ABSTRACT
V oltaire’s well-tread quote, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him,” was written with direct reference to the effectiveness of God as a supernatural policing agent (Voltaire & Redman, 1977). We argue that indeed supernatural policing was a driving force for the invention of God, but this invention-like so many other cultural products-was not the product of a brilliant religious mind or a committee of Machiavellian priests. Instead, omniscient, moralizing supernatural agents derived from a suite of religious beliefs that were culturally selected for their ability to galvanize cooperation in larger groups, promote in-group cohesion, and foster competition with other social groups. The emergence of religions, and modern world religions in particular, has been a cumulative process involving myriad interacting individuals that stretched over hundreds of generations of interacting individuals within the context of intergroup competition.
