The Common Foundation of All Religions by H.S. Olcott is a 13 page lecture held in Madras India in 1982 by H.S. Olcott. It describes
the core of religions, but most important the foundation of Theosophy. This text was published in 1918 by Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai [Madras] India and The Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras. India. From the book:
Religion is – according to Mr Herbert Spencer –
“a great (I should say the greatest) reality and a great truth – nothing less than an essential
and indestructible element of human nature”. He holds that the religious institutions of the
world represent a genuine and universal feeling in the race just as really as any other
institution. The accessory superstitions which have overgrown and perverted the religious
sentiment must not be confounded with the religious sentiment itself. That this is done is a
mischievous mistake, alike of religionists and anti-religionists. Science in clearing away these
excrescences brings us always nearer the underlying truth, and is therefore the handmaid and
friend of true religion. The substratum of truth is the one broad plateau of rock upon which the
world’s theological superstructures are reared. It is – as the title of our lecture puts it – “the
common foundation of all religions”.
Download the free PDF e-book here in full text here (148 KB):
