[الطامعة في رضا ربها]

The Gods

However, there does remain an aspect of belief in God which defies all logic and

reason, but which has become a corner stone of faith. It is the belief that God became

man. Where the original monotheistic belief in God degenerated into a belief that there

must be intermediaries between human beings and the Supreme Being to either convey

human quests or to act on behalf of God in the world, the intermediaries became

******s of worship. The intermediaries were often conceived as spirits found in all

manifestations of nature. Consequently, humans from primitive times have worshiped

spirits of the forest, rivers, skies and the earth etc., until the present time. Occasionally

nature itself was worshiped, and at other times, symbols representing nature were

worshiped. The religious systems, which evolved from these types of beliefs tended to

be localized and remain scattered among primitive people around the world till today.

Such beliefs did not converge in the form of a single belief system of international

impact, as far as known in the current records of human history.

On the other hand, where the monotheistic belief degenerated into the personification

of God's power as separate in termediary entities represented by images, idols

became a focal point for worshipping God. The powers of God became gods. Such

beliefs have culminated in ancient and modern times as natural religions of international

impact. Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman religions have died out due to the

complete subversion of these empires by phenomena, and, the consequential

extinction of religion altogether.

Man's innate belief in a Supreme Being, however, seems to support the opposite view,

proposing instead that man began as a monotheist, but in time, strayed into various

forms of polytheism. This view is further supported by fact that all of the so-called

primitive tribes, which have been "discovered", have been found to hold a belief in

a Supreme Being. No matter what their evolutionary stage of religious development is

found to have been at the time of "discovery," most were found to believe in a

Supreme God over all other gods and spirits. As such, the concept of a single

Supreme Being remains in most of the religions as evidence that the masses strayed

away from monotheism by giving some of God's attributes to other aspects of

creation, which eventually came to be regarded as lesser gods in some cases and as

intercessors in others. Nevertheless, a Supreme God, in whatever form He takes, is at

the core of most religions.