Okay, we all know we humans have different religions. I am probably one of those who doesn't believe in any god, but when did it all start? (Correct me if these examples are wrong) When did, for example, Jesus' birth came in our history books or when did Allah's prophet change the world with his dream? I've been reading things with this in a section about the middle ages, but it couldn't be true it was back then, right?

I tried to avoid the question 'Does God exist', but if i ask you guys "How did religion came to us?", wouldn't it be the exact same thing? Anyway, i'll ask it anyway: How did religion came to us? It isn't like religion went into a boat and came to us, saying: "Hey, guys! I'm your new religion!" and they believed it, right? (Okay, i had to make something funny here)

But how did religion came in our sight? And when was that? Perhaps you got some information from the news or a site?

My best guess here is something along these lines, but I myself am closer to atheist than anything else, so I hope I don't offend anyone with this.

It's human nature to want some higher power watching over you. We want to believe our lives have greater meaning than simply "be born, live a while, then die. the end." People even only 100 years ago, let alone thousands, did not understand the world and how everything in it works like we do today. Modern science can explain many things that were probably considered "miracles" to people back then, because they had no other explanation for it.

As for how it came to be, my best guess is there was someone (or multiple people) that believed in a certain God(s), and through their faith or greed or whatever, tried to spread the word of said religion. They did this hoping to appeal to their Deities and do good in Their eyes, or possibly to simply convince them to donate money for said religion. Regardless of their motives, like any other new concept, it starts as an idea among one / some, and spreads by people sharing information with one another. Christianity did not exist before Jesus was born, but after the events of his life, rebirth, etc, his followers went out into the world to spread Christianity, making it as big as it is today. I would have to imagine every religion starts similarly to this way to some extent. 

I could start my own religion right now, and if I got the word out to enough people, I GUARANTEE you I could find at least a few followers. As I said, it's human nature (which is another reason I'm inclined to believe there's nothing out there, but that's not the topic here )

So this is only what I think happened. Religion probably originated with the birth of society so with the birth of agriculture in Mesopotamia over 10000 years ago. Religion being defined as a specific set of beliefs. People prospered with advancements that were made but at the same time many things impacting if a harvest would be good or not was still out of our control. So people likely tried to pray to nature to get a good harvest thinking that would make a difference and over time that developed into the concept of god, A creator or creators.

Of course it was a lot less defined then and accounts varied between different people. Likely because people didn't have a book like the bible detailing an entire belief system, so religious teachings were based on what was said from one person to another. As human society evolved and we started to develop writing systems and keep records of things it became more complex as many of these concepts were written down and were developed into full fledged defined belief systems. Which also lead to many people trying to take advantage of the faith people placed in it and trying to twist it for their own gain or to push their own ideals.

Even before that beliefs about the supernatural likely existed but there wasn't really a set belief of any sort, more loose concepts and ideas about nature and a world after death. Now if I were to guess why people gravitated towards believing that (and this is the most subjective part) I would say for the comfort it provided. Feeling like things would work after we died. It also helped that there weren't really much in terms of alternatives at the times considering this was LONG before the advancement of science which helped us understand the world in greater detail. People didn't really think as critically but was more focused with simply surviving so questioning it didn't serve much purpose. So because of that lack of other options it also simply made sense.

From what I can see in human history, "God" simply seemed to be an unexplained phenomenon. As humans started forming larger groups and hearing more about unusual occurences, "God" started appearing everywhere - the "God of the gap" as most atheists refer to nowadays. And in order to please god(s) humans invented religion in order to, the most probably believed, please the gods in order to win their favors.

As science and reason progressed, "God" and religion receded because there was now a logical. Now, at least in Western countries, religion seems to be more of a spiritual experience for the great questions science still can not answer (what happens after death? why is there evil?).

In my understanding, humans are curious creatures but don't like not knowing. Which is were religions come in. When they found something they couldn't explain at the time, they were just like "The gods did it".
Like, take the Egyptian god Ra for example. Now we know why the sun sets. Back then, it was a complete mystery. So they invented something that gave them reassurance. Why does the sun set and rise? A mystical power does it. No more explanation needed.

Now of course, we know a lot about how the universe works. It originated as a way for people to explain things they just can't explain. Which is why the basis of all religions involves an afterlife. No one knows what happens after death, and having "something to look forward too" is a way to cope with it. If humanity ever reaches (Or if it started out) as a point where we know absolutely everything, religion would pretty much become obsolete. Unless if one of them turned out to be true.

Maguc : I'm with you on this one

Gods and higher powers and beings explained things humans didn't understand. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and other cultures didn't understand the sun and the moon, stars, tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, famines, etc. etc. So they made up reasons as a way to answer the question "Why." Humanity will always pursue the question "Why" as long as we're around and gods and religion are a way of not only answering "Why" but also answering "How do we do better?"

Famine? Sacrifice some animals to please the higher powers in control of the weather.

A volcano is about to explode? Perform a rite to appease those in control to save the village at the foot of the mountain.

Are you going to start a war? Pray and pay homage to the gods of war for success.

The only thing we can't understand is what happens after we die. So we have a variety of religions explaining what happens next. There are different stories and different mixes of theology, spirituality, etc, but they all answer the same basic question: "I died and now what?"

Once we have irrefutable proof of what happens after we die, religions go away because there are no more questions.

There will also be philosophies like Zoroastrianism or Stoicism but religions will disappear eventually.

And people like to be a part of a larger picture, a bigger group with a purpose. That's why so many people like sports. Religion has the same idea.