RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2021

Faith & Beliefs 26 Monthly Renaissance February 2021 could only have created fear. But this is a mere supposition. If the world of that age was terrible, the man of those times was also not the man of today. If the world of those times was not as beautiful as it is now, man then was also not as cognizant of beauty as he is now. If then the earth was not as fertile and productive, neither was the human fond of luxury and social life. If then there were dangers and difficulties in abundance, the human too was not so delicate and used to an easy life. He could run for miles away from dangers; climb trees with the pace of squirrels and monkeys; light fires and stitch leaves to protect his body from the cold and heat; hide in caves from snow and attacks by beasts; feed his hunger by hunting animals. It is not true to say that the conditions existing at that time were conducive only to feelings of fear. This assumption hides the overlapping of the present over the past. The times are assumed to be the ancient and centuries ago while the human is assumed to be belonging to the 20 th century. Some scholars of evolution have deemed the elder man of the family to be the source of fear and hence of man’s early thoughts. In our view, the fear of elders is also based on love. Children receive happiness and enjoyment from their parents; they thus begin to love them and because of this love, they are also afraid of them. This emotion therefore is also one of love and it creates a feeling of respect for the parents. However, the fact should not be ignored that while a child remains a child, he thinks of his father as his whole universe. But when he becomes a father himself or gains adulthood, he realizes that the existence of the father can satisfy his desires only up to a certain extent. When he steps out of this sphere, what he has achieved has another source: an unseen Being. The existence of the father is in itself one of the blessings bestowed upon him by this unseen Being. Hence, the feeling of love that had created affection, respect and fear for his father must have done the same for the unseen Being once he left his childhood behind. Had man remained a child always, religion would have been confined to worship of the father. But the child grows up and if religion can only be the creation of sane adults, then, if adults can entertain feelings of love, respect and fear for the favours of the father, it is far more likely that the consequences of those great favours that existed but in which the father was not involved would be