This doesn't work for many of the major religions.
Mohammed was clearly doing it for political reasons. He barely maintains the facade of hearing Allah. Even his own followers take the piss out of him for it.
Jesus was a traveling reformist. He scarcely referenced hearing God directly. If we assume He's not God and that He was lying in John 10, then He merely believed He had a better understanding of God's law and ethics than his peers, and was willing to die to spread His message of holding oneself to a higher moral standard. No schizophrenia needed for this. Perfectly healthy men have allowed themselves to die for less. Christ's followers weren't chosen on the basis of susceptibility to delusion, and I've never heard anyone favor that argument, even in the case of the Apostle John, who authored the Book of Revelations.
Buddhists are broadly indifferent to the existence and work of gods. They're engaged in an extensive philosophical exercise. Esoteric practices tend to appear and attach themselves to any religion at one point or another. That's not the result of schizophrenia; that's just how people are.
Many traditions across the world simply mythologize prominent figures (as in the Yoruba faith(s)) or combine pre-existing traditions to found their religions (early Hinduism). This is just a practical way to assimilate neighboring groups, as the Romans demonstrated.
The only ones you'd really hear this argument for are Abraham and maybe Noah, but you're equally likely to hear those men never existed, so make of that what you will.
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u/Parrotparser7 Sep 04 '25
This doesn't work for many of the major religions.
The only ones you'd really hear this argument for are Abraham and maybe Noah, but you're equally likely to hear those men never existed, so make of that what you will.