History of the World's Religions [Hardcover]

For courses in History of World Religions or Introduction to World Religions.

A History of the World's Religions gives students an accurate look at the religions of the world by including descriptive and interpretive details from the original source materials, and to bridge the interval between the founding of religions and their present state.

Refined by over forty years of dialogue and correspondence with religious experts and practitioners around the world, Noss's A History of the World's Religions is widely regarded as the hallmark of scholarship, fairness, and accuracy in its field. It is also the most thorough yet manageable history of world religion available in a single volume, treating many subjects largely neglected in other texts. The book's depth, breadth, and organization free instructors from having to cover everything in lectures, enabling them to select specific assignments and use class time for questions, discussion, and their own favorite materials.

Just as the Nazi Holocaust incinerated naive assumptions about human nature and historical progress, so the flaming collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001 shattered assumptions about status quo, religion, and peace.

Those of us who inquire into the history of the world's religions soon become aware that from the perspective of some of the religions the study of history is bound to be fruitless. Religions are about "what matters most" and to some that means transcending the temporal and in effect abandoning the search for meaning in the historical scene. Picking up a book like this may signify a desire to confirm that view, but it is more likely to signify a kind of bias, an underlying hope that the transcendent/immanent may indeed manifest itself in historical events—that the study of any religion should include its historical influence in social/political arenas as, for example, ethical policy in regard to the earth's resources and the degree to which all of humankind is in its purview. Given our biases, our best course is to try to present the views of others fairly. Will knowledgeable believers find our characterizations accurate?

My elder brother, John B. Noss, spent ten years preparing the first (1949) edition of this book. At that time he found that most publications in the field tended to focus on the biographies of the founders and then jumped to comparing and evaluating the religions' contemporary practices. His preface to the first edition spoke of two special needs to be met: the first was to include "descriptive and interpretative details from the original source materials" and second "to bridge the interval between the founding of religions and their present state" (italics mine).

Those who have used successive editions will recognize an increasing attentiveness to those needs. Primary source materials are not spliced in as undigested chunks but carefully embedded in interpretative commentary. Now color-highlighted, and sometimes further emphasized in color-framed quotations, the sources gain even more of the prominence they deserve. Illustrations have come to play a larger part: in addition to classic art and architecture, there are now depictions of ceremonial realia and explanations of ritual practices. Extended teaching captions go beyond the perfunctory identifications of the subjects.

Resisting trends toward the abbreviating and "dumbing down" of college textbooks to accommodate diminished reading skills, this edition maintains a standard of thoroughness. Instead of abridgement, it offers enhancements: highlighted terms keyed to chapter-end glossaries, reinforcement of key ideas in color-framed quotations, line drawings to relieve solid columns of text, and the inclusion of some novels and light reading suggestions in the bibliography.

Many teachers find a kind of liberation in putting a thorough text in the hands of students. This ensures a ready and reliable reference, relieves the pressure on the instructor to "cover" everything in lectures, and frees up the class time for questions and discussions on topics of immediate interest.

The author is grateful for editorial assistance and expertise in ancient intellectual history generously contributed by David J. Noss of Washington, D.C. Special thanks are also due to Ross Miller, Carla Worrier, and Louise Rothman of Prentice Hall and to Lee Shenkman and Janet Stone of Victory Productions.