History of Religion / A Sketch of Primitive Religious Beliefs and Practices, and of the Origin and Character of the Great Systems

by Allan Menzies

ST. ANDREWS, July 1910.

CONTENTS

PART I
THE RELIGION OF THE EARLY WORLD

[CHAPTER I]
INTRODUCTION

Position of the science—Unity of all religion—The growth of religion continuous—Preliminary definition of religion—Criticism of other definitions—Fuller definition—Religion and civilisation advance together

[CHAPTER II]
THE BEGINNING OF RELIGION

Origin of civilisation—It was from the savage state that civilisation was by degrees produced—The religion of savages—All savages have religion—It is a psychological necessity

[CHAPTER III]
THE EARLIEST OBJECTS OF WORSHIP

Nature-worship—Ancestor-worship—Fetish-worship—A supreme being—Which gods were first worshipped?—Fetish-gods came first—Spirits, human or quasi-human, came first—Theories of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Tylor—Animism—The minor nature-worship came first—Theories of Mr. M. Müller and of Ed. von Hartmann—The great nature-powers came first—Both nature-worship and the worship of spirits are sources of early religion—Conclusion

[CHAPTER IV]
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS—BELIEF