----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Keene
> To classify Christianity as a simple evolutionary offshoot
> of the invention of agriculture is a gross missunderstanding
> of Christianity.  Religions were not "invented" by people
> (at least not most of them) but were given by God.

All religions are given according to the culture to which they are given.
These cultures are determined largely by what food species they are
dependent upon.  Drawing a map of the world's major crop species will
produce results very similar to a map drawn of the world's great religions.

As Jesus said when holding up the principle agricultural products of the
Roman Empire, "This is My Body and Blood".  Adapting a monotheistic religion
to an agrarian culture enabled Rome to extend its life and influence far
beyond what was possible in a more fragmented polytheistic Empire.  And they
even got to keep all their major holidays!

Ray Audette
Austringer