The creation of the idea 'God'

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I think mostly of people who can't be alone, who want company frequently.
mini-story : A few people in the past, felt very lonely, and they just couldn't find enough company as their needs demanded. They had everyday problems as all people and they wanted to speak to someone, but many times they couldn't because they were alone or had other things to do.
A part of the brain that is associated with 'social behaviour' which was very active , made the people feel they wanted human company a lot of times. But there weren't any company anytime they liked, so the mind ( as time passed ) started to create imaginary people around them, to fill the need of increased interaction with people, which could listen to their problems anytime they liked.

Does it sound reasonable that people who were "people obsessed" created the concept of "God" because they couldn't stand to be alone, and none to 'speak out' to?

I like the title of this thread. I worship the idea god.

One must remember that polytheism, animism, shamanism, and other forms of supernatural belief were common early on. The psychological mechanism behind animism is simple enough: It is the projection of one's own sense of human spirit (i.e., a sense of being, one's essence) onto other living creatures as well as inanimate entities like rocks and rivers. The belief in an afterlife is a grief-coping mechanism and a reassurance in the face of death: One's body may be dead, but one's soul lives on in the world of the afterlife.

From these two simple supernatural beliefs, more complicated religious beliefs may develop. Reincarnation is the passage of the soul into a new body. Polytheism extends the projection of the human essence onto inanimate entities by adding further human attributes to them, personifying them to lend to identification with the intangible gods. The local lore of a spirit associated with a plateau where many battles were fought might merge with the legend of a deceased war hero who had come to be identified with that same area. As time goes by, the recipe for the archetypal war god becomes evident.

Certain gods may become associated with a tribe, culture, or family, possibly a mythologized prodigious ancestor, and symbolize all the characteristics most valued by that group. Western Christians associate their "God" with the ideals of justice, mercy, righteousness, perfection, and industriousness (i.e., the creation story). If this one god comes to represent what's most valued in a society, other gods may become marginalized or even demonized as opposing forces or take less divine roles as angels or some such contraption. The Jewish religion borrowed the dichotomy of good opposing evil from Zoroastrianism; and the gods of the neighboring peoples came to be seen as evil false idols, inferior to the one true God.

The idea of Heaven and Hell is easy to explain as a social control mechanism. If punishment during one's lifetime is not enough of a deterrent, maybe eternal hellfire for the wicked is.

These gods also play a role in explaining what was unknown to cultures of antiquity, such as the origins of life and the universe. After all, the human desire for an explanation is strong.

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Last edited by Ante on 09 Nov 2005, 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've posted this before, but what the heck..... I personally believe that the root cause of religion is arrogance - the inability by humans to accept that they aren't the be all and end all, and the inability to accept that most questions only have the answer "I don't know". If you're a member of a faith, then you can bask in the ego-massaging fact that you're so important that God wants to get to know you on first name terms, and you also have all the answers to all the questions and don't have to face the yawning, terrifying chasm of "I don't know". Self-deluding, but very comforting, basically.

How do these theories of 'god as narcissism' or 'god as projection' account for actual supernatural phenomena?. I think you're forgetting that such things do occur, and they are what gives rise to relgious beliefs too, although you may regard those who experience them as 'cranks' because that suits your beliefs.

I'm reading here, that alot of people believe that Christianity is about fear?2 Timothy 1:7 says,"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear:but of power,and of love, and of a sound mind." If someone is trying to frighten you, then I'd have to question where they are coming from.

There are many religions that have gods with human logic and behaviors, including shortcomings. All non Judeo-Christian religions that I can think of have gods that have a strong sex drive- a very human characteristic.
What need would an immortal being have for a sex drive since there would be no need for procreation? Breaking promises and quarreling with each other are also good examples of human pitfalls that these gods display. The only explaination is that these gods display human shortcomings because these gods are of human invention.

The God of the Bible is not like this. He states that He alone is God, there is no one beside Him (Exodus 20:1-6, Deuteronomy 4:35). He is sovereign and self-sufficient. (Revelation 1:8) He commands that we adhere to a system of justice and a standard of conduct that even His own prophets and priests fall short of (Romans 3:23). Has loved us and has a plan for our lives [forever] before time (Ephesians 1:4, 2Timothny 1:9). He holds power over life and death (Luke 24:5-6, John 11:25-26).
And he wants to be with us (Revelation 22:1-5).

Not what I would call an animistic, convenient, god of human invention.

I think the point you are missing Sean is that the various God aspects depicted in pantheons are just that - aspects. polytheism is a misnomer really in many religions, as the various incarnations are viewed as manifestations/characterisations of aspects of the whole rather than literal, black-and-white Gods. Does it not make sense to characterise the divine in terms of behaviour and drives which shape our lives?
As regards the biblical God, I would have thought jealousy and anger were petty human frailties which an onmipotent supreme being would have little use for - and I don't see why the Bible is any less a human invention than any other sacred text or mythos. And this question cannot be answered without reference to the Bible, so we're back to the circular argument problem again... thats my position anyway. As with all other spiritual beliefs, at the end of the day Judeo-Christian beliefs rest on FAITH, so to me have no more claim to be the One True Faith than any other belief system or world view, to profess otherwise is to me arrogant.

Dunc

If man created God, then why does God answer all our prayers, and perform miracles, and fulfill prophesy after prophesy in the Bible?

Because the bible is a book, and there is no physical evidence to prove any of this. I could claim that Lord of the Rings is the true holy book, and you couldn't prove me wrong without evidence.

I am very interested in this subject although know little about it.

I was speaking to a Hindu friend of mine when he was drunk (he's hard to get information from so this was a good time to do so).

He mentioned something and I could literally feel the weight of his words (can't remember the phrasing): God is not "a being". God is inside us. God is inside all of us. Something about energy...

He must have been telling me something sacred and secret because he stopped mid-sentence and said "Why am I telling you this?".

"The problem when man stops believing in God, is not that he believes in nothing, but that he believes in anything."
God is a necessary idea/ideal/fiction, to keep man in control. The idea that there is someone higher than all and will judge all, provides limits to . Let no man be a law unto himself. Why? Basic moral laws are inherent with the idea God, if there is no idea God, then why can't a man do as he pleases if it is within his power?

I believe that man's belief makes it manifest. The idea God is drilled into the human psyche, the magnitude of so many conscious and unconcious minds directed towards such a singular end, would make it a powerful entity. It is similar to the construction of the human brain: billions of neurons connect to create a conscious mind. Do the neurons themselves have a minute consciousness, lending itself to the whole?


If God is omniscient, all-loving, eternal, yada yada, then why did he create Lucifer? If Lucifer had never existed, he would never need to be killed, for he would never have introduced "sin". The highest embodiment of love would be to never allow the suffering to begin.

Assuming he exists:
Do you want to know what his plan for your life is? To prove by your suffering that he is deserving of the worship Lucifer didn't believe he deserved. Who is more culpable: Lucifer for causing suffering, or God for allowing it to happen? Has allowing it to happen proved his point, or proved Lucifer's? At least God learnt a lesson: he learnt prevention is better than cure, and began killing entire families instead.

If he had existed before us, surely, in his infinite love and wisdom, he'd have prevented such a situation from coming about. We came first, and we created him. Not the other way around.

How could we possibly have comne first without any organized information the structure of time, space, energy, matter, etc.? The law of Thermodynamics demontrates how everything in the universe goes from an organized state to a increasingly disorganized state. Wthout God existing before man or even the universe, there would be no means to establish the laws of physics or Build the DNA molecule. The DNA molecule is an argument in itself because it is self-replicating and it contains all data regarding the form and character of an organism. It also contains data on how it replicates itself as well as data to correct the vast majority of errors that can occur in it's replication. How could this sponaneously occur when nature only wears suff down like waves washing away a beach?

"Weird stuff happens, we can't explain it yet, therefore it must be God" Ladies and gentleman.... May I present to you the great "argumentum ad ignorantiam" of Christianity.... I thank you!



I don't even know where to begin giving that one a kicking.... I could point out that Jesus fulfilled a load of prophecies in the Bible deliberately ("self-fulfilling prophecy", they call that one) to answer one small part of it, but just can't.... be..... bothered.......

Last edited by TAFKASH on 06 May 2005, 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The claim that there is no one true faith or belief system is a belief system in itself. This creates an amusing paradox; you believe in a belief system that states there is no one true belief system. That being the case, there cannot be truth to your original quote.