The Natural History of Religion

David Hume was a Scottish historian, philosopher, economist, diplomat and essayist known today especially for his radical philosophical empiricism and scepticism.

Hume pioneers a naturalist account of the causes, effects, and historical development of religious belief. David Hume locates the origins of religion in emotion, particularly fear and the desire to control the future. He further argues that monotheismarises from competition between religions, as believers seek to distinguish their deities as superior to all rivals. The monotheist drives to dominate other beliefs, and to burnish the primitive, emotional core of religion under a veneer of theology, Hume concludes that this yields intolerance, intellectual dishonesty, and unnatural moral doctrines. Read The Natural History of Religion, if you want to know development from polytheism to dogmatic monotheism!