Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Preface -- Dawson's Table of Contents -- Part I -- I. Sociology and the Idea of Progress -- II. History and the Idea of Progress -- III. Anthropology and the Theory of Progress: The Material Foundations of Culture -- IV. The Comparative Study of Religions and the Spiritual Element in Culture -- Part II -- V. Religion and the Origins of Civilization -- VI. The Rise of the World Religions -- VII. Christianity and the Rise of Western Civilization -- VIII. The Secularization of Western Culture and the Rise of the Religion of Progress -- IX. The Age of Science and Industrialism: The Decline of the Religion of Progress -- X. Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index of Proper Names.