--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The belief in God has often been advanced…" description: "\"The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/charles-darwin-507_belief-in-god_the-belief-in-god-has-often-been-advance_1430997.jpg" --- # The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the… ![“The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible to maintain that this belief is instinctive in man. The idea of a universal and beneficent creator does not seem to arise…” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/charles-darwin-507_belief-in-god_the-belief-in-god-has-often-been-advance_1430997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/charles-darwin-507_belief-in-god_the-belief-in-god-has-often-been-advance_1430997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/charles-darwin-507_belief-in-god_the-belief-in-god-has-often-been-advance_1430997.jpg) > “The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible to maintain that this belief is instinctive in man. The idea of a universal and beneficent creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man until he has been elevated by long, continued culture.” [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The belief that humans uniquely possess a divine creator is a cultural construct, not an innate instinct. **In simple terms:** Religion as a cultural invention. Key Takeaway Recognize belief's cultural roots. Themes religion culture human nature Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - education - interfaith dialogue - secular ethics Key Concepts theology evolutionary psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does culture shape our view of divinity? - Can moral frameworks exist without religion? A Different Perspective Cultural beliefs can be deeply personal and resistant to change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Belief God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-god/) [Belief in god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-in-god/) [Belief Instinctive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-instinctive-5095386/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [God Advanced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-advanced-4565065/) [Instinctive Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinctive-man-5095387/) [Man U](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-u/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [The assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for his existence. But this is a rash argument,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-assumed-instinctive-belief-in-god-has-been-used-by-many-persons/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I am aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for his existence. The idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-aware-that-the-assumed-instinctive-belief-in-god-has-been-used/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders/the-frontiers-of-the-kingdom-of-god-were-never-advanced-by-men-and/) [J. Oswald Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-oswald-sanders/) > [“There’s something primal, something instinctive, about being with a man like him. Like he could catch a fish if I were hungry or fix…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-locke/there-s-something-primal-something-instinctive-about-being-with-a-man/) [Adriana Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-locke/) > [Belief in God is an elementary form of selflessness - the acknowledgement of responsibility toward a hypothetical 'Other'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-stableford/belief-in-god-is-an-elementary-form-of-selflessness-the/) [Brian Stableford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-stableford/) > [Christianity has such a contemptible opinion of human nature that it does not believe a man can tell the truth unless frightened by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/christianity-has-such-a-contemptible-opinion-of-human-nature-that-it/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Belief in God meant belief in the old tribal idol called Jehovah; and I would not pretend I did not know whether it existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/belief-in-god-meant-belief-in-the-old-tribal-idol-called-jehovah-and/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [My belief in God has been helping me play the way I'm playing. But for the most part, I've just been working on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemba-walker/my-belief-in-god-has-been-helping-me-play-the-way-i-m-playing-but-for/) [Kemba Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemba-walker/) > [ I remember clearly that when I was little it was explained to me \[that\] the way that babies were made was that God put… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/i-remember-clearly-that-when-i-was-little-it-was-explained-to-me-that/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/a-nation-which-thinks-that-it-is-belief-in-god-and-not-good-law-which/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [I have a strong belief in God... I find religion to be a very personal thing... I am also very spiritual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sela-ward/i-have-a-strong-belief-in-god-i-find-religion-to-be-a-very-personal/) [Sela Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sela-ward/) > [A belief in God helps provide a foundation to arbitrate our decisions. Without this foundation, we are condemned to live essentially formless lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armstrong-williams/a-belief-in-god-helps-provide-a-foundation-to-arbitrate-our-decisions/) [Armstrong Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armstrong-williams/) > [Everybody dies. There’s nothing you can do about it. Whether or not you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/everybody-dies-there-s-nothing-you-can-do-about-it-whether-or-not-you/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [“What is it about our specific belief in God and His wishes that makes us so angry at the specific beliefs of another? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-austen/what-is-it-about-our-specific-belief-in-god-and-his-wishes-that-makes/) [Chuck Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-austen/) > [“She stood and tried hard not to believe in God. It seemed mean and petty to have more belief in God when things were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/she-stood-and-tried-hard-not-to-believe-in-god-it-seemed-mean-and/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) ## More by Charles Darwin > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The main conclusion here arrived at ... is that man is descended from some less highly organized form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-main-conclusion-here-arrived-at-is-that-man-is-descended-from/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-see-no-good-reasons-why-the-views-given-in-this-volume-should-shock/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and over their burrows, as seems the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/if-worms-have-the-power-of-acquiring-some-notion-however-rude-of-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-can-allow-satellites-planets-suns-universe-nay-whole-systems-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [May we not suspect that the vague but very real fears of children, which are quite independent of experience, are the inherited effects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/may-we-not-suspect-that-the-vague-but-very-real-fears-of-children/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-may-be-said-that-natural-selection-is-daily-and-hourly/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Darwin, landing in Brazil in 1832, had a similar reaction, colored by his reading of his predecessor." Humboldt's glorious descriptions are & will for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/darwin-landing-in-brazil-in-1832-had-a-similar-reaction-colored-by/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [...all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/all-nature-is-perverse-will-not-do-as-i-wish-it/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“To admit that species generally become rare before they become extinct—to feel no surprise at the comparative rarity of one species with another, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-admit-that-species-generally-become-rare-before-they-become/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) [Explore all 497 Charles Darwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible to maintain that this belief is instinctive in man. 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