Human Nature

Humans are the only species to practice religion in any kind of significant way. Religion is closely linked to emotions and language. We don't know much about either in animals yet. What we do know is that in humans they have developed to levels far exceeding the capabilities of all other species. The human brain can do things no other species can. The development of language, especially written language, is the basis for most modern religious practices. "In the beginning was the word," says the gospel writer, John.

Humans have extraordinary imaginative abilities. They can use it to get answers to all kinds of questions. If they can't find a logical answer, they can make one up. The ancient Bible writers recorded things like the creation story or the nativity story we all know and love. More modern writers from Plato to Josephus, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Marx and many others have produced works we continue to draw on for inspiration to this day.

Another aspect of human nature is our tendency to be social. A few species live mostly apart from one another, but most do not. The degree to which humans form communities varies. How we do that has changed over time. For example, Friedrich Engles writes in Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State about how the concept of family has developed over time. That helps us explain how religions change over time despite the efforts of a powerful priesthood to prevent it sometimes in alliances with powerful principalities.

Sometimes we refer to communities beyond our immediate families as churches or just plain communities, another religious concept that takes different forms in all times and all places. The human tendency for belonging serves to meet both emotional needs such as security and physical needs like food or shelter.