The Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study | Page 3

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The Evolution of Theology: An Anthropological Study by Thomas
Henry Huxley This is Essay #8 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition"

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.
With theology as a code of dogmas which are to be believed, or at any
rate repeated, under penalty of present or future punishment, or as a
storehouse of anaesthetics for those who find the pains of life too hard
to bear, I have nothing to do; and, so far as it may be possible, I shall
avoid the expression of any opinion as to the objective truth or
falsehood of the systems of theological speculation of which I may find
occasion to speak. From my present point of view, theology is regarded
as a natural product of the operations of the human mind, under the
conditions of its existence, just as any other branch of science, or the
arts of architecture, or music, or painting are such products. Like them,
theology has a history. Like them also, it is to be met with in certain
simple and rudimentary forms; and these can be connected by a
multitude of gradations, which exist or have existed, among people of
various ages and races, with the most highly developed theologies of
past and present times. It is not my object to interfere, even in the
slightest degree, with beliefs which anybody holds sacred; or to alter
the conviction of any one who is of opinion that, in dealing with
theology, we ought to be guided by considerations different from those
which would be thought appropriate if the problem lay in the province
of