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The Origin and Development of Religious Belief (v. 1)
The Origin and Development of Religious Belief - v. 1 Author:Sabine Baring-Gould Volume: v. 1 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1892 Original Publisher: Longmans, Green, and co. Subjects: Religion Christianity Philosophy / Religious Religion / General Religion / Christianity / History Religion / Comparative Religion Religion / Philosophy Religion / Christianity / General... more » Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II THE RELIGIOUS INSTINCTS Difference between inorganic and organic substances -- Mode in which life functionates -- Life the assimilation and liberation of force -- Organisms built on two types, the cellular and the axidal -- The latter developed from the former -- Advance in development when each pole assumes a distinct office -- Position in the scale of beings determined by complexity in the differentiation of parts -- Life demands a certain amount of consciousness -- This consciousness the measure of development -- Office of the senses -- Perceptions of pleasure and pain limited to objects necessary for development -- Development of consciousness in man necessitated by arrest in physical development -- Man's sense of pleasure and pain extends to objects in no way affecting his physical well-being -- Mental effort detrimental to physical perfection -- Perception a resolution of force -- The object of spiritual perception the development of spiritual life, not the progress of the species -- The religious sentiment an expression of the spiritual instincts of humanity -- An historical survey of these instincts will show in what direction man must seek his spiritual development. OEGANISMS may be roughly distinguished from inorganic substances by the property of development. Inertness is the attribute of lifeless existences, and evolutiv...« less