Who started religion and how did it spread throughout the world?

Answer 1

A:

The origins of religion are buried in the mists of time. Many thousands of years ago, animistic beliefs sprang up independently in different parts of the world, although at first they were barely recognisable as religion. There was no one unique founder of animism even in any single place.

Animism gradually developed more sophisticated stories and rituals, then took on religious leaders known to us today as shamans. Shamans became priests, and animistic spirits became gods. The people of an obscure region in the Levantine coast of the eastern Mediterannean began to discard all their old gods, retaining just one God whom they worshipped. These were the Jews.

The development of Christianity in the Jewish milieu came just as the Roman Empire was at the height of its powers and influence, providing the opportunities for Christianity to spread throughout the Near East, North Africa and much of Europe. A thousand years later, the age of colonial expansion allowed Christianity to spread throughout the world by a process of conquest, subjugation and missionary effort.

Answer:

One thing that researchers agree upon is that mankind has always believed in a Higher Power. Archaeology has shown that no ancient society ever existed that did not believe in the supernatural.

Based upon a massive worldwide study of the most ancient inscriptions and the earliest levels of civilization, Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt (in his twelve-volume Der Ursprung Der Gottesidee) concluded that the original belief was monotheistic. It was a simple belief in the Creator (Sky-Father) with no imagery of any kind. It gave way relatively quickly to polytheism and idolatry, but its traces could still be seen by the careful researcher, just as (for example) Proto-Indo European has left indelible marks within the later languages.
A couple of centuries after idolatry had completely supplanted peoples' awareness of One God, monotheism was (according to tradition) taught by Abraham. Being surrounded by idolaters, he discovered the truth through his own efforts; but in effect he was actually reinstating the original belief. His efforts were corroborated later, when the Torah was given at Sinai.

About 1350 years after the Giving of the Torah, Christianity began to take root and was spread by missionaries. A further 600 years later Islam began to spread.