286 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



and those that are attracted mainly by the spiritual 

 or devotional qualities of their belief. The motives 

 that animate the former class are usually not highly 

 complex, and need not concern us here ; but the basis 

 of the truly spiritual devotion is much more obscure, 

 and should not be overlooked in any examination of 

 the primitive biological factors that enter into men- 

 tal states. For our purpose it is not necessary to 

 discuss the probable historical development of the 

 earliest forms of religion. It is sufficient to note 

 that all primitive religious ideas probably have their 

 foundations in the desire to get material aid from 

 superior powers. The god is called upon for food, 

 for success in battle, for help against evil spirits 

 and fearful things, and probably not for spiritual aid 

 in the elevation of character. Every popular reli- 

 gious belief apparently crystallizes about some defi- 

 nite material need or group of needs to which may 

 be added later more abstract wants. The varying 

 conceptions as to the nature of the ruling power or 

 powers, found among various peoples and in different 

 ages, are purely arbitrary expressions of a striving 

 to make tangible and distinct that which all have 

 vaguely or more distinctly felt to lie outside the grasp 

 of human intelligence. Now these symbols of power 

 which men have invented or selected from natural 

 objects for purposes of adoration have been con- 

 sciously or unconsciously selected with reference 

 to individual needs or racial needs. These needs 

 represent both the somatic and the sexual instincts, 



