The human being created religion out of presumption, driven by a fallen nature that seeks to occupy the place that belongs only to God in the heart. By separating from the Creator through arrogance, humanity believed it could be like the Source without submitting to it. The seed of religion goes back to the day when the first couple wanted to be like God, believing the deceiver’s promise that they would know good and evil and thus become like gods. But what do we really know about evil? Did it exist before the angel’s betrayal of the Creator, or was it born at the very moment the angel conceived transgression? It is possible that evil did not exist until it first took shape in the heart of the being who rebelled. What is certain is that when God created our first parents, evil was already present, and for that reason He offered them shelter and protection under His Law.
By believing the angel’s lie, they broke their covenant with the Creator and lost His protection. In doing so, they entered into an alliance with the Adversary, becoming aware of evil but without the wisdom of God to overcome it. From that moment on, humanity lost its spiritual capacity to perceive that world. Now, only through reconciliation can we restore our covenant with God, return to His protection, and perceive the spiritual realm. This requires faith—that is, believing in Him even though we cannot see Him with our physical eyes.
Over time, the relationship with God deteriorated to the point that humanity forgot Him. Yet the need for that connection with the Source remained within. Instead of seeking the restoration of the relationship with God, humanity tried to fill that void with an illusion: exalting itself as a deity, accepting the Adversary’s false promise that it could be like a god.
Ironically, humanity already possessed that exalted status in its original state: it was created in the image of God, very similar to Him, and had the privilege of being His child. But by choosing the opposite path, it lost that status. As the Psalm says:
“You are gods,
all of you are children of the Most High.
But you will die like mere mortals
and fall like any other ruler.”
Religion, in its beginnings, was the organization of cultural customs and traditions around what human beings understood of the material world. Plants, stars, and forces of nature were deified as expressions of gratitude for sustenance. Although Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in terms of continuous practice, the first organized religious structure emerged in Sumer. There, ancient mystical beliefs were systematized and transformed into a religious liturgy. From that point on, religion became an institution with temples, priests, and formal rituals.
The foundations of Sumerian polytheism served as a model for later religions, including ancient Hebrew religion and Christianity. Abraham’s family inherited these structures from their ancestors and adapted them to their belief in one God. I refer to this as monotheism built upon a polytheistic religious structure. The history of Israel shows how this people constantly oscillated between the worship of the one true God and the inherited religion of their polytheistic ancestors.
Some argue that Christianity has Greek or Roman roots, but those traditions themselves were based on the Sumerian model. From Mesopotamia came not only religious structures but also the concepts of priesthood, sacrifices, and temples. The influence of the political-religious culture of Abraham’s homeland is essential for understanding Hebrew liturgy and the Christian belief in salvation through a god-man.
This system has nothing to do with God; it is the result of human beliefs and traditions. During their urban expansion, the Sumerians achieved unprecedented advances: they invented the wheel, developed writing, established a credit system, legitimized slavery, and—most relevant here—designed the first political-religious system in human history.
History records several accounts of the birth of human religion, including the writings of Sanchuniathon, the earliest known Phoenician writer, and the Book of Wisdom.
According to Sanchuniathon, early humans began their religion with a reverence for plants because these provided essential sustenance. This respect evolved into devotion, and over time, natural elements regarded as gods became objects of libations and sacrifices.
After a storm, two trees rubbed together and produced fire. Seeing this as a divine event, people erected two pillars—one in honor of the wind and another for fire. In their rituals, they poured out the blood of hunted animals and celebrated festivals in their honor.
Later, a severe drought led them to cry out to the sun, believing it to be the sole lord of the heavens. Thus solar worship was born. In another episode, Hypisistus, the father of Oranus, was killed by wild beasts, and his sons deified him, offering sacrifices to him. According to some conjectures, Cronus may have been Ham, the son of Noah. During his time, a great plague occurred, and Cronus sacrificed his only son in honor of his father Oranus. He also circumcised himself and compelled his followers to do the same (Cory 15).
The 1929 Encyclopaedia Britannica suggested that these accounts were legends lacking conclusive archaeological evidence. However, Phoenician cosmogony is among the most coherent, as its descriptions closely align with what history and anthropology have uncovered about primitive religious practices.
The Book of Wisdom describes the rise of early religion and idolatry as follows:
“A father, consumed by grief at the death of his son,
makes an image of him;
and what was once a dead man
he now honors as a god,
establishing rites and ceremonies for his household.
In time, this impious custom becomes established
and is observed as law.
Likewise, by decree of rulers,
people worship their statues.
Those who lived far away,
unable to honor them in person,
made visible images to resemble them,
eager to flatter the absent ruler
as though he were present.
Then the ambition of the artist
encouraged those who did not know the king
to worship him,
for seeking to please the ruler,
he exaggerated the beauty of the image.
Thus people, attracted by the charm of the workmanship,
considered as an object of worship
one who shortly before had been honored only as a man.
This became a snare for humanity,
for people, enslaved by misfortune or tyranny,
gave to stone and wood
the name that belongs to God alone.”
To this account we must add a crucial element: the economic interest behind idolatry. It was not merely a religious practice; it was also a lucrative business. When the author of the Book of Wisdom says, “Later this impious custom became established and was observed as law,” he shows how ancestral customs and practices solidified into religions.
The same phenomenon occurred in ancient Hebrew religion. Jesus confronted the religious leaders of His time for equating their traditions with the Word of God, thereby nullifying it. There is nothing wrong with practicing family, social, or cultural traditions; the problem arises when those traditions are given the same authority as God’s Law.
We cannot serve two masters: either we freely submit to the Word of God, or we follow the word of man. That is why Jesus said that human traditions, when mixed with God’s Law, end up nullifying it.
Psalm 4 expresses this idea:
“How long, O men, will you dishonor my reputation?
How long will you love delusions
and seek lies?”
When human beliefs and traditions are elevated to the same level as the Word of God, His message becomes distorted and indistinguishable from the voice of man. As a result, the unbeliever, seeing what is presented as the Word of God intertwined with human traditions or human voices, finds it impossible to discern truth from error. And so, instead of recognizing the Truth, he remains in unbelief.
It is therefore not surprising that someone observing this mixture of wheat and chaff concluded that religion is the opium of the people. However, that conclusion comes from failing to see the difference between religion made by human hands and the Truth of the Creator. Had that person been reconciled with the Creator, he would have been able to see the difference and discern between chaff and wheat, rather than falling into the deception that everything is the same. The Word of God does not submit to human traditions nor is it diluted within institutions created by human beings. It is not religion—because religion is the work of man—whereas the Word of the Creator is eternal and true.