The World's Religions: Completely Revised And Updated Edition Of Great Wisdom Traditions [Paperback]

A reader from Pendleton:
"Unimaginable! On page 281, regarding Judaism, Huston writes: "The word sin comes from a root meaning 'to miss the mark,' and this people (despite their high origin) manage continually to do. Meant to be noble, they are usually something less; meant to be generous, they withhold from others. Created more than animal, they often sink to being nothing less."

In my copy (1st Perennial Library ed. , 1965) Huston wrote: "The word sin comes from a root meaning 'to miss the mark,' and this despite his high origin and nature, man continually does. Meant to be noble, he is ordinarily less than such; meant to be generous, he seeks his own. Created more than animal, he often sinks to be nothing else."

Just trying to help.

I also felt that Smith was too much of an apologist. Every religion has its "controversial" teachings and I would have preferred contrasting viewpoints of these issues from scholars within the various faiths, rather than Smith's cheerleading. For example, in the section on polygamy in Islam, Smith justifies it by saying that men are naturally polygamous therefore it is better for men to have multiple sex partners within the bonds of polygamous marriage than have adultery in monogamous marriage.

Smith ignores the fact that many women are also adulteresses and Islamic polygamy presents no opportunity for women to enjoy multiple sex partners within the bonds of marriage. He ignores the fact that one of the main reasons that Muslim women apply for divorce is because their husband chose to become a polygamist. Many Muslim women remain stuck in unhappy marriages with part-time husbands and fathers for their children because they can't afford to leave their philandering male. Women in many Muslim countries simply aren't able to leave polygamous marriages at will the way Smith claims.

He also ignores the fact that the roughly equal numbers of men and women in the world make polygamy impractical. Smith claims that monogamy creates prostitution and polygamy prevents it. When some men take multiple wives they leave others with none creating a huge demand for prostitution. It is little wonder that prostitution is such a huge business in the normally conservative Middle East. The Koran itself only allowed the practice as a means of caring for orphans and does not mention men's sex drives as a justification. Many Muslims scholars disapprove of the practice in general and their views are not presented. Smith simply portrays his own narrow views without looking at the complexity of the situation or the variety of viewpoints among Muslims themselves. After all, if God had meant for men to have four wives he would have created 4 women for every 1 man. In reality, it is a biological fact that for every 100 girls that are born, 106 boys are born.

Smith simply ignores the complexity of many issues and the varied viewpoints of the adherents of the faiths. I was left wondering what simplistic points he may have made about other faiths that I have less knowledge of. My recommendation is to look elsewhere if you want a general overview of other faiths. If you want one man's narrow viewpoints you might like this book.