Treatise on the Gods was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1930, and it is Mencken’s most sustained attempt to deal with a subject that fascinated and repelled him throughout his life. The book is a comprehensive survey of religion — its origins in primitive fear, its development through polytheism and monotheism, its institutionalization in churches and priesthoods, and its present condition in the modern world.
Mencken’s approach is anthropological rather than theological: he treats religion as a human phenomenon, produced by human needs and serving human purposes, rather than as a response to a supernatural reality. His account of primitive religion draws on Frazer, Tylor, and the comparative religionists of the late nineteenth century; his treatment of Christianity is informed by the higher criticism that had, by Mencken’s time, established the historical and textual foundations of biblical scholarship.
The book is learned, witty, and fundamentally skeptical — Mencken does not believe in God and makes no effort to pretend otherwise — but it is not contemptuous. He recognizes that religion has produced great art, great music, great architecture, and occasionally great moral insight, and he treats the religious impulse with the respect due to any powerful human instinct, even one he does not share. The revised edition of 1946 is generally preferred, as Mencken corrected several factual errors and softened some passages that had given unnecessary offense.
Collecting Treatise on the Gods
First edition (Knopf, New York, 1930): Blue cloth, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $60–$200
- Without jacket: $15–$35
- Revised edition (1946): $20–$50