Their interpretation aligns with the God of the Gaps fallacy. This fallacy occurs when gaps in scientific or natural understanding are attributed to divine intervention rather than a lack of knowledge(Agnosticism).
In the context of Bronze Age tribes, associating reduced disease with divine will fits this pattern. Since they lacked the scientific understanding of pathogens, hygiene, and disease transmission, they might have linked health improvements to spiritual causes. The idea that washing away sins could prevent illness (leading to rituals like baptism) reflects an attempt to explain observable outcomes through supernatural reasoning due to limited knowledge.
However, it’s important to consider its cultural context too. These beliefs weren’t purely fallacious in their time but part of an evolving understanding of cause and effect, where moral behavior was often linked to physical health.
Moral behavior and physical well-being were often seen as connected, not purely out of ignorance but as part of an early framework for understanding cause and effect. This evolving thought process laid the foundation for both spiritual rituals and, indirectly, early public health practices.
Edit: By “reduced disease,” I mean a noticeable decrease in the spread or severity of illnesses within a community. For example, improved hygiene practices, such as washing hands or bathing, could lead to fewer infections, even if people didn’t fully understand the biological reasons, they might have observed a link between certain behaviors (like ritual washing) and better health outcomes without understanding germs. This could be interpreted as divine favor or the cleansing of spiritual impurity, rather than a scientific cause-effect relationship.