The soul is thought of as a spirit being capable of leaving the body during dreams and finally at death. Naturism arose from the belief that nature is endowed with supernatural powers. This derived from people's experiences with nature. Nature contains many marvels, terrors and surprises, capable of instilling a sense of wonder and causing the abstraction of forces into personal agents or deities personifying natural forces. Animism locates the origin of religion in people's intellectual needs, while naturism locates it in their emotional needs.
Naturism is a response to the power and influence of nature upon human emotions.
Both animistic and naturist theorists attempted to develop possible scenarios through which belief systems originated. They do not, however, explain why those beliefs developed or why different religions developed different beliefs in different ways. Thus, later theorists began looking for these answers. It was argued that capitalism would undermine traditional religious commitment and threaten the cohesion of society. The modern sociological study of society and religion separates into three distinct theoretical camps.