EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY.* 



The study of the Evolution of Tlieology, — or, to use the 

 more generic term which corresponds to the precise signifi- 

 cation of the word Theology, the Evolution of Theism, or 

 Theistic conceptions, — presents special difficulties, arising 

 both from the nature of the inquiry, and from the })rinci- 

 ples in accordance with which it must be conducted. In 

 the investigation of what may be termed Objective Sociol- 

 ogy, e. g., the Evolution of Society through the successive 

 phases of patriarchal, tribal and national developuient, the 

 rise of customs, laws and governments, and of political, in- 

 dustrial and ecclesiastical institutions, we deal with proc- 

 esses Avhich may be observed, and which, — most, if not all 

 of them, — are being exemplified at the present day, in some 

 part of the globe, and in which we are materially assisted 

 by historical, philological and monumental records. 



But the subject here under discussion lies wholly within 

 the domain of what we may properly call Subjective Sociol- 

 ogy, viz., the origin and development of purely mental con- 

 ceptions. Such theistic ideas as have heretofore prevailed, 

 or which now prevail, at any given place or period are con- 

 ditioned and determined exclusively by the mind of that 

 period and locality ; a fact which is visible and provable by 

 jDresent observation upon the different phases of theistic 

 belief arising under the varying couditions of savage and 

 civilized existence. Hence the student of this branch of 

 Sociology is compelled to apply psychological principles. 

 A complete explanation of the rise and development of 

 theistic ideas would be a complete exposition, as well, of 

 the Evolution of Mind in general, for it is along these lines 

 that the mental faculty has been primarily exercised and 

 advanced. 



We should note, for the purpose of defining the limits of 



the discussion, that our subject is not the Evolution of 



Religion, but of Tlieism only. While it is true that the 



words Theology and Keligion are used, more or less, inter- 



* Copyright, 1889, by The New Ideal I'ublishiug Co. 



