rsl12

lebell: i disagree with you partly. I do not know of a single religion based on the tenet that "there is a God". The tenet is always about particular historical figure(s). E.g., "Moses talked to God via a burning bush, therefore there is a God."

Otherwise, I agree--religious thinking can be considered a subset of philosophy, with the starting assumptions associated with the historical figures. However, religion as a social entity is often far removed from religious thinking. Although a denomination such as Lutheranism is based on philosophical disagreements with catholocism, in practicee i would guess that people were more swayed by their disgust with the excesses of Pope Leo X and agreed with the articles that martin luther published more on gut instinct than on any logical dissertation. The evolution of religions, as a process of refining thought, seems very divorced from religious thinking.

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