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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
Monotheism occupies so large a space in the view of modern minds, that it is scarcely possible to form a just estimate of the preceding phases of the theological philosophy; but thinkers who can attain to anything like impartiality in their review of religious periods may satisfy themselves by analysis, and in spite of appearances, that polytheism, regarded in its entire course, is the principal form of the theological system. Noble as we shall find the office of monotheism to have been, we shall remain convinced that polytheism was even more completely and specially adapted to satisfy the social needs of the corresponding period. Moreover, we shall feel that, while every state of the theological philosophy is provisional, polytheism has been the most durable of any; while monotheism, being the nearest to the entire cessation of the theological régime, was best fitted to guide civilized humanity through its transition from the ancient to the modern philosophy.
True sense of Polytheism
Our method must be to take an abstract view of each of the essential properties of polytheism; and then to examine the various forms of the corresponding régime. In doing this, I shall regard Polytheism in the broad popular sense, as it was understood by the multitude and expressed by Homer, and not under any allegorical aspect that erudite and imaginative minds may find in it. It is only under a monotheistic view that the ancient gods can be symbolically regarded.
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