"Freud simply misunderstood religious belief" Evaluate this view (30 marks)

To those without faith, certainly some aspects of religion and religious belief seem outdated and with the advancements in the fields of psychology, alternative explanations for religious belief have emerged. Freud did this in his work "Totem and Taboo", "The Future of an Illusion", and "Civilisation and it's Discontents" but has come under criticism as having missed the point and misinterpreted religious belief throughout parts of his work.One suggestion he makes is that religious belief is an "infantile response" to the need for a 'father figure' as well as to address our eschatological issues. This could perhaps be too simplistic when faced with the overwhelming examples of great Christian theologians and philosophers who's faith directly influenced them. One such theologian is Thomas Aquinas- Freud's claims seem insubstantial against this as Aquinas' arguments for the existence of God do not necessarily seem to be an "infantile response". Therefor, it could be suggested that Freud ignored the intellectual aspect to faith and the idea that religious belief can provoke philosophical questioning in a framework beyond something child-like.