tion with the religion of mankind at
large, may still prove useful.

ST. ANDREWS, _June_ 1907.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION

This book is now being reprinted in a somewhat larger type, and an
opportunity is given, less restricted than the last, for making
changes in it. It is impossible for me at present to re-write it; it
appears substantially as it was. Some alterations and additions have
been made in the earlier chapters, and the bibliographies have been
brought more nearly up to date. I would take this opportunity of
directing the attention of readers of this book to the published
Proceedings of the Oxford Congress of the History of Religion, held
in September 1908. They will there see how large this field of study
has now grown, and what varied life and movement every part of it
contains. I have given references only to the addresses of the
Presidents of the Sections of the Congress, in which a fresh review
will be found of recent progress in the study of each of the great
religions.

ST. ANDREWS, _July_ 1910.

CONTENTS

PART I
THE RELIGION OF THE EARLY WORLD

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
PAGE
Position of the science--Unity of all religion--The growth of
religion continuous--Preliminary definition of religion--
Criticism of other definitions--Fuller definition--Religion
and civilisation advance together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

CHAPTER II
THE BEGINNING OF RELIGION

Origin of civilisation--It was from the savage state that
civilisation was by degrees produced--The religion of
savages--All savages have religion--It is a psychological
necessity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-28

CHAPTER III
THE EARLIEST OBJECTS OF WORSHIP

Nature-worship--Ancestor-worship--Fetish-worship--A supreme
being--Which gods were first worshipped?--Fetish-gods came
first--Spirits, human or quasi-human, came first--Theories
of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Tylor--Animism--The minor
nature-worship came first--Theories of Mr. M. Mueller and of
Ed. von Hartmann--The great nature-powers came first--Both
nature-worship and the worship of spirits are sources of
early religion--Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29-50

CHAPTER IV
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS--BELIEF

Growth of the great gods--Polytheism--Kathenotheism--The
minor nature-worship--The worship of animals--Trees, wells,
stones--The state after death--