how has religion helped us make sense of the world?

Christianity helps people understand in general by explaining the role that Satan plays in the world as well as specifically by predicting current affairs,such as the soon election of the False Prophet who many believe will adopt the name Peter II.:bad:

it hasnt

It has reduced our reliance on evidence and reason. Believing in evidence and reason is great if you want to be a productive and happy human. \

But, with religion, you get to be right, even if you have no idea what is going on in real life. And, you can find fault with anybody who doesn't agree with you. In fact, since you are so good at believing an unchanging truth, you can judge everyone else as inferior because they rely on evidence and reason.

a lot

It hasn't and never will. Religion simply says "Here is how it happened" and then come up with some BS theories and "facts" to make it fit their conclusion.

All religion's done is slow down science's understanding of the world, And it's not much more than a century that the West has been free enough from Religion to be able to make big steps in science.