Contains nearly 600 brief entries on the world's religious traditions.

Looks at the history and beliefs of ancient and modern religions, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

This is a book by women about women in the religions of the world. It presents all the basic facts and ideological issues concerning the position of women in the major religious traditions of humanity: Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and tribal religions. A special feature of the book is its phenomenological approach, wherein scholars examine sacred textual materials. Each contributor not only studies her religion from within, but also studies it from her own feminine perspective. Each is an adept historian of religions, who grounds her analysis in publicly verifiable facts. The book strikes a delicate balance between hard fact and delicate perception, the best tradition of phenomenology and the history of religions. It also demonstrates how much religions may vary over time. Contributors are Katherine K. Young, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McGill University; Nancy Schuster Barnes, whose Ph.D. is in Sanskrit and Indian Studies; M. Theresa Kelleher, Assistant Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Manhattanville College; Barbara Reed, Assistant Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College; Denise L. Carmody, Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, The University of Tulsa. Also Jane I. Smith, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Harvard Divinity School; Rosemary Radford Ruether, Georgia Harkness Professor of Applied Theology at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary; Rita M. Gross, Associate Professor of Comparative Religions at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Clair.

Presented in a time line format, the book offers a survey of world religions. It examines global perspectives on the history of faith in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania, Africa and the Middle East.

Globalization and high-speed communication put twenty-first century people in contact with adherents to a wide variety of world religions, but usually, valuable knowledge of these other traditions is limited at best. On the one hand, religious stereotypes abound, hampering a serious exploration of unfamiliar philosophies and practices. On the other hand, the popular idea that all religions lead to the same God or the same moral life fails to account for the distinctive origins and radically different teachings found across the world’s many religions. Understanding World Religions presents religion as a complex and intriguing matrix of history, philosophy, culture, beliefs, and practices. Hexham believes that a certain degree of objectivity and critique is inherent in the study of religion, and he guides readers in responsible ways of carrying this out. Of particular importance is Hexham’s decision to explore African religions, which have frequently been absent from major religion texts. He surveys these in addition to varieties of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Children's and educational.

This is a reference for understanding world religious societies in their contemporary global diversity. Comprising 60 essays, the volume focuses on communities rather than beliefs, symbols, or rites. The contributors are leading scholars of world religions, many of whom are also members of the communities they study.

The Facts On series has sold more than 1.9 million copies and continues to provide information, facts, and foundational truths to help Christians understand their faith and their world. With their extensive knowledge of comparative religion, the Facts On creators explore and compare the basic teachings and practices of the world's four major belief systems-- Islam Hinduism Buddhism Christianity The authors also discuss some less-widespread religions. Readers will discover that Christianity stands alone in the integrity of its divine revelation--the Bible--and in its consistency with history, the natural world, and human experience. Rerelease with new cover and minor updates.

An introduction to the worlds major faiths.

Traces the history and beliefs of Zoroastrianism and its followers determination through centuries of persecution and hardship into the present day. The Iranian and Indian Zoroastrian communities in which the religion has thrived without missionary efforts or vast numb numbers of believers is also explored.