I'm thinking of what Eco called "the sense of the simple" in The Name of the Rose. Some of God's teachings map to generally advantageous strategies, like cooperation and charity. Some studies, I think, show that people have a genetic (or at least epigenetic) capacity for morality. Religion "explains" those natural impulses.

Yes, I am suggesting something different from your idea that religious language is a metaphor for more familiar things. Where you see heaven and hell standing for wealth and squalor, I see them mapping to winning and losing in life's plus-sum games.

Ya gotta hand it to the monotheists. The phrase "and, it's a floor wax!" comes to mind. An all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God is, well, a godsend. So many problems, from the unmoved mover to the benefits of a day off every week and not sassing your mom, all explained by one simple, but, of course, unknowable and mysteriously acting, thingy. Voltaire undersold the idea. Not only would man create God, God is maybe man's greatest invention, a clear winner.

Recall The Usual Suspects. Keyser Söze says “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.” What, then do we suppose is God's greatest trick?