The Ethnology of Religion and the Problem of Human Evolution
Author(s)
Bidney, David
Abstract
The problem of the nature and origin of religion has concerned both philosophers and anthropologists over the past century. In general, the philosophic approach has been deductive and a priori, proceeding from an analysis of divine proofs for the objective reality of God. In contrast, modern ethnologists have sought to interpret religious phenomena as part of the natural evolution of human nature. The article argues that evolution is a universal, historical principle and exists everywhere in human culture. Normative human culture must be comprehensive enough to include religion as an authentic and enduring element of human experience without reducing the humanistic science of culture to theology.
