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For centuries, scripture and theology were the focus of prodigious amounts of scholarship and publishing. Enlightenment philosophy and science, anthropology, ethnology and the colonial experience all brought new perspectives, lively debates and heated controversies to the study of religion and its role in the world, many of which continue to this day. This series explores the editing and interpretation of religious texts, the history of religious ideas and institutions, and not least the encounter between religion and science.

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253 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Religion

Page 2 of 13

Shinto
  • The Ancient Religion of Japan
  • W. G. Aston
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1907
  • The diplomat and Japanese and Korean scholar William George Aston (1841–1911) wrote several highly regarded publications, particularly on the Japanese language. Condensed from his more comprehensive 1905 study of the subject, this 1907 work is a brief introduction to Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. Based on the worship of nature and ancestor spirits, Shinto has evolved throughout its history, particularly under Buddhist and Confucian influence. In the late nineteenth century it played a notable role in the revival of Japanese nationalism, and continued to be central to public life until 1945. This work focuses on describing Shinto's general character, and its myths and practices, drawing on early written sources based on the oral tradition. Aston's work has been criticised for its dependence on philological study of the early texts, but his expertise is undeniable. His groundbreaking History of Japanese Literature (1899) is also reissued in this series.

The Lausiac History of Palladius
  • Volume 2, Introduction and Text
  • Palladius
  • Edited by Dom Cuthbert Butler
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    28 August 2014
  • The church historian and Benedictine monk Cuthbert Butler (1858–1934) was known for his expertise on the monastic life and wrote several books on the subject, including Benedictine Monachism (1919) and Western Mysticism (1922). Previously he had produced this two-volume edition of Palladius of Galatia's Lausiac History. Written in the early fifth century, it records the lives of the Egyptian 'Desert Fathers' and is an important source for early monasticism. Volume 2 (1904) contains Butler's edition of the Greek text, supported by an extensive critical apparatus. Butler's substantial introduction first surveys the various Greek manuscripts and earlier editions of the text, before outlining the method he adopted in editing the work. His text is supported by detailed critical and historical notes. The volume also includes a reassessment of the chronology of Palladius' life and helpful supporting material in the form of a map and chronological table.

Buddhist China
  • Reginald Fleming Johnston
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 2015
  • The British colonial administrator and scholar Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston (1874–1938) travelled extensively in the Far East, developing a keen intellectual interest in Chinese culture and spirituality. His fourteen-year posting to the relatively quiet port of Weihaiwei allowed him to indulge this interest and to travel to places not usually visited by Europeans. In 1918, he was appointed tutor to the young Puyi (1906–67), who had been China's last emperor before his forced abdication. Deeply interested in Mahayana Buddhism, Johnston played an important role in raising Western awareness of its philosophy and practice in China. This work, first published in 1913, provides valuable insight into the history of this branch of Buddhism as well as fascinating accounts of notable centres of Chinese monasticism. Among other works, Johnston's Confucianism and Modern China (1934) and Twilight in the Forbidden City (1934) are also reissued in this series.

The Buddhism of Tibet
  • Or Lamaism, with its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism
  • Laurence Austine Waddell
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    12 March 2015
    First published in:
    1895
  • Laurence Austine Waddell (1854–1938) qualified in medicine and chemistry at Glasgow University and in 1880 embarked on a successful career in the colonial Indian Medical Service which took him to Darjeeling, Burma and Tibet, and eventually an academic post at Calcutta Medical College. In addition, Waddell studied Sanskrit and published extensively on Tibet (his books Among the Himalayas (1899) and Lhasa and its Mysteries (1905) are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). This landmark study of Tibetan Buddhism first appeared in 1895. Waddell cites earlier European scholarship, including that of Burnouf (also reissued), but emphasises that his book is based on original field research at temples and among the lay population. It covers the history of Tibetan Buddhism, its relationship with other branches of Buddhism, doctrine, places of worship, rituals and festivals, popular religion and the occult. It also includes around 200 illustrations and a substantial bibliography.

Confucianism and Modern China
  • The Lewis Fry Memorial Lectures, 1933–34, Delivered at Bristol University
  • Reginald Fleming Johnston
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 2015
    First published in:
    1934
  • The British colonial administrator and scholar Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston (1874–1938) travelled extensively in the Far East, developing a deep interest in Chinese culture and spirituality. His fourteen-year posting to the relatively quiet port of Weihaiwei allowed him to indulge this interest and to travel to places not usually visited by Europeans. Well acquainted with the philosophy of Confucius, Johnston had happily quoted the Confucian classics in his court judgments at Weihaiwei. In 1918, he was appointed tutor to the young Puyi (1906–67), who had been China's last emperor before his forced abdication. This 1934 publication, developed from lectures, presents an accessible interpretation of the tenets and fortunes of Confucianism, notably the impact of the New Culture Movement on the philosophy's place in Chinese society. Among other works, Johnston's Buddhist China (1913) and Twilight in the Forbidden City (1934) are also reissued in this series.

The Lausiac History of Palladius
  • Prolegomena
  • Palladius
  • Edited by Dom Cuthbert Butler
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    28 August 2014
  • The church historian and Benedictine monk Cuthbert Butler (1858–1934) was known for his expertise on the monastic life and wrote several books on the subject, including Benedictine Monachism (1919) and Western Mysticism (1922). Previously he had produced this two-volume edition of Palladius of Galatia's Lausiac History. Written in the early fifth century, it records the lives of the Egyptian 'Desert Fathers' and is an important source for early monasticism. In Volume 1 (1898), Butler begins with a general introduction to Palladius' work, followed by a critical survey of the various versions of Palladius' text, which survives in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Armenian and Coptic. The volume includes a contribution by Armitage Robinson, later Dean of Westminster, on the Armenian version. The later part of this volume turns to an exploration of Palladius' theology, other related sources for the history of Egyptian monasticism, and a historical discussion of early monasticism.

China’s Spiritual Need and Claims
  • James Hudson Taylor
  • Published online:
    05 March 2015
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1887
  • James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905), the founder of the large and respected China Inland Mission, wrote the pamphlet China's Spiritual Need and Claims in 1865. It was subsequently published as a book and reprinted in numerous editions. This volume contains the seventh edition, first published in 1887. The work is both a survey of Protestant missionary activity in China since the treaty of Tientsin in 1858 and a recruitment pamphlet that inspired many English men and women to travel to China as missionaries. It provides a wealth of demographic and cultural information about nineteenth-century China and about the western missionaries stationed there. As one of the most popular works on Protestant missions during the nineteenth century, it is an essential source for understanding the motivations of Victorian missionaries in general as well as Taylor's own beliefs. It is an indispensable source for researchers in mission history.

The Religion of the Manichees
  • Donnellan Lectures for 1924
  • Francis Crawford Burkitt
  • Published online:
    05 March 2015
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1925
  • First published in 1924, this volume contains the Donnellan lectures given by Francis Crawford Burkitt (1864–1935) at Trinity College Dublin in June 1923. Their subject is Manichaeism, a dualistic form of Christianity that thrived during the fourth and fifth centuries in Central Asia. Burkitt focuses especially on the discovery of fragments of Manichaean literary texts in Chinese Turkestan, near the Siberian border, early in the twentieth century. The first lecture introduces the history of the Manichees and reviews the sources of information available about them. The second discusses the Manichaean view of Jesus, Manichaean church organisation and Manichaean eschatology. The third analyses the influences behind Manichaean thought and teaching, including the important influences of Marcion and Saint Augustine. Burkitt's lectures were influential in publicising the new finds of Manichaean manuscript fragments, and remain an important resource for those studying heterodox movements in early Christianity.

Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand
  • Performed in the Years 1814 and 1815, in Company with the Rev. Samuel Marsden
  • Volume 2
  • John Liddiard Nicholas
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    25 February 2010
    First published in:
    1817
  • John Liddiard Nicholas (1784–1868), a London iron-founder, arrived in New South Wales in 1813 but rather than develop his business, he accompanied Samuel Marsden on a journey to New Zealand from November 1814 to March 1815 that established the first Christian mission to the Maoris. This two-volume book, first published in 1817 after Nicholas had returned to England, was widely successful, and was translated into Dutch and German in 1819. Based on Nicholas' journal, kept throughout his voyage, it tells the story of the missionaries' efforts but focuses particularly on Nicholas' observations of the Maoris and reflects his desire to share knowledge of a 'people so little known to Europeans, and at the same time so … interesting'. Nicholas pays careful attention to the customs, personalities, and relationships unique to different communities. Volume 2 includes the memoir of a Maori chief, and a Maori vocabulary.

Animal and Vegetable Physiology
  • Considered with Reference to Natural Theology
  • Volume 1
  • Peter Mark Roget
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1834
  • Under the terms of the will of the Oxford scholar Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater (1756-1829), a series of works was commissioned, designed to contribute to an understanding of the world as created by God. In 1834 Peter Roget, who was at the time compiling his celebrated Thesaurus, contributed two volumes to that controversial series, of which this is the first. He described in a manner designed to appeal to a wide audience the variety and complexity of the mechanical processes of the plant and animal kingdoms. Particular attention is given to those areas where animal life reveals something about human life and the man-made world, emphasising the magnificence of the all-encompassing creative process behind it. The plant kingdom is examined with the goal of establishing the mechanics behind the beauty of plant life as created by God.

Annals of a Clerical Family
  • Being Some Account of the Family and Descendants of William Venn, Vicar of Otterton, Devon, 1600–1621
  • John Venn
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1904
  • John Venn (1834–1923), a leading British logician, moral scientist and historian of Cambridge, came from a noted family of clerics, although he resigned from the clergy as his philosophical studies led him away from Anglican orthodoxy. This family memoir, published in 1904, covers the careers of three centuries of Venn clergy, together with an outline of the family origins and pedigrees. The family came from Devon, where William Venn was ordained in 1595, and two of his sons followed him. Richard Venn was displaced and jailed during the Commonwealth. The author's father, John, was the founder of an evangelical sect at Clapham (where his father Henry had also been curate), and of the Church Missionary Society, an organisation in which the author's brother, Henry, played a leading role. The study provides a microcosmic history of the Anglican Church from the Reformation to the end of the nineteenth century.

Pahlavi Texts
  • Volume 2, The Dâdistân-î Dînîk and the Epistles of Mânûskîhar
  • Edited and translated by Edward William West
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    13 December 2012
    First published in:
    1882
  • Published between 1880 and 1897 as part of Max Müller's Sacred Books of the East series, this five-volume translation of Pahlavi texts was the work of Edward William West (1824–1905). Largely self-taught, West developed his knowledge of ancient oriental languages in India, where he worked as a civil engineer. After returning to Europe, West focused on the study of sacred Zoroastrian texts and prepared these translations of Pahlavi manuscripts. His writings and editions are still referenced today in Indo-Iranian studies. Volume 2 contains the ninth-century Dâdistân-î Dînîk and Epistles of Mânûskîhar. The former are religious judgments or decisions given by Mânûskîhar, a high priest of Iran, in answer to ninety-two queries put to him by fellow Zoroastrians. Along with the Epistles, relating to complaints made to Mânûskîhar about his brother Zâd-sparam, these texts give the reader an insight into the Zoroastrianism of the period, its tenets, and its relationship with the developing Islamic faith.

A Commentary on the Book of Daniel
  • By Jephet ibn Ali the Karaite
  • Edited and translated by D. S. Margoliouth
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    24 October 2013
  • This translation of an Arabic commentary by Jephet ibn Ali (fl. late tenth century) was first published in 1889. Based on ten manuscripts, the text was carefully edited and rendered into English by David Samuel Margoliouth (1858–1940), Laudian Professor of Arabic at Oxford. Jephet was a leading Karaite scholar who wrote a number of biblical commentaries in his native Arabic. This was one of his mature works and perhaps the best example of his critical and exegetical powers. Based on the historical allusions in the commentary, Margoliouth estimated that it was composed between 990 and 1010. The work includes the Arabic text, with critical apparatus and a useful glossary of key words. Fiercely polemical against Islam, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, the commentary has greatly contributed to our understanding of tenth-century religious controversies. It remains an important work of Karaite literature.

Novum testamentum Graece
  • Ad antiquissimos testes denuo recensuit apparatum criticum apposuit Constantinus Tischendorf
  • Volume 3, Part 1
  • Edited by Constantin von Tischendorf, Caspar René Gregory, Ezra Abbott
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • The German biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf (1815–74) published his monumental eighth edition of the Greek New Testament between 1869 and 1872. Influenced by the pioneering scholarship of Karl Lachmann (1793–1851), who had first moved away from relying on the Textus Receptus, Tischendorf placed key emphasis on the witness of older uncial manuscripts, most notably the Codex Sinaiticus (which he rediscovered) and the Codex Vaticanus. His painstaking work laid the foundations for the creation of modern critical texts, and the vast amount of manuscript evidence he collated has ensured that this edition remains a standard work of reference for biblical scholars and textual critics. Following Tischendorf's death, the work's Latin prolegomena was issued in separate parts by Caspar René Gregory (1846–1917), assisted by Ezra Abbott (1819–84). The present volume amalgamates the parts published in 1884 and 1890, comprising sections I-VIII and including detailed codicological information.

The Orations of St Athanasius Against the Arians
  • According to the Benedictine Text
  • Athanasius
  • Edited by William Bright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • In the fourth century, a group of Christians who followed the teachings of Arius, an Alexandrian presbyter, claimed that Christ was not truly divine but a created being. According to Arius, God alone is unique and self-existent: the Son is not. Although Arianism was condemned as heretical at the Council of Nicaea in 325, it continued to exert significant influence. Patriarch of Alexandria, St Athanasius (c.296–373) was among the most vigorous defenders of the orthodox view of the divinity of Christ. This 1873 publication presents the original Greek of four polemical orations directed against the Arian heretics. Also included is an account of Athanasius' life and a commentary on his work provided by William Bright (1824–1901), Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, who specialised in the history of the early church.

Prolegomena to the History of Israel
  • With a Reprint of the Article ‘Israel' from the Encyclopaedia Britannica
  • Julius Wellhausen
  • Translated by J. Sutherland Black, Allan Menzies
  • Preface by William Robertson Smith
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    19 September 2013
    First published in:
    1885
  • Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918) first published this work in German in 1878. Reissued here is the 1885 English translation of a revised 1883 version. Intended as a multi-volume work, this first book now stands as a self-contained work. A biblical scholar and orientalist, Wellhausen was professor of theology at Greifswald (until resigning for reasons of conscience) and then professor at Halle, Marburg and Göttingen. An early exponent of scientific philology, he placed the Pentateuch in a historical-social context, setting aside theological traditions. In this work, he sets out his method and argues that the Pentateuch is a synthesis of four independent narratives. He then examines the history of worship, sacrifice, sacred feasts, priests, and the law in ancient Israel. Wellhausen is a central figure in modern biblical studies, his theory dominated scholarship for a century, and his pioneering work remains of great interest in the field.

An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures
  • Volume 2, A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament and Apocrypha, Part 2
  • Thomas Hartwell Horne, Samuel Davidson, Samuel Prideaux Tregelles
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • A painstaking compiler of catalogues and indexes, the biblical scholar and bibliographer Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780–1862) first published his most famous work in 1818, having begun his research for it many years earlier in 1801. Reissued here is the expanded four-volume tenth edition of 1856, which includes revisions by the scholars Samuel Davidson (c.1806–98) and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813–75). This monumental and influential work of nineteenth-century biblical scholarship remains a valuable resource for modern researchers. Volume 2, the work of Davidson, addresses the Old Testament and has been split into two parts for this reissue. Influenced by contemporary German scholarship, Davidson's contribution caused controversy, particularly around prophetic authorship and the role of divine inspiration, resulting in his resignation from Lancashire Independent College. Part 2, Davidson's exegetical 'Brief Introduction to the Old Testament and Apocrypha', includes extensive references to contemporary scholarship as well as research on sources and interpretation of meaning.

An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures
  • Volume 2, The Text of the Old Testament Considered, Part 1
  • Thomas Hartwell Horne, Samuel Davidson, Samuel Prideaux Tregelles
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • A painstaking compiler of catalogues and indexes, the biblical scholar and bibliographer Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780–1862) first published his most famous work in 1818, having begun his research for it many years earlier in 1801. Reissued here is the expanded four-volume tenth edition of 1856, which includes revisions by the scholars Samuel Davidson (c.1806–98) and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813–75). This monumental and influential work of nineteenth-century biblical scholarship remains a valuable resource for modern researchers. Volume 2, the work of Davidson, addresses the Old Testament and has been split into two parts for this reissue. Influenced by contemporary German scholarship, Davidson's contribution caused controversy, particularly around prophetic authorship and the role of divine inspiration, resulting in his resignation from Lancashire Independent College. Indeed, Horne distanced himself from this volume. Part 1 includes discussion of scriptural Hebrew, of Greek, Arabic, Latin and Syriac translations, and of textual history and interpretation.

An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures
  • Volume 3, A Summary of Biblical Geography and Antiquities
  • Thomas Hartwell Horne, Samuel Davidson, Samuel Prideaux Tregelles
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • A painstaking compiler of catalogues and indexes, the biblical scholar and bibliographer Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780–1862) first published his most famous work in 1818, having begun his research for it many years earlier in 1801. Reissued here in five parts is the expanded four-volume tenth edition of 1856, which includes revisions by the scholars Samuel Davidson (c.1806–98) and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813–75). This monumental and influential work of nineteenth-century biblical scholarship remains a valuable resource for modern researchers, reflecting the methods and perspectives of its era. Volume 3 contains a summary of biblical geography and antiquities, including the historical geography of the Holy Land, with discussion of its physical and agricultural features, as well as an account of the political and judicial systems of the Jews and Romans, a study of the existence and location of sacred artefacts, and a survey of Jewish customs mentioned in the scriptures.

The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
  • The First Part Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of Aelfric in the Original Anglo-Saxon, with an English Version
  • Volume 2
  • Ælfric Abbot of Eynsham
  • Edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
    First published in:
    1846
  • The writings of Ælfric of Eynsham (c.950–c.1010) are among the most important to survive from Anglo-Saxon England. He was shaped by tenth-century monastic reform, and his promotion of Old English was highly influential. His earliest known works, the Sermones Catholici (c.990–5), are adaptations of Latin texts rendered in Old English. The homilies draw on the gospels, saints' lives and other doctrinal themes. They were intended to be delivered over two years. This two-volume collection, first published between 1844 and 1846, contains transcriptions of the Old English texts with facing-page translations by Benjamin Thorpe (1781/2–1870). A well-respected scholar with a strong interest in promoting the study of Old English, Thorpe produced an important edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the Rolls Series (also reissued in this series). Volume 2 of the present work contains the sermons for the second year, focusing on doctrine and church history.

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