Natural Religion: The Gifford Lectures Delivered Before the University of Glasgow in 1888

Excerpt from Natural Religion: The Gifford Lectures Delivered Before the University of Glasgow in 1888

When I had delivered my first course of Gifford Lectures in the University of Glasgow, I was asked by my friends to publish them exactly as I had delivered them, and not to delay their publication by trying to make them more complete. I have followed their advice, and I now present these lectures to the public at large, if not exactly as I delivered them, at least as I had prepared them for delivery. I was under the impression that, according to Lord Gifford's Will, each course was to consist of not less than twenty lectures. I therefore allowed myself that number for my introductory course, and I confess I found even that number barely sufficient for what I had chosen as my subject, namely,

(1) The definition of Natural Religion,

(2) The proper method of its treatment, and

(3) The materials available for its study.

In order to discuss these preliminary questions with any approach to systematic completeness, I could not avoid touching on subjects which I had discussed in some of my former publications, such as 'The Science of Language,' 'The Science of Thought,' and 'The Hibbert Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion.'

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