REL 130: Living Religions of the World: Books

Did you know that about half of the world's population is either Muslim or Christian? Or that atheists comprise only 2 percent of the world population--and that number is shrinking? Our world is one of faith, and increasingly readers both inside and outside the church want to know about other religions. Intended for busy people who want a quick overview of the world's major faiths, The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions is a succinct, affordable resource. This illustrated and fact-filled guide puts the answers at readers' fingertips and sheds light on our rapidly shrinking world. It also provides a brief Christian analysis of each world religion.

This book is a survey of the history of the Jewish people from biblical antiquity to the present, spanning nearly 2,500 years and traversing five continents. Opening with a broad introduction which addresses key questions of terminology and definition, the book's ten chapters then go on to explore Jewish history in both its religious and non-religious dimensions. The book explores the social, political and cultural aspects of Jewish history, and examines the changes and continuities across the whole of the Jewish world throughout its long and varied history. Topics covered include: the emergence of Judaism as a religion and way of life the development during the Middle Ages of Judaism as an all-encompassing identity the effect on Jewish life and identity of major changes in Europe and the Islamic world from the mid sixteenth through the end of the nineteenth century the complexity of Jewish life in the twentieth century, the challenge of anti-semitism and the impact of the Holocaust, and the emergence of the current centres of World Jewry in the State of Israel and the New World.

In The Wiley-Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism, a team of internationally-renowned scholars offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of Jewish life and culture, from the biblical period to contemporary times. Provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the main periods and themes of Jewish history, from Biblical Israel, through medieval and early modern periods, to Judaism since the Holocaust, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Judaism today Brings together an international team of established and emerging scholars across a range of disciplines Discusses how to present Judaism - to both non-Jews and Jews - as a religious system on its own terms and with its own unique vocabulary Explores the latest scholarship on a range of issues, including folk practices, politics, economic structure, the relationship of Judaism to Christianity, and the nature of Zionism diaspora and its implications for contemporary Israel Considers Jewish historiography and the lives of ordinary people, the achievements of Jewish women, and the sustained interaction of Jews within the environments they inhabited Edited by a leading scholar in Jewish studies and history

An essential introduction to eight of the world's major religions. Gerald R. McDermott explains what you need to understand about major world religions in order to engage people of other faiths while better understanding your own Christian faith and practice. McDermott offers an overview of the central beliefs of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. Each chapter includes explanations of traditions and rituals. McDermott discusses major figures within each religion.   Features include: Insights from members of each religious community Glossary of important terms

Cros Sandoval's authoritative introduction to the Afro-Cuban religion called Santeria explores how it emerged and developed in Cuba out of transplanted Yoruba beliefs and continues to spread and adjust to changing times and contexts. Systematically exploring every facet of Santeria's worldview, Sandoval examines how practitioners have adapted received beliefs and practices to reconcile them with new environments, from plantation slavery to exile in the United States. Offering a distinctive perspective based on a lifetime of extensive research and firsthand knowledge, Cros Sandoval illuminates Santeria as a theological system and as a vital, continuously evolving community. The adaptation process that gave birth to Santeria was not the singular result of cultural resistance, she argues, but a successful attempt to find meaning linked to alien religious elements in a way that appealed to a diverse following.