Eustace Haydon

Albert Eustace Haydon (1880–1975) was a Canadian historian of religion and a leader of the humanist movement.

Eustace Haydon
Born
Albert Eustace Haydon

1880
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Died1975 (aged 94–95)
Santa Monica, California, US
NationalityCanadian
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe Conception of God in the Pragmatic Philosophy (1918)
Academic work
Discipline
Sub-discipline
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago
InfluencedDavid Crockett Graham[1]

Biography

Haydon was ordained to Baptist ministry and served a church in Dresden, Ontario, in 1903–04.[2] He ministered to the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin, from 1918 to 1923.[2] He was head of the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Chicago from 1919 to 1945.[1] While there, he was an influential voice of naturalist humanism.[3] In 1933 he was one of signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[4] The American Humanist Association awarded him the Humanist of the Year award in 1956.[2]

Haydon's Biography of the Gods is an account of the origin of human belief in Gods and the rise and decline of Gods throughout history.[5] Chapters are dedicated to the belief in Ahura Mazda, the Gods of China, India, Japan and the God in Abrahamic religions. Hayden concludes that just as belief in most of the old Gods are dead, the Christian God is no exception and is on the road to extinction.[5] According to Haydon, Gods are invented so long as they meet real human needs (emotional and economic) and fulfill desires, fantasies and longings.[6] When man's beliefs and fancies change the Gods die and substitutions take their place. Personal Gods outnumber abstract deities because the latter do not serve man's emotional nature or demands of practical living.[6]

Selected publications
  • The Quest of the Ages (1929)
  • Man's Search for the Good Life (1937)
  • Biography of the Gods (1941, 1967)
  • Modern Trends in World Religions (1968)

References
  1. McKhann, Charles F.; Waxman, Alan (2011). "David Crockett Graham: American Missionary and Scientist in Sichuan, 1911–1948". In Glover, Denise M.; Harrell, Stevan; McKhann, Charles F.; Byrne Swain, Margaret (eds.). Explorers and Scientists in China's Borderlands, 1880–1950. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-295-99118-4.
  2. Cleary, Maryell. "Eustace Haydon". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  3. Stone, Jerome (2007). Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 86, 91, 129. ISBN 978-0-7914-7538-6.
  4. "Humanist Manifesto I". American Humanist Association. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  5. Wright, William Kelley (1941). "Reviewed Work: Biography of the Gods by A. Eustace Haydon". The Journal of Religion. 21 (3): 315–316.
  6. Ferm, Vergilius (1941). "Biography of the Gods. By A. Eustace Haydon". Ethics. 51 (4): 496.
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