A STUDENT'S PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Revised Edition, by William Kelley Wright, Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College. Macmillan Company, 1935. 524 pp. Written primarily for college students, this substantial volume should have an increasing appeal to the growing number of thoughtful men and women, regardless of previous religious affiliation, who are beginning to regard religion as of great importance in solving their life problems. The book is comprehensive, convincing, scholarly without being pedantic, completely documented in such a way as not to offend the lay reader, and very readable from beginning to end. There are innumerable concise summaries of thought developments, brilliant paraphrases of theological and philosophical concepts, sympathetic portrayals of the histories and ideas of sundry religions, a wealth of simple but pointed illustrations, a direct and lucid style which avoids technical terminology, and, withal, no little dry and pungent wit.

Since the 193 a edition was reviewed at length in this Magazine, it is not necessary to discuss in detail the old portions. Part I outlines religion from its simplest forms to the present, including the religious ideas and practices among savage and semisavage peoples, of India, Greece, Rome and Israel, and the history and development of Christianity. His definition of religion in Chapter V is illuminating. To complete this portion of the work, Dr. Wright has added in the revised edition chapters on the religion of China and on Mohammedanism; his scholarship is obvious here as elsewhere, comprehensive and detailed in spite of the brevity of the treatment. Perhaps in his discussion of Islam the author is almost too sympathetic, in that the social consequences of that religion compare unfavorably with the "Christian" West.

Part II deals with "Religion and the Self, the nature and value of religious experience. Again the reader is impressed by the clarity of thought and expression, and by the convincing emphasis upon the every-day importance of religious growth and prayer. There is no mystery about religious experience; practice in meditation and mature prayer would lead any individual into a much fuller and more meaningful life.

Part 111 is the hardest portion of the book, since it deals with rather abstruse philosophical and metaphysical concepts. But the author has done a masterly job in simplifying and defining and paraphrasing, for he makes the difficult truly comprehensible. His chapter on the Evidence of God is marked by a sane and scientific spirit, and is very convincing. His idea of a Finite God, and his treatment of the Problem of Evil and of Human Freedom, aie logical and intelligible, conducive to careful thought on the part of the reader This section not only affords a sound basis for one's thought in matters of religion, but inspires one to braver and more intelligent living. The new chapter, entitled Conclusion, discusses the place of aesthet and social reform in religion, the religious (?) nature of Russian Communism and the present status of a depression religion. Finally Dr. Wright boldly presents his conviction that there will be a rebirth of religious interest, within a generation or two, which will be greater than in any of the centuries past.

Cold realism and the scientific temper are characteristic of Professor Wright's thought, which is sure to appeal to this sophisticated and disillusioned generation. There are flights of imagination, which he carefully labels as such. When he travels in realms which mere science can never tread, he is sure not to do anything which is not scientific. The careful indices, systematic arrangement of this vast amount of material, and the frank expression of the author's opinions on moot questions, will make A STUDENT'S PHILOSOPHY invaluable to anyone who wishes to understand religion—and that includes almost everybody!