How did gods evolve? I can't promise to answer a question of such gravity this week, but I can perhaps raise some interesting ideas.
Note that I'm not specifically referring to the Christian, Islamic or Judean deity — I'm speaking more broadly about the roots of our belief in a higher power.
Some scientists believe religion has evolved over time. It's similar, they say, to the way in which giraffes acquired long necks or mammals produced milk for their offspring — it's a trait that has helped humanity to survive. If that's the case with religion, then it probably evolved in stages over time. Ancestors of modern giraffes, for example, had shorter necks, while primitive mammals produced a liquid far less nutritious than milk.
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