We all belong to a tradition of thought that is, by definition, secular and humanistic. Since at least the Enlightenment, science has tried to steer clear of the ultimate questions: Why are we here? Why was the Universe created? Is there existence after death?
After perhaps existing as nomadic hunter-gathers for 2 million years, our ancestors began to experience a vast change in lifestyle about 10,000 years ago. For the first time, humans constructed permanent settlements-towns such as Catal Huyuk in what is now Turkey and Jericho in the Middle East. No longer would we nomadically follow the herds and depend upon our hunting prowess for survival. Perhaps triggered by climate change, this transition from the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) to the Neolithic (New Stone Age) may have been the greatest lifestyle modification thus far in human history or prehistory.
t's 1000BC, roughly 3000 years ago. Things have changed in the civilized world. The Bronze Age is fading, to be replaced by the time of Iron. Armies strive across portions of the Near East and the Aegean. Trojans and Greeks have indulged in their civil war. Hebrews and Philistines strive for control of a small section of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Aryans now control the Indus Valley and the caste system is emerging in India.