 Interpretations of Hume’s philosophy of religion are often made against the background of more general interpretations of his philosophical intentions. From this perspective, it is not unusual to view Hume’s views on religion in terms of the  skepticism  and  naturalism  that feature prominently in his Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40), his first and most ambitious philosophical work. According to an earlier scholarly consensus, prevalent throughout much of the twentieth century, Hume removed almost all the material in the Treatise that was concerned with religion because he was anxious to avoid offending the religious establishment. In his later works, beginning with the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), Hume began to present his views on this subject in a more substantial and direct manner. This culminates in his Natural History of Religion (1757) and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779; published posthumously) – both of which are entirely on religion. The linkage between these various works, on this earlier scholarly account, is that the later writings on religion are simply an extension and application of the sceptical and naturalistic principles that Hume developed in his earlier writings.