When Historians Get in the Way

It was supposed to be a groundbreaking work of anthropology. And for the most part, it was. In 1890, Sir James Frazer unleashed the massive The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion into the world. It was the first work that collated worldwide, history-spanning religious and magical beliefs, and then sifted them through an analytic filter. The origins of certain myths and beliefs were revealed; behaviors that seemed idiosyncratic were found to fit global patterns; and the story of Jesusâ?? crucifixion was shown to resemble many other stories of gods who were killed and resurrected three days later. The mysteries of religion could now be studied like any other realm of human behavior. Coming between Darwin and Freud, Frazerâ??s work played an active part of the Western worldâ??s shift to the secular.