The Religions of the World and Their Relations to Christianity

Maurice delivered these eight lectures under the terms of Robert Boyle’s will, which endowed sermons “for proving the Christian Religion against notorious Infidels.” He takes the charge in an unexpected direction. Rather than cataloguing the errors of other faiths, the first four lectures try to understand Mahometanism, Hindooism, Buddhism and the “defunct religions” of Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome from within, asking what truth each lived by and what gave it its power over men.

The second four lectures set each beside Christianity, arguing that the Christian faith fulfils what each was reaching for rather than simply refuting it. The preface discusses the sources Maurice drew on, from the Royal Asiatic Society’s transactions to Carlyle’s lecture on Mahomet.