Opinion:
Lucius Masterson
Religion was man's first attempt to explain and control the world around him. It was a time when the mysterious makeup and forces of nature were explained as the works and powers of gods. Once explained, it was a natural extension to seek to employ the powers of the gods.
to achieve a desired result. Varying methods were developed to to do this,but they reduce down to variations on two theme: one is to control the gods themselves using spells and enchantments to effect a desired result. The other major method is to harness and direct divine energies, like using the Force in Star Wars.
Magic (in all its varied forms) was man's first (and worst) attempts at science. As time passed, it became clear the gods do not control the vast and mysterious forces of nature and magic does not work. So people started asking what is this really and how does it work. Bit by bit humanity moved away from gods and magic and developed better understanding of the world around him. Bit by bit the scientific method of determining what something is and how it works was developed, until today we really can harness and direct the powers of the gods -- the forces of nature -- to do miraculous things.