- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Harperone (Aug 24 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060674407
- ISBN-13: 978-0060674403
- Product Dimensions: 26.7 x 21.6 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 816 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #232,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In lucid and captivating prose, Smith, the dean of world religionists, conducts readers on a whirlwind tour of the beliefs, practices and experiences of the world's religious traditions. Smith explores the major features of these religions by combining his own worlds with passages from the sacred texts of each. In addition, beautifully arresting images of icons, religious practitioners, sacred texts and sacred art accompany Smith's lyrical writing. The words and images of this book continually remind us that the world's faiths are not stagnant pools of decaying values but dynamic and vibrant waters from which their practitioners daily drink. The book also brings within range of our American hearing the voices of a wide variety of people for whom religion is the central fact of social and cultural life. If one buys only one of the number of recent introductions to world religions, this should be it.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Much is gained and lost in this third incarnation of a highly readable work first published in 1958 as The Religions of Man, which spoke without arcane religious jargon about seven major world religions. The title has been changed to eliminate gender bias, and the book itself is lavishly illustrated, with photographs that add a powerful visual dimension to the text and make the reader more aware of the importance of art in presenting religious ideas. What is lost is a great deal of text. Now whittled down by a third, this fine introductory-level college text has been reduced to a lightweight primer. Luckily for deeper readers, the second incarnation, The World's Religions (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), is still available. Appropriate for public libraries.
Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
TRADITIONALLY, WHEN PEOPLE WANTED ANSWERS to life's ultimate questions - Where are we? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
TRADITIONALLY, WHEN PEOPLE WANTED ANSWERS to life's ultimate questions - Where are we? Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A solid overview of world religions,
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This review is from: The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions (Paperback)
For those wanting to understand the core beliefs of world religions, this book is an excellent place to start. Author Smith includes chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the "Primal Religions," or early tribal beliefs. While each section is remarkably detailed, this book remains an introduction, not a comprehensive examination. The explanations are straightforward and clear without being overly simplified. The illustrations and photographs, most in color, illuminate moments of each religion's faithful. For students and scholars and the curious, this is a good reference book to own, if for no other reason than to expand your understanding of world beliefs. If you are looking for in-depth analysis, you would be better off looking elsewhere.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By
This review is from: The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions (Paperback)
In his intro he writes that the book "respects" religion. He does a great job of explaining the beauty of the different religions and the underlying rationale for them and what we might take away from each (even if you don't care to practice that religion per se -- he gets to each's "wisdom"). He steers away from the ways in which actual implementation of the religions cause problems. For instance, he covers why a caste system could theoretically make sense, if implemented the way the religion had intended it to be -- but points out only briefly that it is not. In all this is an excellent overview of the major religions, put in a way that an adherent to any religion would likely like seeing their religion explained to others. He does seem to have a view that there are a few common themes among the religions (e.g., achieving happiness by losing the separate self in compassionate service to others).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our myopic view of religions won't cut it any more ...,
By
This review is from: The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions (Paperback)
Having been raised and schooled as a Christian in both public and secular schools I am at this stage of my life surprised that I know so little about comparitve faith around the world and how they all fit into the overascheme of things .... I bought this book to give me an isnsight of the major world religions, and, most importantly I wanted an unbiased insight not subjected to the spin and washing of the established churches ... Considering the events of the day the section about the Muslim faith was of course the first that I had read and found it to be very informative. I am certain that each religion could fill numerous volumes but that is not what I was looking for here ......
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