Where Did Atheism Come From?
Religious Studies: KS3, topic 2.5.1
Where Did Atheism Come From?
Theism, from the Greek word ‘theos’, is the belief in God. Atheism is based on the same word and means non-belief in God.
Greek gods
- Some early ideas about gods come from ancient Greek stories, called Greek mythology.
- These stories spoke of the immortals.
- The immortals were powerful god-like figures, who often interacted with humans.
Myths
- Belief in myths or mythology was quite common thousands of years ago. Myths were often used as a way of explaining frightening things that happened.
- E.g. Poseidon was the god of the sea. He could be responsible for dangerous storms and floods when he was angry.
- E.g. When there was thunder and lightning, it was said that Zeus - the sky and thunder god - was angry.
Early atheism
- Over time, humans looked for different explanations for these scary events.
- An early example of atheism was when thunder and storms started to be described as just common natural events instead of Zeus being responsible!
- This doesn't necessarily reject any belief in God. But, it says that the Greek gods were just myths - stories about a realm of gods that did not exist in reality.
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What are myths?