Primitive religious thought and the evolution of religion

Bibliographic Data

ID4373387
AuthorsMichael H Barnes (University of Dayton, corresponding author)
Year1992
Volume22
Issue1
Pages21-46
Publication date1992-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/0048-721x(92)90035-3
OpenAlexW2071053857
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited31

In an article in this journal about the ideas of Levy-Brühl, Don Wiebe reviewed ideas from anthropology to argue that there is indeed a primitive mentality, and that mythopoeic religious thought is an instance of this mentality. Wiebe ends by declaring religious thought generally to be mythopoeic. The anthropological literature does support well Wiebe's thesis that primitive thought is primitive, in particular those studies which use Piaget's theory of cognitive development as a guide for interpreting primitive and other thought styles. But Piaget's theory can be extended to interpret other stages of culture and thought. This aids in recognizing that religious thought develops in stages also, from primitive folktales to archaic complex myths, and then to classical rationalized theologies and most recently to symbolic theologies

Epistemology · Mythology · Sociology · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Study and Philosophy of Religion

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