The question of the origin of religion, and of the nature of primitive religion, was not, as a rule, seriously taken up by the early philosophy of religion, nor made the subject of any thorough investi gation; in recent times, however, it has come to the front, and has become one of the burning questions of religious science. And this is as it should be. For the nature of a mental phenomenon such as religion, is only unfolded in the totality of its development in history, and can only be understood as a whole when its origin has been traced, and its springs laid bare.