Public-domain ebook
by F. B. Jevons
Language: en3,443 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Archaeology & Anthropology·Philosophy & Ethics·Religion/Spirituality
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25338.
The work is a scholarly investigation of religion that treats the notion of God as an inner, psychological fact rather than a doctrinal claim. Opening with a quotation from William James, the author frames the study as an exploration of the “consciousness which individuals have of an intercourse between themselves and higher powers.” From that point the text proceeds to define the “Idea of God” as either the felt relationship with a superior power or the language used to express it, emphasizing that words are merely vehicles for a deeper feeling. The introductory chapter then sets out a comparative method, tracing how early communal consciousness, before the emergence of self‑awareness, gave rise to worship, fetishism, and magic, and how these forms diverge as language and self‑concept develop.
Written in the measured, essayistic style of early‑20th‑century academic prose, the book reflects the interdisciplinary spirit of its time, drawing on anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. Its dense argumentation and extensive citations will appeal to readers interested in the history of religion, comparative mythology, or the evolution of religious thought, especially those who enjoy a rigorous, historically grounded analysis rather than devotional literature.
The opening · free to read
In The Varieties of Religious Experience the late Professor William James has said (p. 465): 'The religious phenomenon, studied as an inner fact, and apart from ecclesiastical or theological complications, has shown itself to consist everywhere, and at all its stages, in the consciousness which individuals have of an intercourse between themselves and higher powers with which they feel themselves to be related. This intercourse is realised at the time as being both active and mutual.' The book now before the reader deals with the religious phenomenon, studied as an inner fact, in the earlier stages of religion. By 'the Idea of God' may be meant either the consciousness which individuals have of higher powers, with which they feel themselves to be related, or the words in which they, or others, seek to express that consciousness. Those words may be an expression, that is to say an interpretation or a misinterpretation, of that consciousness. But the words are not the consciousness: the feeling, without which the consciousness does not exist, may be absent when the words are spoken or heard. It is however through the words that we have to approach the feeling and the consciousness of others, and to determine whether and how far the feeling and the consciousness so approached are similar in all individuals everywhere and at all stages.
F. B. JEVONS.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
