Why We Invented God

The word God is rarely defined with any degree of accuracy. When asked, the majority of individuals resort to repeating timeworn phrases that merely promote a particular religious point of view. In fact, even scholars are uncertain of the source of the word, let alone its definition. Most rely on citing the various religious perspectives to convey some idea as to the meaning of the word. However, in concert with the major religions of the world, the word God can be defined as follows: a super-natural entity conceived as the omnipotent originator of the material universe. Some overt polytheistic religions such as Hinduism regard the multitude of separate deities as various aspects of an underlying One that, in the case of Hinduism, is Brahma, the universal or cosmic base. Pantheists, for the most part, view the Cosmos as the be-all and end-all of existence. Although in their case, God seems to be deemed synonymous with Nature although few venture to define the connection between the material realm and the entity that gives rise to it.