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Title: The World's Wisdom : Sacred Texts of the World's Religions by Philip Novak ISBN: 0-06-066342-1 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 24 August, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: nice concept, poor execution
Comment: The concept of this book--a collection of selections from the world's sacred texts, and a companion text to Huston Smith's wonderful "The World's Relgions"--is great, but I think Novak's execution of it was poor.
What bothered me the most about this book was Novak's translations. I was already very familiar with the Western texts (the Bible) that Novak "updated", and I had a hard time getting over the modern, "inclusive" language Novak chose that in my opinion reduced a lot of the majestic beauty of older translations, such as the King James version.
Some of Novak's translations "modernized" the language to change the meanings of certain passages radically from what was intended.
It would also have been nice if Novak had kept the references to the original sources alongside the text rather than buried at the back of the book so that I could easily look up his selections in the language I was more familiar with, but that is a minor complaint.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent "Cliff Notes" Guide to Sacred Texts
Comment: If you are looking for a sort of all-in-one overview of the sacred texts for most of the world's major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Primal Religions (myths and stories from native peoples throughout the world), "The World's Wisdom" is a unique source.
Phillip Novak does a nice job of putting each text into context. He also ends each section with "Grace Notes" which are key sayings or quotes by more contemporary adherents (the section on Christianity includes exerpts from the Gospel of Thomas, St. Francis, Meister Eckhart and Thomas Merton, among others).
Including Zoroastrianism, which was arguably the first monotheistic religion and highly influential many of those that came after it, would have made this book truly complete. Still, "The World's Wisdom" will become every bit as essential as Huston Smith's "World Religions" and is a perfect companion to it.
Highly recomended.
Rating: 5
Summary: the best of religion
Comment: Easily the best anthology of religious writings I've seen, and I've seen quite a few. Beautiful and educational; as a teacher, I've found it very useful for religion courses. If you've any interest in religion or spirituality, this book is a must for your collection.
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Title: The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith ISBN: 0062508113 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 13 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Illustrated World's Religions : Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions, A by Huston Smith ISBN: 0060674407 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 22 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Barefoot on Holy Ground : Twelve Lessons in Spiritual Craftsmanship by Gloria Karpinski ISBN: 0345435095 Publisher: Wellspring/Ballantine Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Ten Challenges, The : Spiritual Lessons from the Ten Commandments for Creating Meaning, Growth, and Richness Every Day of Your Life by Ph.D. Leonard Felder ISBN: 0517705052 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 11 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Exploring "The World's Religions" : A Reading and Writing Workbook by Irving A. Sparks ISBN: 006250827X Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 14 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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