Page "History of religions" Paragraph 7

In the 19th century, various theories were proposed regarding the origin of religion, supplanting the earlier claims of Christianity of urreligion.

Early theorists Edward Burnett Tylor and Herbert Spencer proposed the concept of animism, while archaeologist John Lubbock used the term " fetishism ".

Meanwhile, religious scholar Max Müller theorized that religion began in hedonism and folklorist Wilhelm Mannhardt suggested that religion began in " naturalism ", by which he meant mythological explanation of natural events.

All of these theories have since been widely criticized ; there is no broad consensus regarding the origin of religion.