THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS.*
TSB book before us is of a very unusual type. Ostensibly it consists of considerations offered to the student of religions, and much of it was given in the form of lectures to Mr. Cook's classes at Cambridge. But its appeal is much wider than would appear from this description. While the writer's primary and scholastic aim has been to draw out into distinct recognition the presuppositions and assumptions which lurk in the minds of persons who devote themselves to the com- parative study of religions, he finds it possible to perform the same Socratic function far all persons who reflect upon religion at all, whether from a sympathetic, a critical, or an antagonistic point of view. Mr. Cook seems in these pages to be speaking now directly to his pupils, now to the intelligent Churchman who is troubled by modern criticism of the Bible, now to those who, having accepted the idea of evolution, are wondering how far Christianity can claim to be a final religion, and in what direction they may look for progress. Mr. Cook sympathizes with the religious unrest which is manifest on so many sides; he regards the age as one of "psychical transi- tion"; but he is convinced that the most fruitful preliminary to any attempt at reconstruction is a sympathetic study of the religions which have been religions indeed, so as to discover what facts of human experience they answer to; by what methods changes have occurred in them ; what contribu- tions to development are made by the individual and what by the society, and so forth. An especially attractive and valuable part of the book deals with what are sometimes regarded as "survivals" in religion, corresponding to the "appendix" in human anatomy: and under this general head we have a discussion of many interesting topics, such as "human sacrifice," "the devil," "hell and heaven," and the principle of "authority." We cannot attempt here even to summarize results, and probably Mr. Cook would agree that his object has been much less to impress his own results thou to suggest a process by which the reader should be enabled to reach results for himself. The book is undoubtedly intended for technical students in the first place, and its arrangement is somewhat severely academical ; but any reader of intelligence who pursues the argument with attention cannot fail to gain light on his own difficulties.
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