THEORIES EXPLAINING

SIMILARITY OF BELIEFS

AROUND THE WORLD

1. Parallel Development:

Beliefs are spontaneous operations of the psyche that have appeared indepen-dently in various quarters of the world.

2. Cultural Diffusion:

Beliefs are the inventions of particu-lar times and persons that have been spread abroad by early migrations or by later commerce.

The Masks Of God:

Primitive Mythology

by Joseph Campbell,

Penguin Books, 1987, p. 15