Literary notes about polytheism (AI summary)
The term "polytheism" has been adapted in literature to describe a range of religious and philosophical phenomena. In some works, it refers to the prevalence of multiple deities within living, contemporary traditions, as seen in accounts of Buddhist practices [1]. Other authors highlight a historical shift, noting that ancient beliefs evolved from a strictly polytheistic framework to acquire monotheistic nuances, reflecting changes in religious practice and thought [2]. In early treatments of myth and ritual, polytheism is traced as a development from animistic traditions [3], while more metaphorical accounts depict it as a barren intellectual wasteland punctuated by rare moments of insight [4]. Additionally, some texts critique the multi-deity system by associating it with idolatry and imperfect philosophy [5], even as it is occasionally reassessed as harmoniously coexisting with monotheistic ideas, as observed in classical Greek thought [6].
- Polytheism is rampant over the greater part of the Buddhist world to-day.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis - Utterances like these show that by the end of the Rigvedic period the polytheism of the Rishis had received a monotheistic tinge.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell - Animism is passing into polytheism.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - In the vast but barren desert of polytheism—dark and dreary as were its gloomy domains—there were still, however, to be found some few oases of truth.
— from The symbolism of Freemasonry : by Albert Gallatin Mackey - In its higher forms, it becomes polytheism, idolatry and defective philosophy.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis - To the Greeks, on the contrary, whose philosophy was enlightened and ingenuous, monotheism and polytheism seemed perfectly innocent and compatible.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
