Religion

RELIGION The nations around Israel were religious. They also sought divine guidance. They too desire to live in peace and enjoy prosperity, To obtain these ends, they sought to know the will of the gods through professional diviners, magicians, enchanters and interpreters of dreams. They made every effort to maintain harmony between the society of humans and the world of the gods.   Religion begins and ends with man, Religion is an attempt to explain what has happened, what is happening and what may happen. In primitive society people live in fear that the gods may become angry. To avoid catastrophe, they endeavour to please the gods through prescribed rituals. In the absence of revelation they depended on professional priests and diviners to ascertain what the gods desire.   Religion is MANIPULATIVE. In their crises humans are very adept at looking for and finding salvation. Salvation is understood differently by each nation and culture, as shaped as shaped by their cosmogony, mythology, divination and magic.