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The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions | 
 enlarge | Author: Huston Smith
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $1.29
You Save: $15.66 (92%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 2903
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Rep
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 399
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0062508113
Dewey Decimal Number: 291
EAN: 9780062508119
ASIN: 0062508113
Publication Date: September 13, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: The text is clean with some moderate exterior wear.
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Amazon.com Review
The World's Religions, by Huston Smith, has been a standard introduction to its eponymous subject since its first publication in 1958. Smith writes humbly, forswearing judgment on the validity of world religions. His introduction asks, "How does it all sound from above? Like bedlam, or do the strains blend in strange, ethereal harmony? ... We cannot know. All we can do is try to listen carefully and with full attention to each voice in turn as it addresses the divine. Such listening defines the purpose of this book." His criteria for inclusion and analysis of religions in this book are "relevance to the modern mind" and "universality," and his interest in each religion is more concerned with its principles than its context. Therefore, he avoids cataloging the horrors and crimes of which religions have been accused, and he attempts to show each "at their best." Yet The World's Religions is no pollyannaish romp: "It is about religion alive," Huston writes. "It calls the soul to the highest adventure it can undertake, a proposed journey across the jungles, peaks, and deserts of the human spirit. The call is to confront reality." And by translating the voices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, and Judaism, among others, Smith has amplified the divine call for generations of readers. --Michael Joseph Gross
Product Description
Originally titled The Religions of Man, this completely revised and updated edition of Smith's masterpiece, now with an engaging new foreword, explores the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including:- Hinduism,
- Buddhism,
- Confucianism,
- Taoism,
- Islam,
- Judaism,
- Christianity,
- and the native traditions of the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Oceania.
Emphasizing the inner -- rather than institutional -- dimensions of these religions, Smith devotes special attention to Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and the teachings of Jesus. He convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 103 more reviews...
pretty good September 28, 2008
this was a used product, but it was in extremely good condition. there were some markings in the book, but other than that it was in top shape.
 Good quality. September 16, 2008
The book was exactly the same as the books in stores. Only a $5.00 dollar price difference for the dicounted prices online, but is still good for a $19.00 dollar book.
Had to get it for class, but... August 28, 2008
I ordered this book for an ethics class I'm taking, but so far it's an excellent read! The chapters are informative and easy to read - definitely something I would enjoy away from class.
A great book July 16, 2008
A wide spectrum of analogy and comparative findings.
The study of the origins and development of religions throughout the centuries is quite impressive.
Well researched.
Recommended to all those who are interested in the history of religions, and their social influences on various communities.
A nice overview of the major religions July 13, 2008
One of the hot-button subjects in both the world and the United States - and maybe even the biggest - is religion. When we get U.S. generals declaring that Islam worships some sort of strange, alien god or gods, it shows not only bigotry but ignorance as well. Perhaps it would help to read a book like Huston Smith's The World's Religions to get insights into other faiths.
What The World's Religions isn't is around as important as what it is. It isn't a comprehensive look at all the religions of the world; instead, Smith focuses on seven principal religions in terms of adherents and influence. It doesn't favor one belief over another but looks favorably on all of them. It isn't a history text: there is only the minimum amount of history necessary to explain a religions ideology. It isn't interested in the negatives of a religion: if you're looking to bash Christianity or Buddhism, go elsewhere.
What the book does do is explain the basic ideas behind a septet of faiths: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. These can be divided into two basic groups of Western and Eastern religions. The Eastern religions are more exotic to the majority of Westerners (such as Americans) with a greater inclination to introspection and less of an emphasis on the divine (in fact, Confucianism seems more like a philosophy than a religion). Unlike the Western religions (of which Islam can be included as it has both similarities to Christianity and Judaism and shares common roots), the Eastern ones are not fully exclusive: it is possible to be both a Taoist and Confucian. The Western religions, on the other hand, place more emphasis on history.
What the book also does is show the difference between theory and practice. These religions are often very high-minded, but they practiced by people who will often put their own personal interests ahead of everything else and pervert the meaning of their faith.
When volumes - and sometimes whole libraries - can be dedicated to just one aspect of one of these religions - it's hard to really capture seven faiths (plus a little chapter on "primal" religions) within 400 or so pages, and Smith is wise enough to not even try. This is an introduction and an overview of these religions and you'll find much lacking if you expect greater detail. And while some of the ideas expressed in this book may be new or complicated to a general reader, Smith does a good job of laying out these ideas in as basic a manner as possible. It's not a perfect book, but I think it fits in the category of "must-read"; this is one small way of removing ignorance from the world.
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