An insightful look at the beliefs, history and customs of the major world religions. With over 70 flaps to lift, readers can discover key facts about each religion, differing ideas about God, worship and prayer and colourful festivals and celebrations. Includes Quicklinks to websites with video clips that bring each religion to life.

You are on CNN, live. The host leans across to you and asks, What s the major difference between Christianity and the other major religions? They are basically all the same, aren t they? Millions are awaiting your reply. Do you know how you would answer? Most of us are not as prepared as we should be for this all-important task. Discover what almost all religions have in common: By trying to earn their way to Heaven, their followers are robed in works-righteousness. Learn how to gently remove that robe, so those seeking eternal salvation can be clothed in the righteousness that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. Each religion is discussed according to: It s basic beliefs Testimonies of its followers who turned to Christ Sample witnessing conversation.

A leading textbook for world religion, this new edition is designed to help students in their study and research of the world's religious traditions. Known and valued for its balanced approach and its respected board of consulting editors, this text addresses ways to study religion, provides broad coverage of diverse religions, and offers an arresting layout with rich illustrations. The second edition has new and extended primary source readings, a stronger section on the Religions of South Asia, additional maps, a new full-color, student-friendly format, and more.

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.

An easy-to-use and comprehensive guide that explores the intriguing dogma and rituals, cultural convictions, and often-checkered backgrounds and histories of the world's religions.

Children's and educational.

Quick reference to the major religions of the world. With World Religions at Your Fingertips, readers can quickly learn anything they need to know about Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and more. From reincarnation to resurrection, the Four Noble Truths to the Ten Commandments, this book covers the gamut of religious concepts and beliefs throughout the world in concise but complete bites that are easy to find and simple to understand. • Allows readers to dip in quickly to get the information they need immediately • Thumb tabs and other navigational aids make this the quintessential reference book on world religion • Content is thorough and even-handed

Religions in today’s culture seem to be multiplying. Have you ever wondered why certain religions believe and practice what they do? Or how they view the Bible? This volume delves into these and other engaging questions, such as: How can a Christian witness to people in these religions? Do these other religions believe in creation and a Creator? How do we deal with these religions from a biblical authority perspective? Many religions and cults discussed in this first volume openly affirm that the Bible is true, but then something gets in their way. And there is a common factor every time—man’s fallible opinions. In one way or another the Bible gets demoted, reinterpreted, or completely ignored. Man’s ideas are used to throw the Bible’s clear teaching out the window while false teachings are promoted. This book is a must for laymen, church leaders, teachers, and students to understand the trends in our culture and around the world where certain religions dominate, helping you discern truth and guard your faith. When you understand a religion’s origins and teachings, you are in a better position to know how to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as you take the good news to those in false religions.

Created by two of the field’s leading experts, this unique introduction to international religious demography outlines the challenges in interpreting data on religious adherence, and presents a contemporary portrait of global religious belief. Offers the first comprehensive overview of the field of international religious demography – detailing what we know about religious adherents around the world, and how we know it Examines religious freedom and diversity, including agnostics and atheists, on a global scale, highlighting trends over the past 100 years and projecting estimates for the year 2050 Outlines the issues and challenges related to definitions, taxonomies, sources, analyses, and other techniques in interpreting data on religious adherence Considers data from religious communities, censuses, surveys, and scholarly research, along with several in-depth case studies on the global Muslim population, religion in China, and the religious demography of recently created Sudan and South Sudan Argues against the belief that the twentieth-century was a ‘secular’ period by putting forward new evidence to the contrary Provides resources for measuring both qualitatively and quantitatively important data on the world's religious situation in the twenty-first century

In 1830 philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term altruism to provide a general definition for the act of selflessly caring for others. But does this modern conception of sacrificing one's own interests for the well-being of others apply to the charitable behaviors encouraged by all world religions? In Altruism in World Religions prominent scholars from an array of religious perspectives probe the definition of altruism to determine whether it is a category that serves to advance the study of religion. Exploring a range of philosophical and religious thought from Greco-Roman philia to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, from Hinduism in India to Buddhism and the religions of China and Japan, the authors find that altruism becomes problematic when applied to religious studies because it is, in fact, a concept absent from religion. Chapters on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam reveal that followers of these religions cannot genuinely perform self-sacrificing acts because God has promised to reward every good deed. Moreover, the separation between the self and the other that self-sacrifice necessarily implies, runs counter to Buddhist thought, which makes no such distinction. By challenging our assumptions about the act of self-sacrifice as it relates to religious teachings, the authors have shown altruism to be more of a secular than religious notion. At the same time, their findings highlight how charitable acts operate with the values and structures of the religions studied.