- Paperback: 576 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; 2 edition (26 Jan 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195176995
- ISBN-13: 978-0195176995
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 19 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 921,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
The twenty-first century is witnessing a resurgence and globalization of religion. Around the world, religion has become an increasingly more important and pervasive force in personal and public life, and faith and politics now play a powerful role in international affairs. Revealing the significance of religion in contemporary life, the second edition of World Religions Today adds new chapters on primal religions and new religions. Featuring revised chapters on the traditions discussed in the first edition--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian Religions--it covers historical details more succinctly and adds material on the Iraq War and other recent world events to the chapter on Islam. The book explores each tradition as a dynamic, ongoing force in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies. Moving beyond the almost exclusively historical perspective of many books in the field, this text takes a fresh approach, using solid historical coverage of the various religious traditions as a framework to help students understand how faiths have evolved to the present day. It connects today's religions to their classical beliefs and practices but also shows how these religions have responded to and been transformed by the modern world. To help students grasp what might be "new" about the emerging era of religious life in the twenty-first century, the authors open each discussion with a contemporary scenario of religious experience that illustrates the tension between premodern views and modernity.
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First Sentence
In the 1950s, if you walked down the streets of almost any city in the United States, you would have expected to find Catholic churches, Protestant churches, and Jewish synagogues. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In the 1950s, if you walked down the streets of almost any city in the United States, you would have expected to find Catholic churches, Protestant churches, and Jewish synagogues. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
this book was a bit more 'text' type book than I'd anticipated. had I read the description I'd have realized. Arrived quickly and in the good condition stated. Now that I've gotten into it, really delighted and I'm so much more knowledgeable than was.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Religion faces Modernity and Postmodernity
14 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
I have used this book in an introductory class in World Religions. I have found the book to be very usable and filled with the kind of information one needs. At the same time, the authors do not lose sight of the central ideas, practices, and trends of each major religion.
In reading the book, one needs to keep in mind the structure of each chapter, which begins with general ideas of religious practices and beliefs today, then goes back in time to show how they got the way they are. When one reads thoroughly, one gets a good picture of where the major religions are today and possibly where they are going.
The index is thorough, and there are two appendices, one a vocabulary for each major religion, the other a time line of major developments for each religion. These are very useful. Also helpful are the review questions at the end of each chapter
The theme of the book is the confrontation of each religion with modernism, and its status now in a postmodern (postcolonial)world. This approach is highly informative and increases the interest of the reader. There is an introductory chapter on religion in general, and the first chapter on Christianity includes a discussion of how the modern era was born out of Protestantism. This means that Christianity is shortchanged somewhat because much of the discussion is on "modernism". There are some printing errors that need to be fixed.
I was very pleased with this book, and I highly recommend it.
In reading the book, one needs to keep in mind the structure of each chapter, which begins with general ideas of religious practices and beliefs today, then goes back in time to show how they got the way they are. When one reads thoroughly, one gets a good picture of where the major religions are today and possibly where they are going.
The index is thorough, and there are two appendices, one a vocabulary for each major religion, the other a time line of major developments for each religion. These are very useful. Also helpful are the review questions at the end of each chapter
The theme of the book is the confrontation of each religion with modernism, and its status now in a postmodern (postcolonial)world. This approach is highly informative and increases the interest of the reader. There is an introductory chapter on religion in general, and the first chapter on Christianity includes a discussion of how the modern era was born out of Protestantism. This means that Christianity is shortchanged somewhat because much of the discussion is on "modernism". There are some printing errors that need to be fixed.
I was very pleased with this book, and I highly recommend it.
18 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Long winded, but packed with information
30 Dec 2002
Format:Paperback
I used this book for an introductory level religious study course, so I read the entire book and had lectures in addition to the book. And I'm very glad that I had those lectures, otherwise I don't think I would have a very good idea about the main world religions covered in this book (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, far east religoins ie. Confucianism, Daoism). The authors of this book ramble on and on, with no general direction. The organization of the book is done fairly well, but at times the text makes no sense, skipping back and forth in time with no structure. I found that an extremely frustrating aspect of this book. It was impossible for me to get a general overview of each religion without reading many pages of inane details.
The book does provide a wealth of information on each of the religions covered, however. The chapter on Islam is particularly good, but it's easy to get lost in the vastness of information provided. Every period of history is covered for each religion, so there is plenty of good material covered.
But overall, the book did present each religion from its pre-modern start to its post-modern state today. Just sometimes, it wasn't clear on what direction the authors were heading.
Great!!
18 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a great boy. My 7th grader was able to use it to do some of her homework. I'm really glad I made this purchase.
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