On the Attributes of the Supreme Being in the "Primitive Culture"

Abstract

Schmidt considered that the concept of divinity in the "primitive culture" (Urkultur) was that of a Supreme Being, and he assigns many superior attributes to this Supreme Being. This concept was based upon a combination of the concepts of divinity which still continue to exist fragmentarily in present day primitive cultures. On the other hand, Pettazzoni, the advocate of "uranism", feels that since the Supreme Being is a heavenly deity, his omniscience must be identified with his all-seeing powers. Although the author agrees with Pettazzoni insofar as the latter does not forcibly combine his heavenly deities into a single Supreme Being, he points out the narrowness of this point of view and its failure to comprehend Schmidt's theory of the culture circle, which the author regards very highly. But the theory of primitive revelation and degeneration is Schmidt's personal religious creed; his theory of culture circles is separate. The author feels that we must be careful, even from the standpoint of culture circle theory, to avoid the injection of personal creed into the conception of the most primitive races and to overidealize it.