"Religions of Primitive Peoples" by Daniel G. Brinton. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
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Daniel G. Brinton. Religions of Primitive Peoples
Religions of Primitive Peoples
Table of Contents
RELIGIONS OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES
LECTURE I. The Scientific Study of Primitive Religions—Methods and Definitions
LECTURE II. The Origin and Contents of Primitive Religions
LECTURE III. Primitive Religious Expression: in the Word
LECTURE IV. Primitive Religious Expression: In the Object
LECTURE V. Primitive Religious Expression: In the Rite
LECTURE VI. The Lines of Development of Primitive Religions
Footnote
INDEX OF AUTHORITIES
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
A Selection from the Catalogue of G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
AMERICAN LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS
International Handbooks to the New Testament
Отрывок из книги
Daniel G. Brinton
Published by Good Press, 2021
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The third source of information is that which is called folk-lore. Its field of research is to collect the relics and survivals of primitive modes of thought and expression, beliefs, customs, and notions, in the present conditions of culture. It is, therefore, especially useful in a study like the present, the more so on account of the extraordinary permanence and conservative character of religious sentiments and ceremonies. Among the peasantry of Europe, the paganism of the days of Julius Cæsar flourishes with scarcely abated vigour, though it may be under new names. “The primitive Aryan,” writes Professor Frazer,[16] “is not extinct; he is with us to-day.” And another English writer does not go too far when he says: “There is not a rite or ceremony yet practised and revered among us that is not the lineal descendant of barbaric thought and usage.”[17] It is this which gives to folk-lore its extremely instructive character for the student of early religion.
The fourth source of information is the description of native religions by travellers. You might expect this to be the most accurate and therefore valuable of all the sources; but it is just the reverse. Omitting the ordinary tourist and globe-trotter, who is not expected to know anything thoroughly, and never deceives the expectation, even painstaking observers, who have lived long with savage tribes, sometimes mastering their languages, are, for reasons I shall presently state, constantly at fault about the native religions. We must always take their narratives with hesitation, and weigh them against others by persons of a different nationality and education. Indeed, of all elements of native life, this of religion is the most liable to be misunderstood by the foreign visitor.
