Research source

ON THE CONTENTION THAT ALL PSYCHIC COMMUNICATIONS ARE OF A TRIVIAL NATURE AND DEAL WITH INSIGNIFICAN

Date of account: Published 1916
Source: Raymond; or, Life and Death With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and affection after death.
Reference: Raymond; or, Life and Death With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and affection after death. · selected passage 160
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

A deity of some kind is common to every branch of the human race

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

A deity of some kind is common to every branch of the human race. It seems to be possessed by every savage, overawed as he necessarily is by the forces of nature. Caprice, jealousy, openness to flattery and rewards, are likewise parts of early theology. Then in the gods of Olympus--that poetic conception which rose to such heights and fell to such depths at different epochs in the ancient world--the attributes of power and beauty were specially emphasised. _Power_ is common to all deities, and favouritism in its use seems also a natural supposition to early tribes; but the element of _Beauty_, as a divine attribute, we in these islands, save for the poets, have largely lost or forgotten--to our great detriment. In Jehovah, however, the Hebrew race rose to a conception of divine _Righteousness_ which we have assimilated and permanently retained; and upon that foundation Christianity was grafted. It was to a race who had risen thus far--a race with a genius for theology--that the Christian revelation came. It was rendered possible, though only just possible, by the stage attained.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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