Scientists suggest various causes of the origin of religious belief, including:

– Religion is an evolutionary adaptation that makes people more likely to survive and pass their genes onto the next generation.

– The unique cognitive capacities that have made us so successful as a species also work together to create a tendency for supernatural thinking.

– Our brains have separate cognitive systems for dealing with living things — things with minds, or at least volition — and inanimate objects, priming the brain for supernatural concepts such as life after death.

– When we feel a lack of control we fall back on superstitious ways of thinking, which would explain why religions enjoy a revival during hard times.