Das Werden des Gottesglaubens

work by Söderblom

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July 15, 2026

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Das Werden des Gottesglaubens (The Development of the Belief in God) is a significant work by Nathan Söderblom, a Swedish Lutheran archbishop and theologian who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930. In this book, Söderblom proposed a classification of primitive religions into dynamistic, animistic, and theistic types, based on how early peoples understood the divine.12

Söderblom's broader work in the history of religions often centered on Christianity as a pivotal point. He also explored different doctrines regarding salvation, categorizing religions based on whether salvation is achieved by humanity alone, God alone, or through cooperation between God and humanity.2

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…great work on primitive religions, Das Werden des Gottesglaubens (“Development of the Belief in God”), Söderblom divided religions into dynamistic, animistic, and theistic types according to the way primitive peoples apprehend the divine. In other works (Einführung in die Religionsgeschichte, or “Introduction to the History of Religion,” and Thieles Kompendium…
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…great work on primitive religions, Das Werden des Gottesglaubens (“Development of the Belief in God”), Söderblom divided religions into dynamistic, animistic, and theistic types according to the way primitive peoples apprehend the divine. In other works (Einführung in die Religionsgeschichte, or “Introduction to the History of Religion,” and Thieles Kompendium…
Read More