In this book the author examines the various theories which have been put forward by anthropologists to account for the religious of primitive peoples and by implication for religion in general. In the introductory chapter he discusses some of the difficulties and problems in studies of primitive religions, and in the following chapters offers a critique intellectualist, emotionalist and sociological theories of religion. The book is intended for those who are interested in the history of ideas about religion and as introductory textbook for students of anthropology and comparative religion.