Primitive Culture - Researches Into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Art, and Custom #267737

Polytheism comprises a class of great Deities, ruling the course of Nature and the life of Man - Childbirth-god - Agriculture-god - War-god - God of the Dead - First Man as Divine Ancestor - Dualism; its rudimentary and unethical nature among low races; its development through the course of culture - Good and Evil Deity - Doctrine of Divine Supremacy, distinct from, while tending towards, the doctrine of Monotheism - Idea of Supreme Deity evolved in various forms among the lower races; its place as completion of the Polytheistic system and outcome of the Animistic philosophy; its continuance and development among higher nations - General survey of Animism as a Philosophy of Religion - Recapitulation of the theory advanced as to its development through successive stages of culture; its primary phases best represented among the lower races, while survivals of these among the higher races mark the transition from savage through barbaric to civilized faiths - Transition of Animism in the History of Religion; its earlier and later stages as a Philosophy of the Universe; its later stages as the principle of a Moral Institution