- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Blackwell Publishers (December 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1557867151
- ISBN-13: 978-1557867155
- Product Dimensions: 24.5 x 18.8 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 721 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"If you need a text for an introductory course in the world religions, your search will be over after you examine Professor Burke's The Major Religions. What recommends it? Its fresh, lucid and unpretentious style, its direct approach to the essentials of each major tradition, its clear awareness of the abilities and resources of the undergraduate mind. The text is an ideal combination of analysis, illustration, classical texts (with commentary), discussion questions, suggestions for tests and additional reading. Professor Burke and his editors have produced what comes close to the ideal college textbook. Its exciting arrangement will have students eager to turn to their religion assignment." James E Biechler, Emeritus Professor of Religions, La Salle University, Philadelphia
"Professor Burke's approach is one which I think would be appealing in those contexts (particularly one semester courses) for which it is designed. The inclusion of sources in the book, if designed for one-semester use, is an excellent idea, and furthermore, I think that Professor Burke's selection of sources is remarkably apt. Pedagogically, I think that the book is well done: it will be accessible and interesting to students, and it has plenty of examples." Professor Dewey D. Wallace Jr., George Washington University.
Product Description
This new introduction to the world's major religions provides a comprehensive survey of the major traditions with selected primary readings. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, The Major Religions will be the ideal introduction for students on shorter courses at college and university.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Through prolonged austerities and devotional practices the sage Narada won the grace of the god Vishnu. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Through prolonged austerities and devotional practices the sage Narada won the grace of the god Vishnu. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
No!,
By
This review is from: The Major Religions (Paperback)
I used this text for an introductory religion course. If you're looking for a really elementary and basic overview of the world's religions, then by all means get this book. If you're looking for more in-depth commentary and criticism of religions, and a deeper understand of various faiths, scour the Internet. This text gives the bare bones versions of religions; doing a poor job of explaining the variety of faiths. Twenty pages per faith is hardly enough space to cover the deep messages of Buddhism, or to cover everything Christianity was trying to accomplish.This book is easy to read. You can read a chapter with little to no difficulty. The ends of chapters have a quick overview of major points along with some basic questions to get you thinking and for practice on exams or whatnot. This text includes various writings and passages from the holy texts of the various faiths, and that too, is basic. You may get some anecdotal story, a passage from the Old Testament, or some obscure poem that really doesn't show that religion in the light it deserves. This book covers what the author considers "major" religions. To him, that only includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Ch'an/Zen Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. That's it. No Shintoism, no Zoroastrianism, no Baha'i, no Jainism, no Sikhism, the list goes on and on. I'd think these faiths deserve some mention. Scour the Internet. You'll learn a lot more online. It may not be as objective, but you'll get more out of searching the web.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Introductory Text on the Topic,
By Catherine Berry Stidsen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Major Religions (Paperback)
I have had the opportunity to read and use both the first and second editions of Dr. Burke's book. I find them outstanding in their field. The second edition contains excellent information on the Sikh religion, an addition to the first publication. It is accurate and insightful. It is evident that Dr. Burke takes the time to know the communities about which he writes and that he does not produce material simply from an academic arm chair.The concise summaries at the end of each chapter are valuable as are the study questions. They would help the reader/student to focus. What I like especially is that the book contains texts of the various traditions and does not require students to access them elsewhere. This is a bonus. I have some difficulty with the format of the book which I am sure is not of Burke's making but there are wide outer margins and very slim inner ones which make reading somewhat difficult. Perhaps the intention is that students can make notes in these wide margins but overall I find this difficult to work with. I hope that would be corrected in a future edition. I wonder, too, why Blackwell has opted to use only black and white photographs as illustrations and many of these are rather small for today's very visual learners. There is a website connected with the second edition with materials that can be downloaded by teachers. I must admit to being disappointed in this material. Ideally this would contain colour visuals perhaps of the photographs in the text itself. In North America at least, the "teaching as telling" mode is suffering. More and more introductory courses at university need hands on activities for the retention of insights and information that most teachers hope for for their students. I recommend the book wholeheartedly. Its content is superb. I hope for an improved format more user-friendly for visual learners in a future edition. Catherine Berry Stidsen, Ph.D., R.T.C., Cayuga, Ontario 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good introduction,
By Mouse - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Major Religions: An Introduction with Texts (Paperback)
I agree that this book might not be detailed enough for teaching a course. I read this book for leisure. I was merely curious about other religions and cultures, and, not knowing much about the subject (one course in college years ago), found this book to be at the perfect level for me.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!,
By Hailey DeGraw - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Major Religions: An Introduction with Texts (Paperback)
Book was in better condiditon that expected! Very good price compared to the bookstore cant wait to start class!
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
