ience which
belong to a comparatively recent period of man's existence, and as the
primitive conceptions of a Deity lie buried beneath ages of corruption,
glimpses of the earlier faiths of mankind, as has already been stated,
must be looked for in the traditions, monuments, and languages of
extinct races.

In reviewing this matter we shall doubtless observe the fact that if the
stage of a nation's growth is indicated by its religious conceptions,
and if remnants of religious beliefs are everywhere present in the
languages, traditions, and monuments of the past through a careful
study of these subjects we may expect to gain a tolerably correct
understanding not alone of the growth of the god-idea but of the
stage of development reached by the nations which existed prior to the
beginning of the historic age. We shall be enabled also to perceive
whether or not the course of human development during the intervening
ages has been continuous, or whether, for some cause hitherto
unexplained, true progress throughout a portion of this time has been
arrested, thus producing a backward movement, or degeneracy.

If we would unravel the mysteries involved in present religious faiths,
we should begin not by attempting to analyze or explain any existing
system or systems of belief and worship. Such a course is likely to end
not only in confusion and in a subsequent denial of the existence of the
religious nature in mankind, but is liable, also, to create an aversion
for and a distrust of the entire subject of religious experience. In
view of this fact it would appear to be not only useless but exceedingly
unwise to spend one's time in attempting to gain a knowledge of this
subject simply by studying the later developments in its history.

If we are really desirous of obtaining information regarding present
religious phenomena, it is plain that we should adopt the scientific
method and turn our attention to the remote past, where, by careful
and systematic investigation, we are enabled to perceive the earliest
conception of a creative force and the fundamental basis of all
religious systems, from which may be traced the gradual development of
the god-idea.

CHAPTER I. SEX THE FOUNDATION OF THE GOD-IDEA.

In the study of primitive religion, the analogy existing between the
growth of the god-idea and the development of the human race, and
especially of the two sex-principles, is everywhere clearly apparent.

"Religion is to b