You are here

HomeLectures

Natural Religion

1888 to 1892
University of Glasgow

F. Max Müller’s Natural Religion contains twenty lectures in the form Müller had prepared them for delivery in the University of Glasgow in 1888. Longmans, Green, & Co. published the lectures in 1899.

Müller outlines the basic groundwork for all study of religion in his first course of Gifford Lectures, which serves as the foundation for the three courses of lectures to follow. His chief aim is to define religion, to determine what ideas can be properly considered religious, and to examine, in historical context, the materials and resources at the disposal of anyone wishing to study the origin, development and in some cases decline of religious ideas. In the successive lectures, Müller discusses what he calls the three ‘branches’ of natural religion, namely, physical, anthropological, and psychological religion.

Books

Natural Religion, vol. 1

Available Chapters

Preface.

Table of Contents.

Lecture 1.

Lecture 2. Definition of Religion.

Lecture 3. Examination of Definitions.

Lecture 4. Positivist Definitions of Religion.

Lecture 5. My Own Definition of Religion.

Lecture 6. The Infinite in Nature in Man and in the Self.

Lecture 7. Religion Different from Science.

Lecture 8. The Historical Method.

Lecture 9. Historical Treatment of Religious Questions.

Lecture 10. Comparative Study of Religious Problems.

Natural Religion, vol. 1
Longmans, Green and Co.
1889

In the inaugural lecture, delivered at Glasgow University in 1888, Müller discusses at length Lord Gifford’s life and the bequest he left to institute the Gifford Lectures in Natural Theology, summarising the details outlined therein. Müller notes that Lord Gifford defined clearly in his will what he understood by ‘natural theology’ and, as he was very open to new scientific inquiry, those subjects he wished to be examined in these lectures.

Read more

Natural Religion, vol. 2

Available Chapters

Lecture 11. The Materials for the Study of Natural Religion.

Lecture 12. Principles of Classification.

Lecture 13. Languages not Aryan and not Semitic.

Lecture 14. Language and Thought.

Lecture 15. Dynamic Stage.

Lecture 16. Mythology.

Lecture 17. The Genealogical School.

Lecture 18. The Analogical and Psychological Schools.

Lecture 19. On Customs and Laws.

Lecture 20. Sacred Books.

Natural Religion, vol. 2
Longmans, Green and Co.
1889

Lecture XII examines the ‘Principles of Classification’, arguing that any true understanding of religion requires a full understanding of the language in which religion and mythology are embodied. Müller’s focus here is on the Aryan and Semitic families of language, although he moves beyond these to other language families (the Ural-Altaic) in Lecture XIII. Müller then poses the question of what language actually is, and attempts to answer this in Lecture XIV, ‘Language and Thought’.

Read more
Contributor(s)
  • Brannon Hancock, University of Glasgow
  • Sara Abraham, University of Glasgow