Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-11
ORIGIN OF CONCEPT
OF GOD HELD LOST
Or. Cooper Cites Confusion
That Has Followed in
Wake of Science.

The origin Of the concept of God in
the human mind is lost in the shadows
Of the past, DR.. John M. Cooper, pro-
lessor of anthropology at Catholic Uni
versity, said in public lecture at the
university last night.
The science of anthropology during
the past 20 years, he said, has de-
nioIiShed most of the old theories of the
beginnings of religion, but has not been
able to resolve the confusion. The be-
liefs of the most primitive peoples
known today, he insisted. are evidently
O long way from the beginning.
DR.. Cooper pointed out that the re-
ligionS of the world can be classified as
animiSm, or belief in nature spirits;
maniSm, or fear and wroShip Of the
ghosts Of ancestors; polytheiSm, or be-
lief in many gods; and monotheisn, or
belief In one god. In the past. he said,
anthropologistS have tried to picture an
evolutionary process, with one belief
arising from another.
Exist Side by Side.
The striking fact which has come to
light in recent years, he said, is that
among the most primitive races exist
ing today, all these beliefs exist side
by side, and that the development of
religion, as it can be observed in his
tory. does not seem to proceed by one
belief evolving into another. All, he
said, seem to have had parallel growthS
and still exist parallel.
DR.. Cooper, who has spent many
Summers studying the culture of Hud-
son Bay Indians, pointed out that gen.
orally the human race can be divided
into culture areas. Along the north
ern and southern frontier belts Of the
habitable world are scattered the mar
ginal nomadic peoples. Approximately
in the center of the habitable world
have arisen the four great civilizations
that Of the Mediterranean, of which
the Western civilization of today is
an extension; Northern Indian, China
and Mexico and Peru.
Stretched between the marginal and
the civilized peoples, he said, are the
agricultural peoples who have not quite
attained civilization, but who are
greatly advanced culturally. Most of
the Indians who were found in the
United States and Canada fall in this
class, as well as most of the African
tribes.
This, he said, is believed to represent
roughly time relation, the marginal
peoples representing the general state
OF the human race at an early period,
and the agricultural peoples the state
from which civilization arose. But when
the time relation Is applied to the evo-
luton Of religion, he pointed out, the
differences are not clear.
Primitive Races Were MonOtheistic.
In general, he said, recent anthropolo-
g1sts have found that the most primitive
races show more monotheisc than the
middle groups. Although the belief in
god Is not universal among them.
AE
ruling deity.
The next step, he said, still shows
some OF the more advanced peoples with
one god, but the general concept has
changed. This god is apt to be imper-
sonal, vague and far away. The idea
OF delegated responsibility seems to
have come in and prayers are not
directed to the Supreme Being, but to
hosts OF inferior gods.
Anthropology can neither sustain or
disprove the concept of an original
revelation Of an Unborn consciousness
OF creator, he said. Neither can it
sustain or disprove any other concept.
In view OF the enormous tangle of EVIL
dence collected in recent years, DR..
Cooper said, many years of study must
elapSe before any concept can be
reached with reasonable certainty.
The concept Of single Supreme Be-
ing. he said, differs widely among the
marginal peoples who hold it, but gen.
orally it includes three factors-tl1e idea
Of God as the creator of man and the
earth, of benevolent force and Of a
giver Of morals. Some peoples leave
out one of these ideas and some an
other.
Three-FoId Origin Is Seen.
This may point. he said, to a three
HR0N frrSvR - ia
The idea Of a creator would be arrived
at Intellectually in an effort to explain
the existence of things. The concept
OF giver Of morals would come from
an Unborn sense Of right and wrong.
The idea Of benevolent diety would
come from mans emotional yearning
for help in trouble.