1757 - David Hume, The Natural History of Religion
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Hume's Natural History of Religion first appeared in 1757 in a collection of essays titled Four Dissertations. The work may be topically divided into three parts. The first part (sections 1 and 4) argues that polytheism, and not monotheism, was the original religion of primitive humans. Monotheism was only a later development. The second part (sections 2-3, 5-8) establishes the psychological principles which give rise to religious belief. His thesis is that natural instincts such as fear are the true cause of popular religious belief, and not rational argument. The third part of this work (sections 9-15) compares various aspects of polytheism with monotheism showing that one is no more superior than the other. Both contain points of absurdity. From this he concludes that we should suspend belief on the entire subject.