An interesting thing to consider is that most religious people do not really believe with much conviction. They can clearly see that scripture is not literal tr

An interesting thing to consider is that most religious people do not really believe with much conviction. They can clearly see that scripture is not literal truth and that there is no scientific evidence. So religion becomes about faith and faith becomes virtuous. But a Roman citizen 2000 years ago didn't have faith. They just knew that God(s) exist. It was obvious, self-evident and compelling. The greatest thinkers of the time really believed. Most Christians talk about faith and belief because that is the only thing left that science hasn't overturned. Our understanding of the world is dominated by science not religion. We won (mostly).