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Nov 7, 2026 11 min

Animism: The First Religion?

from ReligionForBreakfast Hosted by ReligionForBreakfast

Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfastOne-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfastInfographic designed by Simon E. Davies. Follow him on Twitter here: @Simon_E_Davies and Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Mythopia1Uploaded 28-02-20Check out my favorite religious studies books: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Anthropologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries hypothesized that animism was the earliest religion. But later scholars have called this theory into question. What is animism? And how should we categorize it?This video was brought to you, in part, by the Foundation for Religious Literacy. Twitter: @ andrewmarkhenryInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmarkhenry/Bibliography:Source for the infographic: https://ultraculture.org/blog/2015/11/30/map-world-religions/Bill Sillar. "The Social Agency of Things? Animism and Materiality in the Andes"Bruno Latour, “An Attepmt at a ‘Compositionist Manifesto,” http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/120-NLH-finalpdf.pdfCharles Darwin to E.B. Tylor, September 24, 1871.E.B. Tylor, “Primitive Culture,” 1871Harvey, Graham. 2005. Animism: Respecting the Living World (London: Hurst and co.; New York: Columbia University Press; Adelaide: Wakefield Press)Liam Sutherland, “An Evaluation of Harvey’s Approach to Animism and the Tylorian Legacy,” https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/2012/02/17/liam-sutherland-an-evaluation-of-harvey%e2%80%99s-approach-to-animism-and-the-tylorian-legacy/Russell McCutcheon, “Studying Religion: An Introduction."Stewart Guthrie, “On Animism,” Current Anthropology, 41, no.

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Animism: The First Religion?

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