ABSTRACT
Although the idea of God has been the subject of critical inquiry since the human mind began to reflect upon the problem of Ultimate Reality in the early days of Greek speculation, the origin of the concept of Deity inevitably lies hidden from view. Whatever secrets the Palaeolithic deposits may yield to the spade of the prehistoric archaeologist, it is not very probable that they contain much evidence on this subject beyond what can be conjectured about the dawning religious consciousness from the few hints given in the available data. The anthropologist makes no attempt to arrive at absolute beginnings. He begins wherever he most conveniently can and works backwards until he is brought up sharply at a certain point by a total lack of evidence. Thus, in the matter of belief in God, all that he can affirm is that rehgion is apparently a universal phenomenon in human society as it is known under existing conditions. To go beyond this is speculation and conjecture, but, nevertheless, the principle of continuity suggests that all the more important kinds of vital activity have been present from the beginning. If, as there is strong reason to suppose, religion is one of the fundamental disciplines of mankind, it is within this general framework that the origins of the conception of Deity must be sought, and the nature and attributes of the concept determined.
