Eustace Haydon

Biography

Haydon was ordained to Baptist ministry and served a church in Dresden, Ontario, in 1903–04. He ministered to the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin, from 1918 to 1923. While there, he was an influential voice of naturalist humanism. In 1933 he was one of signers of the Humanist Manifesto. The American Humanist Association awarded him the Humanist of the Year award in 1956. Chapters are dedicated to the belief in Ahura Mazda, the Gods of China, India, Japan and the God in Abrahamic religions. Haydon concludes that just as belief in most of the old Gods is dead, the Christian God is no exception and is on the road to extinction. 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.

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)