Date of Award
8-1932
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts and Science
Degree Discipline
Arts and Science
Abstract
Every religion is a Product of human evolution and has been conditioned by social environment. Since man has developed from even lower than savagery and was once intellectually a mere animal, it is reasonable to attribute to him in that state no more religious consciousness than is possessed by an animal, What then the historian must ask are the factors and what the means whereby humanity has encased itself in this shell of religion, which almost every where has been raised as a protective growth about the social body? The simpliest answer to this question has been that man is not a mere animal but differs from the beast in having an immortal soul and a religious instinct. The argument may be looked at from the following point of view: assuming that their are no races which can be shown to be utterly devoid of religion, this element of human thought, is universal. The historian may assure the universality of religion (for there are human groups which make this an assumption of doubtful validity) nor the existence of a soul because even the "religious instints" does not require this assumption. Therefore the instint itself cannot be assumbed nor is such an instint probable.
Committee Chair/Advisor
Mack J. Williams
Publisher
Prairie View State College
Rights
© 2021 Prairie View A & M University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Date of Digitization
7/14/2021
Contributing Institution
John B Coleman Library
City of Publication
Prairie View
MIME Type
Application/PDF
Recommended Citation
Riley, B. C. (1932). The Origin And Evolution Of Religion. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/5