Abstract

Diverse Doctrines

The article discusses the book "The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics," edited by James Hastings. If mediocrity is ever golden it is in an encyclopedia. There one hardly expects and rarely gets, either new material, original construction, or brilliant exposition; what is wanted, rather, is a full body of accurate information digested into convenient form and presented acceptably to the public that the editor has in mind, be it learned or lewd. In an encyclopedia what scholar O. Henry calls dreams of average are properly realized. Considering the enormous range of his subject, Hastings's choice of material has been good. If occasionally a doubt arises, for example, as to why there is an article on mathematical probability and why there is not an article on orphism far more often one is struck by the catholicity of the editor's judgment.