Big Gods

“Big Gods” refers to moralizing, supernatural deities that emerged in human societies as a mechanism for promoting cooperation and social cohesion among large, anonymous groups. The concept, central to the cultural evolution literature on religion, holds that belief in these watchful, morally-concerned gods enabled societies to scale up beyond small kin groups by enforcing prosocial behavior where formal institutions like courts and police were absent, often coevolving with costly rituals.

Claims that use this term

• Group size predicts Big Gods independent of stratification and missionary contact
• Big Gods and costly rituals coevolved to enhance cooperation and outcompete rivals
• Agricultural societies favor doctrinal rituals and moralistic Big Gods
• Big Gods historically bound anonymous strangers together where courts and police were absent
• Written records reveal religions evolving toward moralizing Big Gods with scale
• Hunter-gatherer groups lack the Big Gods of modern religions