Theism Distilled  t = ad

Where t = Theistic philosophy, a = Anxiety about mortality, and d = Desire to believe

I saw a documentary recently about Albert Einstein. It seems that Einstein was all about distilling his understanding of the physical universe to it's most essential characteristics. That got me thinking about trying to reduce my own ideas about religious philosophy to their core essence.

My belief is that most theistic thought throughout the ages can be traced to two fundamental characteristics of the human psyche :

1) The recognition of our mortality triggers nearly unbearable anxiety within us

2) People will find a way to believe in that which they wish to believe*

I believe these two core human traits combine to form the genesis of the spiritual aspects of nearly all religious thought.

*Often in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary