Is it important to know, when humans started believing in God?

[Audie]

I never started, so someone here aint human

 

[Revoltingest]

I never started, so someone here aint human

Consider yourself fortunate.

 

[Audie]

Consider yourself fortunate.

"privileged"

 

[Revoltingest]

"privileged"

"Privileged" is a much abused word.
Tis better to be than not.

 

[1213]

These times might be up for debate but you get the drift.

Isn't it a coincidence that humans only started to believe in 'God' when we our brains reached a certain size for intelligence and consciousness, something like 50,000 years a go.

Humans had been around for a long, long time before that.

So why didn't we believe in God then?

Why do you assume people believe your baseless claims?

Did humans make God up themselves?

I think people are too evil and stupid to make God up.

 

[Trailblazer]

Your last two sentences contradict each other, which is it?

Did God then send messages to Neanderthals? Aren't they humans?

Or when the human brain was developed enough? If it's this one we agree on the same time.

Having said that I think it's very strange that God did not value a human at all, before his brain was developed?

I said: I believe that as long as humans have existed God has sent Messengers to reveal Himself.
I believe that as long as humans have had a rational soul, the human brain was developed enough to understand the concept of God.

Maybe what I should have said is "as long as humans existed and humans have had a rational soul, God sent Messenger/Prophets."

I do not know where during the process of evolution of man God instilled man with a soul and that is why I cannot say that I know whether God sent messages to Neanderthals.

I believe that the only way we can ever know what God did is by reading what the Messengers revealed.
The following is what Baha'u'llah, who I believe was a Messenger of God, wrote about the Prophets who were sent before Adam.

“And now regarding thy question, “How is it that no records are to be found concerning the Prophets that have preceded Adam, the Father of Mankind, or of the kings that lived in the days of those Prophets?” Know thou that the absence of any reference to them is no proof that they did not actually exist. That no records concerning them are now available, should be attributed to their extreme remoteness, as well as to the vast changes which the earth hath undergone since their time.

Moreover such forms and modes of writing as are now current amongst men were unknown to the generations that were before Adam. There was even a time when men were wholly ignorant of the art of writing, and had adopted a system entirely different from the one which they now use. For a proper exposition of this an elaborate explanation would be required.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 172-173

 

[Trailblazer]

Why do you assume people believe your baseless claims?

Which is his claims do you believe are baseless?

I think people are too evil and stupid to make God up.

I can agree with that.

 

[Madsaac]

Yes, but you are being extremely vague about it.

What if the god concept was before Sahelanthropus tchadensis?
How would we even go about finding out?

It's not vague, the exact time is irrelevant.

But do you agree that 'God' started at the same time when the human brain was developed enough to understand what God was? Why?

If yes, it's easy to come to the conclusion that humans made God up because of our intelligence.

 

[Madsaac]

I just don't see how it could be possible without the ability to understand words and concepts. One of the articles I found showed that language would have to have been required for toolmaking, a skill that would need to be taught.

I think it communication has a massive influence on when humans started to believe in 'God' otherwise everyone just has their own thoughts on the subject and unable to share them

 

[Madsaac]

When the brain evolved to the point of interest in understanding the nature of one's own being and the nature of the world around them.


As I said above, the desire to understanding the nature of one's own being and the nature of the world around them.

Yes, so you're saying humans made 'God' up themselves, which could be anything from understanding nature of the world around them to a creator.

Whatever it was, humans thought of the idea themselves, not something else.

 

[Madsaac]

That clarifies a bit, thanks.

Considering deification is the process of assigning deep value to something we experience in the world and telling stories about, as far as we know that value-assigning and meaning-making is endemic to the human species just in general. It's always been a thing humans do as it is part of their essential nature. To me the more interesting question is to wonder what other species also do this value-assigning and meaning-making. Humans are bad at communication with other-than-human peoples so we really just don't know. I highly doubt value-assigning and meaning-making is unique to humans. Ritual behavior and complex emotions have definitely been observed in other animals but the communications barrier kind of prevents us from digging deeper into it. Lack of definitive evidence aside, I would absolutely bet money that deification is present in other non-human animals as well.

Yes, so I think you're saying humans/evolution invented some type of spirituality/God. Not some outside thing

And animals have some as well, is that in the realms of Elephants showing compassion or having funerals for example. Pardon my ignorance

 

[SalixIncendium]

Yes, so you're saying humans made 'God' up themselves, which could be anything from understanding nature of the world around them to a creator.

Whatever it was, humans thought of the idea themselves, not something else.

Humans also made up good, evil, language, and numbers for similar reasons.

 

[Madsaac]

I don't know whether it is important to know (or estimate) when belief in god began. Mostly because I don't know what that means.

Are we talking about belief in Abraham's god? In strong leaders that were deified by their followers? Nature spirits that brought good crops and the like? Something else?

No anything spirits and the like, maybe I should have been more clearer. The point is humans developed this idea themselves and not some other thing.

The human brain made God, so this suggests God doesn't exist, just something in our mind

 

[Madsaac]

Humans also made up good, evil, language, and numbers for similar reasons.

Yes that's right, humans did, not some other God, spirit or whatever you want to call it

 

[SalixIncendium]

Yes that's right, humans did, not some other God, spirit or whatever you want to call it

My point is that these along with “whatever you want to call it” exist and have a practical purpose.

 

[Dimi95]

No anything spirits and the like, maybe I should have been more clearer. The point is humans developed this idea themselves and not some other thing.

How did they developed this idea ?
Where does this idea come from ?
They started just like that ?

The human brain made God, so this suggests God doesn't exist, just something in our mind

Absence of Evidence does not mean Evidence of Absence.

 

[Balthazzar]

These times might be up for debate but you get the drift.

Isn't it a coincidence that humans only started to believe in 'God' when we our brains reached a certain size for intelligence and consciousness, something like 50,000 years a go.

Humans had been around for a long, long time before that.

So why didn't we believe in God then?

Did humans make God up themselves?

Concepts as complex as God are likely reserved for more intelligent creatures, as would be calculating earth rotations around the sun and time.

 

[Madsaac]

In general based on paleoarchaeology, archaeology human beliefs evolved from animism, attributing spiritual relationships between humans and the animal kingdom to anthropomorphic beliefs in the afterlife, polytheism and hierarchy of Gods with anthropomorphic Gods and living rulers in a spiritual rule after death, the return of promised return of Messianic figures to Monotheism.

Wow this stuff is new to me. And I apologise if I'm being rude in anyway

Where has this spiritual essence or energy that exists, come from?

Nature itself, but where did 'nature' get it from?

 

[Madsaac]

How did they developed this idea ?
Where does this idea come from ?
They started just like that ?


Absence of Evidence does not mean Evidence of Absence.

Humans intelligence
Humans complex mind
No it started when little fish, started to grow legs

Evidence is above

 

[Madsaac]

Why do you assume people believe your baseless claims?

I think people are too evil and stupid to make God up.

No claims made, just asking your opinion, do you think humans made 'God/spirits' up when our intelligence reached a certain point?

Or did 'God/spirits' make us believe?