# When did humans become cognizant of God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 28, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080 "2015-05-28T23:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/1 "2015-05-28T23:11:53Z")
Is there any documented evidence of when human beings became aware of GOD or a supernatural being? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/2 "2015-05-29T00:03:04Z")
Here is some stuff, I don’t know if there is an agreed upon consensus. > **[Evolutionary origin of religion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions)** > > The evolutionary origin of religion and religious behavior is a field of study related to evolutionary psychology, the origin of language and mythology, and cross-cultural comparison of the anthropology of religion. Some subjects of interest include Neolithic religion, evidence for spirituality or cultic behavior in the Upper Paleolithic, and similarities in great ape behavior. > Humanity's closest living relatives are common chimpanzees and bonobos. These primates share a common ancestor with ... It seems to go back to 500k years ago, maybe earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/3 "2015-05-29T00:28:37Z")
Some of us still haven’t made it. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/4 "2015-05-29T00:29:28Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Is there any documented evidence of when human beings became aware of GOD or a supernatural being? You’re using the wrong verb and adjective following the word “beings.” Try “imagined.” I don’t think there’s solid evidence for the date of the origin of superstitions, but very long ago, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/5 "2015-05-29T00:55:49Z")
They didn’t become aware so much as they created God in their imaginations to fill in holes in their knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/6 "2015-05-29T01:07:18Z")
Which leads us to the proper answer to the OP: Humans became aware of gods shortly after other humans invented them. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/7 "2015-05-29T01:08:27Z")
Most early religions are (presumed to be) animistic: > **[Animism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism)** > > Animism (from Latin: anima meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as animated and alive. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples, in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. An Although each culture... Monotheism was invented quite a while later, mostly with the founding of Zoroastrianism: > **[Zoroastrianism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism)** > > Zoroastrianism\[a\] is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom known as Ahura Mazda (lit. 'Lord of Wisdom') as its supreme being. Historically, the unique features With po... Of course, even in monotheistic religions, there may be the belief in a multitude of gods, but only one of which is worthy of being worshiped (or, for [deists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism), not worshiped, just singled out as the creator-deity as a point of interest, but otherwise irrelevant to everything in daily life). ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/8 "2015-05-29T01:14:07Z")
According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion) it looks like (this is, of course debatable) sometime in the paleolithic humans started burying other humans and the like…so, somewhere between 30k-300k years ago, give or take. > [@](#): > > Paleolithic religion is the set of spiritual beliefs thought to have appeared during the Paleolithic time period. Religious behaviour is thought to have emerged by the Upper Paleolithic, before 30,000 years ago at the latest,[1] but behavioral patterns such as burial rites that one might characterize as religious — or as ancestral to religious behaviour — reach back into the Middle Paleolithic, as early as 300,000 years ago, coinciding with the first appearance of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Religious behaviour may combine (for example) ritual, spirituality, mythology and magical thinking or animism — aspects that may have had separate histories of development during the Middle Paleolithic before combining into “religion proper” of behavioral modernity. > > There are suggestions for the first appearance of religious or spiritual experience in the Lower Paleolithic (significantly earlier than 300,000 years ago, pre-Homo sapiens), but these remain controversial and have limited support.[2] I’m interpreting ‘God’ to be something supernatural or beyond life, and I’d say that burial would be a good indication that humans were thinking of something supernatural or beyond life. MMV however. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/9 "2015-05-29T02:26:27Z")
I can recommend [A History of God](http://www.amazon.com/History-God-000-Year-Judaism-Christianity/dp/0345384563/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8) by Karen Armstrong. It was written in 1994, before 9/11, and it’s been a while since I’ve read it so I need to read it again. It’s about the Western religions and helps you to see why Islam has so many internal squabbles. It’s probably in your public library, and at 496 pages it’s not a slim book. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/10 "2015-05-29T02:46:17Z")
**When did humans become cognizant of God?** When God created Adam, circa 4000 B.C. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/11 "2015-05-29T02:52:30Z")
I’m thinking the first time one of them ate the weird mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/12 "2015-05-29T03:43:24Z")
I think the answer is “always, depending on how you define ‘God’” That is to say, Homo sapiens likely always had the tendency to attribute personality, and other human-like characteristics, to phenomena that they did not understand. Then gradually, this becomes a belief in a multitude of _gods_ (since if there is a sentient figure responsible for lightning, say, then that figure seems to have abilities humans do not, and seems to live indefinitely). Finally multi-gods give way to a more elegant single god concept. Draw your line wherever you like. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/13 "2015-05-29T10:25:04Z")
Perhaps since infancy the concept of large powerful beings doing things that appear magical and taking care of us form. Even perhaps in the womb, external sounds and even touch/motion sensations that seems directed towards the child. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/14 "2015-05-29T11:06:42Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > They didn’t become aware so much as they created God in their imaginations to fill in holes in their knowledge. Looking in awe at the huge dinosaurs lumbering about must have been a shock on their systems. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/15 "2015-05-29T14:42:35Z")
“Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool.” – Voltaire Those saying burying their dead is an indication of religious thought must never have had an ant farm. Ants bury their dead. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/16 "2015-05-29T15:06:14Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > “Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool.” – Voltaire > > Those saying burying their dead is an indication of religious thought must never have had an ant farm. Ants bury their dead. Ants don’t bury their dead for the same reason, and they don’t, afaik, bury them with grave goods and other things like that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/17 "2015-05-29T16:09:42Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Is there any documented evidence of when human beings became aware of GOD or a supernatural being? Lets turn the question around: is there any documented evidence of ancient humans _not_ acknowledging some God or gods? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/18 "2015-05-29T16:15:05Z")
I always assumed it was some cave guy around a fire making shit up to scare the kids. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/19 "2015-05-29T16:21:18Z")
You can imagine the progression - Humans are pattern animals - they try to find the logic or pattern behind what are usually random events of nature. They then anthropomorphize these - imagine that some animistic force or personality driving the wind or river or trees. Similarly, they would attribute more intelligence and purpose to animal behaviour than was actually present, think of the animals as persons. The progression is obvious. A string of bad or good luck allows the imagination to consider that maybe it’s not a “bunch of sprites” controlling the individual pieces of the environment, but once guiding force - possibly reflecting their experience. They learn to herd animals, the wild herds perhaps are driven by an invisible shepherd. The entire weather cycle is driven by a single weather sprite. Eventually the local sprites are supplanted by a pantheon of more powerful, more encompassing deities… and the number of these that are important dwindles, until someone decides one single intelligence is directing all the vagarities of the world for their own mysterious purposes. All because we want to find a pattern in the result of butterfly wings flapping. (There’s a series of lectures from Yale, look on youTube for Introduction to the Old Testament by Christine Hayes. Apparently she traces the evolution of Yaweh as one of a local pantheon in the region - “the Lord thy God is a jealous God, thou shalt not have other gods before me…” - to the point where the followers deny any other gods exist. ) ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080/20 "2015-05-29T18:04:26Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Lets turn the question around: is there any documented evidence of ancient humans _not_ acknowledging some God or gods? You mean, like a cave painting, with pictograms spelling “Woe is us, we haven’t invented any gods yet”? What do you expect such evidence should look like? Atheism doesn’t tend to express itself in any tangible way, except as a reaction to theism. In a society that hasn’t invented any gods, people would not be dwelling on the subject of religion and their lack of faith in something that they don’t acknowledge, much less leave behind any physical evidence that they did so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-become-cognizant-of-god/721080.md?page=2)