Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 7: Hymns - Liberty

A major portion of the volume is devoted to Hymns, treated across Babylonian, Buddhist, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek Christian, Syriac Christian, Ethiopic Christian, Latin Christian, Irish Christian, modern Christian, Greek and Roman, Hebrew and Jewish, Japanese, Muslim, Samaritan, Karaite, and Vedic traditions. These articles consider liturgical form, poetic structure, theology, ritual function, transmission, authorship, and historical development. The Vedic section is particularly extensive, discussing the Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, metres, linguistic development, ritual context, and the evolution of early Indian sacred poetry.

The subsequent philosophical and psychological articles examine hypnotism, hysteria, hypocrisy, illusion, identity, idealism, ignorance, and moral responsibility. The section on Idea, Ideal, and Idealism traces major philosophical positions from Plato and Aristotle through medieval and modern thought, while Identity includes a specifically Buddhist discussion of personal continuity and the absence of a permanent self. Finally, Images and Idols provides a broad comparative study of religious representation, iconography, image worship, symbolism, and aniconism across primitive, Aegean, Babylonian, Buddhist, Celtic, and other traditions.