The Religions Of Man

Here is a unique study of the world's great religions : Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It is not a history; it is not a critique. Instead it explains, simply and sympathetically, the basic tenents of each religion and the reasons why it attracts millions of devout followers. As the author writes in the first chapter, "This is a book about religion that exists...not as a dull habit but as an acute fever. It is about religion alive. And whenever religion comes to life it displays a startling quality; it takes over. All else, while not silenced, becomes subdued and thrown without contest into a supporting role." Thoroughly researched, THE RELIGIONS OF MAN carries its scholarship lightly. It is a dependable, informative, fascinating presentation of both the differences and similarities in the major religious traditions. And it is essential for anyone who would understand peoples of other lands, other cultures, other religions.

An era has ended. The political expression that most galvanized evangelicals during the past quarter-century, the Religious Right, is fading. What's ahead is unclear. Millions of faith-based voters still exist, and they continue to care deeply about hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, but the shape of their future political engagement remains to be formed. Into this uncertainty, former White House insiders Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner seek to call evangelicals toward a new kind of political engagement -- a kind that is better both for the church and the country, a kind that cannot be co-opted by either political party, a kind that avoids the historic mistakes of both the Religious Left and the Religious Right. Incisive, bold, and marked equally by pragmatism and idealism, Gerson and Wehner's new book has the potential to chart a new political future not just for values voters, but for the nation as a whole.

This book has seven basic chapters: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. These he calls the "Major Historical Religions." They all have sacred texts. This book was intended to be a brief survey without an in-depth analysis. A new section was added to The World's Religions. It is entitled "The Primal Religions." It describes a broad sweep of religions such as those practiced by the Australian Aborigines, by the Native American Indians of North and South America and the religions of the interior of Africa. Huston Smith's masterpiece explores the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the native traditions of Australia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Emphasizing the inner--rather than the institutional--dimension 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.

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.

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

This classic companion to The World's Religions articulates the remarkable unity that underlies the world's religious traditions

The title leads one to believe that this may be just another boring book about our religions--but the author presents us with an entirely new religion that will make more sense to many readers than any of the religions that we have today. Tagore was a man of great wisdom who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and was one of India's greatest poets. His personal mystical experiences, rather than any philosophical reasoning, led him to the Religion of Man, as he terms it. The God of this religion is an Eternal Spirit of unity that can be found within the heart of every person rather than in the sky. Each person is on a path to discover our unity with one another so that we may one day be released from the idea of division and separateness, which results in war and hatred. Ultimate truth can be realized by anyone who learns how to listen and tap into an inner source of divine wisdom. This power of realization can be enhanced through involvement with symbols, ceremonies, art, nature, literature, myths and legends. There is only one commandment in this religion, which is to spread this Divine Truth to others through words and deeds. This book has the power to open one's mind into a new and different level of meaningful consciousness, having been written by a gifted mystic who knew how to communicate on this level to others.

Many of our questions about religion, says the internationally renowned anthropologist Pascal Boyer, were once mysteries, but they no longer are: we are beginning to know how to answer questions such as "Why do people have religion?" and "Why is religion the way it is?" Using findings from anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, and evolutionary biology, Boyer shows how one of the most fascinating aspects of human consciousness is increasingly admissible to coherent, naturalistic explanation. And Man Creates God tells readers, for the first time, what religious feeling is really about, what it consists of, and how it originates. It is a beautifully written, very accessible book by an anthropologist who is highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. As a scientific explanation for religious feeling, it is sure to arouse controversy.