Progress and Religion

This work evaluates the idea of "progress" - its origins, its validity, its role in the formation of Western civilization and its future. The author sees "progress" in its cultural context, and focuses on the vital relationship between religion and culture. Dawson contends that every culturally vital society must possess a religion, whether explicit or disguised, and that this religion will always play a large part in shaping the form of the society's culture. The opening chapters trace the development of the idea of "progress" from the Renaissance and Enlightenment, via the scientific materialism of Comte and Spencer, to 20th-century disillusionment in thinkers like Bertrand Russell and Julian Huxley. Dawson presents an outline of the history of Western civilization, setting the rise of Christianity, the Renaissance and Reformation, the growth of science and the industrial revolution in the light of prevailing cultural assumptions. This reprint of the 1929 edition includes a topical summary prepared by E.I. Watkin.