The present volume is designed as a sequel to that on the religious thought of the eighteenth century by the late Professor J. M. Creed and Mr J. S. Boys Smith, now Master of St John's College, Cambridge. Their purpose—to illustrate changes and developments in religious thinking during a selected period by means of passages chosen from representative writers—has been mine too, but the method pursued differs. The authors of Religious Thought in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 1934) judged—rightly, I think—that the importance of the age from their point of view lay in the nature of the problems, as they considered, then definitely raised for the first time, more than in the individual greatness of the writers. Their scheme of arrangement therefore was by subject-matter, and they applied it to a very useful end. For my part, however, I have found this procedure to be impracticable, for what is striking about the nineteenth century is undoubtedly the individuality, as in numerous instances also the undeniable greatness, of the writers themselves. Thus their approach to the problem of religious, and in particular, Christian belief, although in most cases they have much in common, differs as between one and another of them to such a degree that any attempt to assemble excerpts from their writings under a few general headings would hardly be very enlightening. Nineteenth-century attitudes, though readily identifiable, are less easily definable and classifiable than are those of the century preceding. Moreover, recognition of the strong individuality of these thinkers is a necessary factor in a just appreciation of their views.