THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF RELIGIONS

The Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester, England, has approached this study of the religions of the world by a new and most interesting method. He arranges the religions of the world in a series of ""horizons"", each of which marks a stage in man's history and in the evolution of his culture. He starts with ""the primiture horizon,"" the milieu of the food-gatherers and hunters. There follow the cultural circle of the animistic religions, then ""the agricultural horizon"" created by the domestication of the food plants, ""the civilized horizon"" in which ""the civilized mind"" is developed which in turn makes possible ""the prophetic horizon"" with its highly developed ethical and religious insights. Using these categories as a frame of reference Professor Murphy passes in review the leading religions of the world. A scholarly book, very interestingly written.