Why did people create god?

Answer 1

Long ago, people felt the need to understand the universe. Religion provided the explanations that they sought. People then felt that they had some control over events, because they could pray to the gods, who would make sought-after events happen and save them from harm. Religion also provides some people with comfort and a sense of purpose.

Answer 2

Man did not invent God; The Bible declares that all man has to do to come to the conclusion that there is a God is to use his senses God gave him and consider the majesty and greatness of his creation; the universe. Logical deduction would lead him to conclude it had to created.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Romans 1:19-22


Another answer: Primitive men invented gods to provide an explanation for things they could not otherwise explain, such as lightning, famine and death. Clever, manipulative and generally lazy people then acted as intermediaries of these 'gods' in exchange for a comfortable life that avoided them ever having to do any real work. Most early gods, including the Christian one in the Old Testament, were gods who punished and brought retribution on non believers or other miscreants. As time progressed more rational explanations were theorised and then accepted for famines, plagues, lightning etc. These natural phenomenon were no longer able to be believably attributed to the whims of 'gods. So, to keep up with the times, the religious leaders changed the very gods themselves. Gods no longer smote people and turned them into pillars of salt, instead gods 'loved people' and allowed them to die of starvation and and ignorance and never intervened because they had given us 'freedom of choice.' Some might argue that a five year old child whose future life is forever tainted because they are the victim of sexual abuse doesn't have the luxury of choice at all but that is a different issue. So now we have gods who don't actually do anything at all, because only in that way can their existence never be conclusively disproved.

Answer 3

Gods were created during the childhood of humanity because they did not understand life, death and the natural world. Think of early humans at the mercy of a terrifying storm, earthquake, volcanic eruption or fatal illness. Since they could not understand nature they assumed there was some force behind it all, a force that could be appeased by homage and gifts. That eventually led to ritualistic behavior and the most tragic of all religious rituals- human sacrifice, remnants of which can be found in the Old Testament.

There have been thousands of gods created throughout human history. Many of the earliest primary deities were female. Head gods eventually took center stage and some groups embraced monotheism believing that a single supernatural being controlled human destiny. As civilization developed, belief in gods was recognized as a source of political power. The catalyst for the spread of Christianity was the Roman Emperor Alexander the great who recognized it as a way to unify the Roman Empire.

Answer 4

You should differentiate between "gods" and God. God has always existed, but gods were invented. Idolatry tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were claimed concerning the gods were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior, which led to wild celebrations, rampant temple-prostitution, infanticide, human sacrifice etc.
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 (see footnote 1, below). 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. Other traditions also are traceable worldwide, such as the religious significance of the number seven, and the immortality of the soul.

The process by which the awareness of One God gave way to a belief in many gods, has been described by Scandinavian researchers (see note 2) as splitting ("Gottespaltung"): the people gradually viewed God's attributes of truth, righteousness, fertility etc., as separate from Him, and afterwards personified and worshiped the attributes themselves, until God was largely forgotten.

Maimonides (see note 3) describes a comparable process (which probably happened alongside the aforementioned one), as follows: A couple of centuries after the Creation, mankind made a great mistake: They said that since God had created the stars and spheres and placed them on high, accordingly it is fitting for people to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. They perceived this to be the will of God, that people should magnify and honor the stars. They began to praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would - according to their false conception - be indirectly honoring God too.

See also:

http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-philosophy/can-you-prove-that-god-exists

http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-history/religion-in-the-ancient-world

Footnotes:

1) Albright, "From the Stone Age," p.170; and J.A. Wilson, "The Culture of ancient Egypt," p.129. Also Baron, "A Social and Religious History," vol. I, p.44 and 311. Also James Meek, "Hebrew Origins," p.188, quoting Langdon, Lagrange and John Ross. Also Martin Nilsson, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaften, 2nd ed., p.61, 141, 220 and 394.

2) G. W. Anderson, in "The Old Testament and Modern Study," p.287. Also Friedrich Baethgen, in Beitraege zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, p.288. Also Pallotino, "The Etruscans," p. 158 and 167.

3) Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Avodat Kochavim ch.1).

Answer 5

People created gods to explain natural phenomena, provide comfort in times of uncertainty, and establish moral guidelines for society. Religion also served as a tool for consolidating power and authority in early human societies.