Breakthroughs in Religious Theology

Human religious history predates our written record. Perhaps since there have been human beings there has been the religious impulse. Is this because the religious mindset tracks reality? Or is it an evolutionary feature of the human brain? For much of human history a polytheistic and animistic worldview dominated human culture. Monotheism gradually replaced it and dominated the Western world for the past two thousand years. Over the past one hundred years, monotheistic religions have been weakening their hold upon the human mind, replaced by atheism and agnosticism. In this episode we’ll look at some of the major foundations of world religions, explore the cyclical nature of beliefs, and also discuss whether or not religion will stick around, what has replaced religion, whether culture influences religion or religion influences culture, and what role religion plays in furthering human progress.