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Title: World Religions Today by John L. Esposito, Darrell Fasching, Todd Thornton Lewis ISBN: 0-19-510253-3 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $56.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Religion faces Modernity and Postmodernity
Comment: 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.
Rating: 3
Summary: Long winded, but packed with information
Comment: 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.
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Title: Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran by Christiane Bird ISBN: 0671027565 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Patterns of Faith Around World by Wilfred Cantwell Smith ISBN: 1851681647 Publisher: Oneworld Publications Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Ishmael Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Quran for Bible Readers by John Kaltner ISBN: 0814658822 Publisher: Michael Glazier Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: On Being a Muslim by Farid Esack ISBN: 1851681469 Publisher: Oneworld Publications Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: John Paul II and Interreligious Dialogue (Faith Meets Faith) by Byron L. Sherwin, Harold Kasimow, Pope John Paul Ii ISBN: 1570752605 Publisher: Orbis Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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