R&I – FS
I have heard that mankind has a predisposition to believe in gods and the supernatural. The question I am asking myself is ‘how did mankind acquire this supposed predisposition?
I see three possible answers to this question:
- Something or someone created mankind and predisposed its creations to believe in it.
- Nature (in the form of evolution) created mankind and predisposed us to believe in something supernatural behind the scenes influencing events.
- society has imbued us with a predisposition to believe in supernatural things controlling everything around us.
These possibilities pose the following questions:
Scenario 1
Why would a creator predispose its creations to believe in it?
Why would a creator permit any of its creations to believe in other supernatural beings?
Why would a creator permit any of its creations not to believe in it or any other supernatural beings?
Scenario 2
Why would nature (in the form of evolution) predispose humans to believe in gods or the supernatural?
Scenario 3
Why would society predispose us to believe in gods or the supernatural?
Please choose which scenario you subscribe to and then answer the relevant questions.
If you do not subscribe to any of the above scenarios, do you believe that mankind does have a predisposition to believe in some form of spirituality? If so, how do you think mankind acquired it and why?
If you do not believe that mankind has any predisposition to believe in any form of spirituality, how do you think religions arose?
Peter Taylor