The Evolution of Religion - An Anthropological Study #252530

A small book on a great and difficult subject must explain and apologise for itself, especially if it cannot claim a raison d'étre as a hand book for beginners. Having accepted the stimulating invitation to give in the spring Of this year a short series of lectures for the Hibbert Trust on some subject belonging to the department of comparative religion, I felt that it was desirable to avoid those topics that had been appropriated by former lecturers and also that the Trustees, as well as the audience, deserved that what the lecturer put forth should embody the results of some personal and original study. I finally selected for special discussion the ritual of purification, and.