FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTIONS AND METHODS OF THE 

 HISTORY OF RELIGION 



BY NATHANIEL SCHMIDT 



[Nathaniel Schmidt, A.M., Professor of Semitic Languages and Literature since 

 1896 in Cornell University, b. Hudiksvall, Sweden, May 22, 1862; Hudiksvall 

 Gymnasium, 1882; University of Stockholm, 1884; Hamilton Theological 

 Seminary, 1887; A.M. Colgate University, 1887; University of Berlin, 1890; 

 Professor of Semitic Languages and Literatures in Colgate University, 1888-96; 

 Professor of Semitic Languages and Literatures in Cornell University since 

 1896; Director of the American School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 1904-05. 

 Member of the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft, Deutsche Vorderasia- 

 tische Gesellschaft, American Oriental Society, American Geographical Society, 

 the Society for Biblical Literature and Exegesis, and other societies. Author of 

 The Republic of Man, 1897; Ecclesiasticus, 1903; The Prophet of Nazareth, 1905, 

 and numerous treatises, pamphlets, and articles in scientific journals and ency- 

 clopedias.] 



THEOLOGY is the science of religion. As such it includes every 

 methodical effort to obtain certain and systematized knowledge of 

 man's religious life. Like any other science, it gathers and sifts, 

 compares and classifies, traces the origin and development of, and 

 seeks to explain, the facts that fall within its domain. In accordance 

 with these varied scientific activities, it is possible to distinguish 

 between descriptive, comparative, historical, and philosophical 

 theology. 



Descriptive theology collects, verifies, and presents the facts of 

 religion. Its work is of fundamental importance for all other branches 

 of the science. Absolute comprehensiveness is not attainable. Even 

 a carefully trained critical judgment is liable to err. Perfect objectiv- 

 ity is endangered by the imaginative power and artistic temper 

 necessary for a presentation of the vast material in orderly arrange- 

 ment, and with vividness of detail and color of life. Yet only in 

 so far as the collection embraces all that is important and charac- 

 teristic, the critical examination is thorough, and the description 

 approximates accuracy, are the results available as a true foundation 

 for comparison, classification, historical treatment, and philosophical 

 appreciation. 



Comparative theology considers the similarities and dissimilarities 

 of religious phenomena and classifies them on the basis of such 

 comparison. It contemplates the material gathered, sifted, and set 

 forth by descriptive theology without any other aim than to estab- 

 lish the exact degree of similarity between religious sentiments, ideas, 

 and practices, prevalent among men in different ages and in different 

 parts of the earth. The infelicitous term "Comparative Religion," 

 once widely used, has rightly been abandoned by careful writers. 

 Theology may be comparative when it limits itself to a comparison 



