I'm glad that this subject has come up, because the subject of the existance
of God, and the reasons for believing in him interest me greatly.
I think that in the very begining, when God came about in people's minds, it
was indeed to explain the phenomenon which we can now understand through our
scientific advances. But then, it may well have become ingrained in human
nature to beleive in a God, not only to explain the unexplained, but also to
offer some kind of reassurance to the people. It's a big universe, and I
think that the concept of being utterly alone is a difficult one to grasp
(at this point, someone's going to mention alien life, and the possibility
of it existing elsewhere - well I believe that life does exist on other planets,
but my reasoning is fairly lengthly, and I'll only go into it if someone
wants me to). If a human can, therefore, come to believe in the existance
of this higher being, then not only does it remove the sense of lonliness in
the universe, but it also provides a reason for life - for some it is difficult
to believe in life for the sake of life, and need a purpose to fulfill.
In reply to Paulo's question, therefore, at the end of Does God really Exist
(Part I), of course there would be a God for primitive, irrational beings, but
it would be a God to fear, one who controlls the world around. They wouldn't
have got far enough in their thought process to have defined "Good", and "Evil",
and thus their God wouldn't be such an image.
I'll come back and look at the second part of the thread later, I hope you
like this idea, and I've got loads more to say on this subject, so don't go
away,
Drakir