Final answer:
Religion helped absolute monarchs, such as those of France during the absolutist era, gain and maintain power by legitimizing their rule as having divine origin. This divine right theory established monarchs as God's chosen rulers, justifying their absolute authority and dissuading subjects from questioning their rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
Religion played a critical role in helping absolute monarchs gain and maintain power. They did this primarily by legitimizing their rule as being of divine origin, which is the correct answer to how religion helped absolute monarchs. Through the divine right theory, monarchs were seen as God's chosen rulers on Earth, and this belief was used to justify their absolute authority. This divine right discouraged subjects from questioning their monarchs because it was akin to questioning God's will.
Beyond legitimizing their own power, absolute rulers also often co-opted religious institutions to cement their control. For example, during the reign of Louis XIV in France, religion was used to further centralize power and suppress the influence of the nobility, who previously had significant roles in governance. Religion in various forms has often been intertwined with the state to enforce the social order and affirm the sovereign's rule as natural and unassailable.
Religion thus proved instrumental in bolstering the centralized power structures characteristic of absolutist states in Europe during the early modern period. By emphasizing a leader's divine selection, it provided a powerful justification for the concentration of power in the hands of a single ruler, often leading to the weakening of other social institutions that could challenge the monarch's authority.