Does God Punish People in Hellfire?, page-18

"out of ignorance came fear, out of fear came gods""
I dont think fear is only for the ignorant. People in ancient civilisations had to worry about there next meal, disease, wars, crime etc... the realities were probably considerably more serious than in present day Australia. I think I read famine was the leading cause of death in middle ages Europe. There are many different beliefs in Gods, most could or were motivated by fear. I think for many God and religion was a way of understanding there environment and attempting to control it e.g sacrifice people to the Gods so the crops would be good. But religion can be more than that, dont throw the baby out with the bath water.