A Concise Introduction to World Religions, 2nd Edition

by Willard G. Oxtoby, Alan F. Segal

Based on the best-selling two-volume World Religions: Eastern and Western Traditions, this concise, contributed second edition is a survey of faiths throughout the world. Renowned scholars trace the origins and evolution of the major traditions, explain their essential teachings, outline their practices, and examine their interactions with modern culture and society, while insightful introductory and concluding essays suggest countless avenues for further reflection and study. With extracts from each tradition's most important thinkers, both ancient and modern, along with timelines, maps, glossaries, guides to key geographic sites, annotated reading lists, vibrant color photographs, handy "Tradition at a Glance" summaries, and a brand-new chapter on new religious movements, A Concise Introduction to World Religions, Second Edition, offers a rich introduction to the subject. ENGAGING PEDAGOGY: A wealth of learning tools throughout help students appreciate and understand world religions:
* "Focus" boxes provide insight into rituals or practices that are specific to each religion, such as going to temple in the Jain tradition, the daily routine of liturgical prayers for Sikhs, and taboo words for male and female Shinto priests in Japan.
* "Tradition at a Glance" sidebars offer an insightful overview of each tradition--covering founders, noteworthy doctrines, and distribution of adherents--facilitate comparative analysis, and serve as quick review references.
* "Major Branches of" boxes break down the internal divisions and sects within each faith.
* Chapter timelines highlight key events in each religion's history.
* Detailed maps depict locations of important reference points for each tradition.
* "Sites" boxes indicate locations of special significance to each tradition.
* "Document" boxes highlight key passages from each tradition's sacred texts.
* End-of-chapter glossaries serve as quick-reference guides that help students learn and review key terms.
INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES:
Instructor's Manual:
Chapter overviews and notes
Classroom discussion questions
Test Generator:
For each chapter:
50 multiple-choice questions
20 true/false questions
10 short-answer questions
5 essay questions
Answer key with page references for all questions
PowerPoint-based Slides:
Fully revised and updated for the second edition

STUDENT STUDY GUIDE:
Chapter summaries
List of learning objectives
For each chapter:
20 multiple-choice questions
5 short-answer questions
10 research paper questions
5 reflection questions
List of 5-8 additional resources
Field trip guidelines

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

630 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2007

Reviews

[Linda Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a college-level (100-level) text that is a survey of the major religions of the world. As a survey, it does not go into any great depth on any one religion and some, especially "modern" religions such as Mormonism and Baha'i only rate a few paragraphs.

While understanding that there will always be generalizations and 10,000 foot views in a survey, I still have some serious reservations about the fairly long chapter on Buddhism. This is not because there are obvious gross inaccuracies, but because of the use of certain words that have high levels of Western cultural expectations behind them. Such words as heaven, prayer, and worship. When presented to a Western audience, these words carry strong cultural expectations with them, unless ample caveats are presented to the student. This book does not do that. None of these words carry anything close to the same meaning in Buddhism that they do in Judeo-Christian-Islamic cultures. Their use in speaking of Buddhism will only leave students with the wrong impressions about Buddhist doctrine.

Further, since, as a Mahayana Buddhist practitioner, I know that the use of these words are highly misleading in this context, it makes me wonder about the other chapters on Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and even Islam.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with some of the other textbooks on my "read" shelf, there is a caveat with this one: I didn't read the whole thing, but only those chapters I was assigned. In this case, though, that means a huge chunk of the book: the chapters on indigenous religious traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. While those chapters vary in quality, all were at least good. The book could use a bit of copy-editing for its next edition -- hey, Oxford, check those dates for Joan of Arc's life -- it is, overall, a fine overview of the world's major religions. Unlike some other textbooks I've read -- I'm looking at you, "The Art of Being Human" -- I'll likely hold on to this one.

[Paige M Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative on the top religions of the world. From history to present this book covers it, and opens your mind to many different possibilities.....

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a text book for a summer religions course while in college.