The Phenomena of the Rise of Religion

I think that in order to truly understand the meaning of today's religions you need to understand the how they came about and took hold of the world. Interestingly enough, all of the major religions of today arose in a very short amount of time - approximately 2500 years. Although this may seem like a long time, in the context of human existence it is very short. Just for reference, here is a general timeline of the beginning of all major religions:

• c. 2000 BC: Time of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel.


• c. 1200 BC: Time of Moses, the Hebrew leader of the Exodus.


• c. 1100 - 500 BC: Hindus compile their holy texts, the Vedas.


• c. 563 - 483 BC: Time of Buddha, founder of Buddhism.


• c. 551 - 479 BC: Time of Confucius, founder of Confucianism.


• c. 200 BC: The Hindu book, Bhagavad Gita, is written.


• c. 2 to 4 BC - 32 AD: Time of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and founder of Christianity.


• c. 32 AD: The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.


• c. 40 - 90 AD: The New Testament is written by the followers of Jesus Christ.


• c. 570 - 632 AD: Time of Muhammad, who records the Qur'an as the basis of Islam.

I find this very interesting because after Muhammad, no major religions have taken root and become successful. I think that there are a few major reasons for this peculiarity.

1.) As society has progressed, people have become more rational, and those claiming to be "prophets" are labeled as mentally ill.

This definitely occurs in today's society, but I don't think that this will hold true in 600 AD. At that time, there was no knowledge of science, and many of the most basic phenomena were explained as magic or as an act of God.

2.) Once the major religions of today were established, it was impossible for other new beliefs to compete.

This is probably partially true. However, each religion was not well enough established in the beginning to out compete any new beliefs. I think it still would have been possible for a charismatic individual to spread a new belief, but maybe the existence of someone as charismatic as Jesus or Muhammad is so rare that they did not appear again until religions were already established.

3.) Religions arose during this time period because it was the optimal balance between the development of society and knowledge of the external world.

In order for religion to be successful, society needs to be developed. In the tribal past of human existence it would have been impossible for outsiders to penetrate all of the different tribes and spread a new belief. Knowledge and ideas were difficult, if not impossible to spread because of the barriers of a rudimentary civilization. However, as society began to develop and communication pipelines were created, humans became more and more industrialized and lost touch with the natural world, while at the same time they began to acquire a greater understanding of the world around them. A deep connection with nature is essential for a true understanding of the existence of the universe. This connection was slowly lost as society advanced and became more and more complex. So, from 200BC to 600AD, societies were developed enough to allow a relatively quick spread of knowledge and ideas, but people still had a strong connection with the natural world and at the same time a poor understanding of the external world (ie. there was no science).