The Reverend Professor Edwin Oliver James (1888 – 1972) was an anthropologist in the field of comparative religion

Comparative religion

Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...

. He was Professor Emeritus of the History and Philosophy of Religion in the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

, Fellow of University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 and Fellow of King's College London

King's College London

King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

. During his long career he had been Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

, Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and Wilde Lecturer at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

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E.O. James received his education at Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

 and at University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

, where he studied under the famous egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie

William Matthew Flinders Petrie

William Matthew Flinders Petrie FRS , commonly known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artifacts...

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(Additional information from the back flap of E.O. James' The Ancient Gods (1960) - David W. Daniels)

Works

• Evolution and the Fall (1923)
• The Beginnings of Man (1928)
• The Christian Faith in the Modern World. A Study in Scientific Theology.
• A History of Christianity in England
• Christian Myth And Ritual: A Historical Study (1933)
• Origins of Sacrifice: A Study in Comparative Religion (1933)
• Thieves of Mercy (1934) poems
• The Old Testament in the Light of Anthropology (1935)
• The Origins of Religion (1937)
• Comparative Religion: An Introductory and Historical Study (1938)
• Primitive Belief and Ritual
• The Social Function of Religion (1948)
• The Concept of Deity. The Wilde Lectures (1950)
• Marriage and Society (1952)
• History of Religions (1956)
• Prehistoric Religion: A Study in Prehistoric Archaeology. (1957)
• Myths and Ritual in the Ancient Near East (1958)
• The Beginnings of Religion: An Introductory & Scientific Study (1958)
• The Cult of the Mother Goddess: An Archaeological and Documentary Study (19590
• The Comparative Study of Religions of the East (Excluding Christianity and Judaism).
• The Ancient Gods: The History and Diffusion of Religion in the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean (1960)
• Nature and Function of Priesthood: A Comparative and Anthropological Study (1961)
• Seasonal Feasts and Festivals (1961)
• Sacrifice and Sacrament (1962)
• The Worship of the Sky-God, A Comparative Study in Semitic and Indo-European Religion (1963)
• Marriage Customs Through the Ages (1965)
• Jerusalem: a History (1967)
• From Cave to Cathedral : Temples and Shrines of Prehistoric, Classical and Early Christian Times (1965)
• The Tree of Life: An Archaeological Study (1966)
• Christianity and other religions (1968)
• Creation and Cosmology: a historical and comparative inquiry (1969)

External links

• A memoir of EO James, by David Brown