The Hibbert Lectures 1891: Lectures on the Origin and Growth of the Conception of God as Illustrated by Anthropology and History by Count Goblet D'Alviella

Published 1892: First Edition / Hardcover / Very Good Condition

Original green embossed cloth with gilt titles on the spine. 296 + very clean and bright pages. Covers slightly rubbed and faded with time, bumped on the corners and frayed along the spine tips consistent with age but remain firm and intact. A scarce first edition.

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The Hibbert Lectures 1891: Lectures on the Origin and Growth of the Conception of God as Illustrated by Anthropology and History is a book written by Count Goblet D'Alviella. The book is a collection of lectures that were delivered by the author as part of the Hibbert Lecture series in 1891. The lectures explore the origins and development of the concept of God, as seen through the lens of anthropology and history. The author examines the various ways in which different cultures and societies have conceptualized the divine, and how these conceptions have evolved over time. The book is divided into several chapters, each of which delves into a specific aspect of the topic. Some of the topics covered include the early forms of religion, the influence of mythology on religious beliefs, the impact of cultural exchange on religious practices, and the role of monotheism in shaping our modern understanding of God. Throughout the book, the author draws on a wide range of sources, including ancient texts, archaeological evidence, and contemporary scholarship. The result is a comprehensive and engaging exploration of one of the most fundamental and enduring concepts in human history. Overall, the Hibbert Lectures 1891: Lectures on the Origin and Growth of the Conception of God as Illustrated by Anthropology and History is an insightful and thought-provoking work that will appeal to anyone interested in the history of religion and the human experience of the divine.1892.
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GOBLET D'ALVIELLA, EUGÈNE (1846–1925), was a Belgian historian of religions, jurist, politician, and grand master of Freemasonry (which means, in Belgium, that one is anticlerical). Count Goblet d'Alviella was the first professor of history of religions at the Université Libre (i.e., "free thinking") of Brussels, of which he was rector from 1896 to 1898. He was militant as a freethinker in trying to have the teaching of religion in schools replaced by that of the science of religion.

Goblet d'Alviella divided the study of religions into three disciplines: "hierography," "hierology," and "hierosophy." Hierography describes the development of each of the known religions. Hierology, by comparing religions, tries to formulate laws of evolution of religious phenomena; it thus "makes up for the paucity of information, in any given race or society, about the history of a belief or an institution, by appealing to the environment or period."

Hierology is purely factual, while hierosophy is a philosophical attempt at classifying the various conceptions of humanity's relations with "superhuman beings."

Although lacking special philological training, Goblet d'Alviella studied, in hierography, various domains: Egyptian religion, Mithraism, Greek religion, Christianity, and Hinduism. In hierology, his most notable work was La migration des symboles (1891), in which he studied the forms, meanings, and migrations of such religious symbols as the swastika, the sacred tree, and the winged disk. The winged disk, for instance, originated in Egypt as a symbol of the sun and was adopted by the Syrians, the Hittites, the Assyrians, and the Persians, with additions and transformations in both form and meaning. In hierosophy Goblet d'Alviella studied Rationalist churches, the belief in immortality, the Buddhist catechism, progress, syncretism, and the crisis of religion.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/goblet-dalviella-eugene