And the Angel Said Unto Them ...

No angel but the smoke plume of a combined heat and power station near Freiburg
(Photo BZ)

It is a tradition that Der Spiegel, the German copy of Time Magazine, chooses for its Christmas edition as cover story a religious topic: Warum glaubt der Mensch und warum zweifelt er? (Why do men (and women)* believe, and why are they doubtful? This year, the other important German weekly, Die Zeit, also published an article about religion: Warum wir glauben müssen (Why are we fixed on belief).
*In the following, I use man in the sense of the German Mensch, which includes women

Historically, religion has evolved from polytheism to monotheism in this order: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Red Baron knows little about Mohamed, but the development of Christendom out of Judaism transformed the punitive God who nearly annihilated his own creation in the Flood into a God that we shall address as Father, a God who still is strict but forgiving.

The abuse of any religion as an instrument of power runs like a thread through history and is particularly true for Christianity. When persons like Wycliffe, Hus, and Luther tried to reduce the Church's mission to its spiritual roots at the end of the Middle Ages, they were treated as heretics. Declared a heretic even after his death, Wycliffe's body was exhumed and destroyed, while Hus was burnt at the stake during the Council of Constance. 

When Luther, in his anti-Roman fight, eventually stood with his back to the wall, he made the ill-fated pact with the local sovereigns. They were only too happy to transfer the Catholic cathedrals' treasures into their coffers, annex the rich monastic territories, and assume the post of a Lutheran regional bishop. In all this, the common man sometimes came out of the frying pan into the fire, like in Calvin's oppressive Geneva Republic, and frequently longed for a revival of Roman Catholic rule.

During the Thirty Years' War, atrocities were committed in the name of God both by Catholics and Protestants; ordinary men and women started to doubt God's justice and his lovingness. A villager of Gerstetten, Swabia, wrote in all his misery: Only a few houses of our hamlet still exist. We live like animals eating bark and grass. Nobody remembers that a situation like this had existed before. Many people say it is now certain that there is no God ... We, however, believe that God has not left us … It consoled the ordinary people when priests and pastors kept telling them that they would be compensated in the future life for their sufferings and miserable earthly existence that often contrasted so much with the luxurious, libertine life of their rulers.

In the middle of the 18th century, the Enlightenment produced two groups of thinkers: deists Rousseau and Voltaire), although opposed to the Church, and atheists (Diderot and von Holbach), who denied the existence of God.

The French Revolution opposed the Church, too, but did not want to hurt people's religious feelings, and erected temples to the Supreme Being that we worship. Rulers like Frederick the Great and Napoleon simply saw religion as something to be used to their benefit.

In the 19th century, philosophy took hold of religion. Feuerbach's atheism described religion as the self-reflection of man, a projection of unfulfilled human wishes and positive attributes into an individual God figure, i.e., a mirror of man. 

Marx, impregnated by the misery of the Silesian weavers who were trying in vain to compete with the spinning jenny, saw in religion a perverted political instrument of human oppression in sedating the common man. In short, religion is opium for the people.

In the 20th century, physiology and psychology took over from philosophy, trying to grapple with religion. In an earlier blog, I already referred to Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod, who, more than 40 years ago, in his book Le hazard et la nécessité, not only denied a creator-God but attributed man's quest for God to a genetic defect we must overcome. How can this be accomplished? Should one cross-breed atheists?

Here comes the entry point to Manfred Dworschak's article in Der Spiegel: Cross-breeding atheists will not help, for they are less reproductive than firm believers or fundamentalists: Wives of ultra-orthodox Jews, on average, give birth to eight children, and also, the Amish people are productive well above average. On the other hand, atheists do not grow by birth but by the influx of apostates.

In the 21st century, the genetic cause for belief is again rearing its head: Geneticist Dean Hamer's God gene hypothesis postulates that a specific gene (VMAT2) predisposes man toward spiritual or mystic experiences, according to Hamer's book, Faith is Hardwired into our Genes, but where is our "soul" located?

Neurotheologian James Ashbrook identified the ability to experience the mystical in the superior lobe of the parietal cortex.

That would mean even the atheist believes in something, a position linguist Umberto Eco and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini support in their dialogue: In cosa crede chi non crede? In what does somebody believe who does not believe? Unfortunately, in the English translation, the book title is poorly rendered as Belief or Nonbelief?

Accordingly, Christian Schüle writes in Die Zeit: Man's belief is something natural. Ratio, the axis of reason, does not answer the question: Is there a plan behind everything, and is my life guided?

Man is born as a pro-social being. Modern psychology sees an evolutionary advantage in religion, as living in a community inevitably reduces personal egoism. Such ego-deflation then allows people to better cope with the dangers and hardships of life. The evolutionary psychologist Lee Kirkpatrick takes up Feuerbach's ideas positively: Man strives after a positive self-perception but is aware of the abyss between wish and reality. Man tries to resolve this tension through religion, a synonym for seeking a father figure.

In Der Spiegel, Dworschak considers religion to be inherently human. He, too, points out the (evolutionary) advantage of belief, but more in the direction of Big Brother is watching you. Families and small communities may live in trust, but rules and someone to ensure their adherence are necessary for the lives of larger communities.

God's eye is watching.

Consequently, in the Old Testament, God issues the Ten Commandments. He watches, and He punishes any breach of the law. God dominates Judaism, Christendom, and Islam in demanding good social conduct. He will reward them with redemption and heaven; otherwise, He has the means to punish the spoilers with damnation and hell.

Scientists observe that people of the same faith trust each other to a high degree; therefore, Schüle calls trust the currency of religion. For example, Dworschak mentions the Indian religion Jainism. The Jains have taken over the international diamond trade in Antwerp from the Jews, and trading diamonds requires a high level of trust. And is there not a high level of mistrust between Christians and Muslims?

What did I learn from all that? Despite all the new scientific attempts to "explain" religion, the Church is still in the upper position, calling the Christian belief a great mystery. The priest celebrating Mass concludes the Eucharistic Prayer by proclaiming, "The mystery of faith," and the community answers, "We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again."

And at the end, I again have to return to Saint Paul, who writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, 13:12: Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now, these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

With this in mind, Paul develops his vision of a (Christian) society without laws when he writes concerning the Ten Commandments in his letter to Romans 13, 8-10: 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing obligation to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Love is all you need (The Beatles).

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