At some point in mankinds distant past, religious faith arose from where there was none. The concepts of spirituality and religion are a biologically based product of evolution; adaptations that gave the possessors of this trait a distinct survival advantage: Faith. Neurobiologists think they have found regions of the brain that are responsible for all spiritual and religious experiences, naming the new field that studies these areas 'neurotheology'. This entry argues that since discrete anatomical areas of the brain are responsible for all spiritual experiences, then these structures have to be under the control of genes. Genes are (at some point in time) under the direct influence of evolutionary forces; therefore religious faith has evolved in the true biological sense of the word.

Biological Evolution of Faith

It is no coincidence that every culture and all types of people of the world have some concept of a higher power. They all have their own form of the supernatural, spirituality or religion all of which come from the structure of the brains of human beings.

Spiritual experiences are so consistent across cultures, across time, and across faiths that it suggests a common core that is likely a reflection of structures and processes in the human brain.


– David Wulff, Wheaton College

It is clear from all the fascinating research that neurobiologists have undertaken that religiosity can be defined in terms of, and observed in, the hard wiring of the human brain. The structures of the brain, such as the temporal and parietal lobes, are a product of evolution. A complex and precise network of genes strictly defines the development and layout of the brain, including the structures that are responsible for the spiritual experiences described above. In biology, structure is always directly related to function. All genes are, or were, under the direct influence of evolution; therefore the ability to have powerful religious experiences has evolved. The pertinent questions are not ‘if’ we evolved these remarkable capabilities, but ‘why?’ and ‘how?’

The possessors of religious faith have a distinct survival advantage. Somewhere along mankind’s evolutionary history the brain developed the ability to dissociate certain areas of itself from the rest, depriving them of sensory input, altering an individual's perception of themselves and the world around them. Electrical crackling in the temporal lobes produces vivid, ultra-real visions and voices, apparently from God. It is no surprise that humans, as social animals, organised and gathered to experience these visions together. From these deep, powerful visions and otherworldly experiences, the religions and supernatural beliefs of the world arose.

It is significant that so many people have powerful spiritual experiences sometime in their lives* (people in their 40s and 50s are most likely to have them), and it is not detrimental to their lives. It is, in fact, beneficial. Instead of these traits being something that was excised out of the population, or kept at bay by natural selection, it became a survival advantage. Numerous studies have observed and correlated a link between religiosity and spirituality with:

• Longer life spans*, evolution of grandparents.
• Rates of survival during the holocaust of faithful vs non-faithful
• Faster recovery from surgery*, faith healing is an advantage.
• Reduced risk of disease
• Lower overall death rate

Early man had no modern medicine and daily life was a struggle to survive. To have a way to deal manage and deal with a crisis, to have a way of boosting your chances of survival after injury or illness was a massively useful trait. The only purpose of genes is to replicate themselves, they are entirely selfish entities. Natural selection preserved the quirk in brain structure, by preserving the genes responsible for the trait, that promoted spirituality; those with this trait more effectively survived and flourished than those who lacked it. This trait was so successful that it spread throughout the population of early man (or perhaps even mankind’s predecessors) even before the great diaspora, when Homo sapiens spread out and populated the globe.

Conclusion

Religious faith is a phenomenon derived from biological processes that occur in the brain. Developmental networks of genes control every aspect of the brain’s anatomy, including the areas of the brain that are responsible for deep and powerful religious and spiritual experiences. All genes are, or were, under the influence of evolution; therefore the ability to have such experiences is an evolved trait. This trait, which spawned the religions, spirituality and supernatural beliefs of all human cultures all over the world, confers a definite survival advantage. Study after study confirms that people who consider themselves religious have, amongst other things, a far greater recovery rate from major surgery, and longer life spans. This would have been especially beneficial to early (perhaps pre-civilisation) man, whose struggle for survival and lack of medicine would mean that any possessor of such abilities would be at an advantage. Natural selection preserved this trait and it spread throughout the population.