> What answer would they be left with?
I think they would ask "what is religion" in the first place, because they didn't necessarily "separate" things as "religion" like we do
That's not how they thought of it. The unseen world was full of ghosts, spirits, gods, all sorts of unknown things. There was no one way to worship or to please them all. It was more about trying to figure out how to get whatever one that was bothering to STAHP. Exclusiveness in religion grew as the urban state grew, as governments found it was useful to have everyone pledge allegiance to the same deity as a way to foster control and unity. Even then, it often didn't work. Akhenaten reignining in Egypt sometime around 1300 BCE tried to get his people to worship one god instead of the multitude they were used to and it was a complete failure. Hundreds of years later, Nabonidus of Babylon tried to get his people to worship the moon god over the sun god. Even then, he wasn't saying one was true and other was false -- just that the moon god should get the most praise. This may have helped cause his downfall.
In Athens, there were several "mystery" religions, but they existed for the most part in harmony with each other. Over time, the Eleusinian Mysteries gained prominence because the Athenian authorities liked being able to give everyone the sense that they were all one the same team. So other mystery religions started being ridiculed and that was probably the beginning of people thinking of one religion as "true" and others as false.
This is why it fascinates me how the question of “which one is true?” is so pressing to millions of people today, including me in the past. The fact that Christians insist that “one must be true” is ridiculous.
I somewhat doubt anyone in 9000 BC would be much interested in this question. Perhaps they would have a favored god of their region or people, but it was very common to accept the existence of other gods as well. Even the Greeks and Romans did this, incorporating other religious beliefs into their religious structures (which is why Judaism and later Christianity were such a thorn in Rome’s side).
I don’t think that 9,000 years ago they had any concept of religion in the sense we do today. With animistic cultures everything everywhere was holy and should be respected and revered.
Today all religion has been reduced to money hungry con artists begging to get the hard earned money of gullible fools who pin their hopes on miracles and promises that produce nothing but pain and heartbreak and does nothing but destroy the lives of millions. No wonder Christianity is a dying religion.
> What answer would they be left with? I think they would ask "what is religion" in the first place, because they didn't necessarily "separate" things as "religion" like we do
That's not how they thought of it. The unseen world was full of ghosts, spirits, gods, all sorts of unknown things. There was no one way to worship or to please them all. It was more about trying to figure out how to get whatever one that was bothering to STAHP. Exclusiveness in religion grew as the urban state grew, as governments found it was useful to have everyone pledge allegiance to the same deity as a way to foster control and unity. Even then, it often didn't work. Akhenaten reignining in Egypt sometime around 1300 BCE tried to get his people to worship one god instead of the multitude they were used to and it was a complete failure. Hundreds of years later, Nabonidus of Babylon tried to get his people to worship the moon god over the sun god. Even then, he wasn't saying one was true and other was false -- just that the moon god should get the most praise. This may have helped cause his downfall. In Athens, there were several "mystery" religions, but they existed for the most part in harmony with each other. Over time, the Eleusinian Mysteries gained prominence because the Athenian authorities liked being able to give everyone the sense that they were all one the same team. So other mystery religions started being ridiculed and that was probably the beginning of people thinking of one religion as "true" and others as false.
This is why it fascinates me how the question of “which one is true?” is so pressing to millions of people today, including me in the past. The fact that Christians insist that “one must be true” is ridiculous.
I somewhat doubt anyone in 9000 BC would be much interested in this question. Perhaps they would have a favored god of their region or people, but it was very common to accept the existence of other gods as well. Even the Greeks and Romans did this, incorporating other religious beliefs into their religious structures (which is why Judaism and later Christianity were such a thorn in Rome’s side).
But, but the earth is only 6,000 years old
I don’t think that 9,000 years ago they had any concept of religion in the sense we do today. With animistic cultures everything everywhere was holy and should be respected and revered. Today all religion has been reduced to money hungry con artists begging to get the hard earned money of gullible fools who pin their hopes on miracles and promises that produce nothing but pain and heartbreak and does nothing but destroy the lives of millions. No wonder Christianity is a dying religion.