In modern religious studies, there is a provision on the evolutionary path of the origin of religion: from the simplest forms — such as animism, magic, polytheism to more complex ones – such as monotheism. In the process of the development of religious studies, certain religious schools and directions developed. In contrast to the evolutionary path, an approach was formed based on the concept of the original primitive monotheism. This religious studies school has set itself to show the correctness of its judgments based on specific ethnographic materials and facts. One of the ideologists of this trend was the German ethnologist and religious scholar Catholic priest Wilhelm Schmidt.
Schmidt believed that at the origins of primitive religion in the minds of the so-called primitive peoples, there was an idea of a Supreme Being, transcendent from everything earthly. This Supreme Being had personal characteristics and was represented in the form of a certain Potency, which should gradually unfold in the history of humankind (Harold, 2010). Schmidt testifies that ancient man was a fully developed being and could form general concepts and find the cause of things. The “ancient” man as a person turned to the Supreme Being with requests (Winfried, 2017). Petitions were expressed in words and through the whole body to show that all parts of the body belong to Him. Almost all “primitive” tribes call Him “Father.” (Miles, 2017). During prayers and sacrifices to the Supreme Being, the ancient man directly contacted Him, experiencing a certain religious experience. Man became the bearer of the Sacred in his being. And even being itself became for him a kind of sacred action, a permanent holy dialogue.
In conclusion, there is a certain connection between the consciousness of primitive man and modern man. The ideas of a Single Supreme Being are rooted in consciousness initially as a kind of potential revelation. Monotheism presupposes a personal relationship with God, lively dialogue with Him, conversion in prayer, and the belief that this prayer will be heard. If such a dialogue is impossible under pantheism because it does not presuppose God as a person, then monotheism gives a person the opportunity to build a relationship with God.
References
Harold, A. (2010). Christianity and Religious Diversity: Clarifying Christian commitments in a Globalizing age. Baker Academic.
Miles, T. (2017). A God of many understandings. B&H Publishing group.
Winfried, C. (2017). Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions. IVP Academic.