a painting of jesus standing in front of a crowd of people

Before talking about the evolutionary origins of religion, we have to first clarify and define what we mean by ‘religion’. The most comprehensive definition we have is from Christian Smith and his book published in 2017 called: ‘’Religion: what it is, how it works, and why it matters’’. In page 22 he defines religion as: ‘’... a complex of culturally prescribed practices, based on premises about the existence and nature of superhuman powers, whether personal or impersonal, which seek to help practitioners gain access to and communicate or align themselves with these powers, in hopes of realizing human goods and avoiding things bad.’’