man?

Religions are man made. All of the writings are from humans and all of the symbols are of a human origin. The rituals and morals are human created. The interesting question is how did this occur. Neuroscience has given us significant evidence of how the brain works to explain the development of religion. It is increasingly clear that the development of neurological patterns necessary for social behaviors are the same as what created what we define as religion.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

What is "clear as mud" here, is how you make assumption after assumption only to end up with the assumed conclusion you started out with and which you explicitly set out to conclude.

you mean like “common descent “?

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

Everything you all around you is God's body.

All rocks, mountains in universe etc = God's bones.
All liquid present in universe etc = God's blood.
All vegetation present in universe = God's flesh/skin.

You can consider yourself as small bacteria.

Everything around us was and is created by evolution. The Earth has been constantly evolving for the last 4.5 billion years.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

28000 years ago?
Feel free to link me, I'll read what you offer up.

Scholar: Cave paintings show religious sophistication

Religious beliefs are the basis of the origins of Palaeolithic art

https://www.researchgate.net/public...hUKEwjFy5HqvcHsAhWJ-qQKHejcA_oQ_AUoAHoECAEQAA

We have to consider the religion practised would have involved things they knew and could see. Worshipping a good hunt, finding good plants to eat, birth, sowing seeds, etc.

We know this was the aim of some early religions and even today with the harvest festival.