Evolution of Theology, An Anthropological Study

Book Description:
I conceive that the origin, the growth, the decline, and the fall of those speculations respecting the existence, the powers, and the dispositions of beings analogous to men, but more or less devoid of corporeal qualities, which may be broadly included under the head of theology, are phenomena the study of which legitimately falls within the province of the anthropologist. And it is purely as a question of anthropology (a department of biology to which, at various times, I have given a good deal of attention) that I propose to treat of the evolution of theology in the following pages.

Download Description:
I suppose that, so long as the human mind exists, it will not escape its deep-seated instinct to personify its intellectual conceptions. The science of the present day is as full of this particular form of intellectual shadow-worship as is the nescience of ignorant ages.

Check which edition you are buying....:
Thomas Henry Huxley, _Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study_, Hard Press, no date. paperback, pp.41. While it is good that the works of Thomas Huxley should remain in print, the presentation of the recent Hard Press edition (no date), leaves a lot to be desired. This edition provides no details about the original date of publication \o1886\c, nor indeed, any introductory or biographical information on Huxley, on his career, or the importance of this essay in the context of his biological, philosophpical and political writings. Rather, the first words of the book are Huxley's own. This might perhaps be all well and good to the general reader, but in addition to this, and arguably more troubling, is the fact that the text has clearly not been adequatley proof read. There are passages where html commands are present in the text, and instead of the Greek passages and words of the original, the editor has chosen just to insert the word "Greek". To make matters worse, the footnote references do not tally with the note numbering in the text. Huxley was an eminent scholar, and this essay is important in considering his naturalistic views on theology, but this particular edition does little service. Indeed, one would be better served consulting the Huxley website, where a more accurate and informative version could be garnered. In short, the Hard Press edition needs to go back to the editor's office for what are, in all honesty, elementary revisions before being re-presented to the book-buying public.