Religions A to Z: A Guide to the 100 Most Influential Religious Movements

by James A. Beverley

A complete, easy-to-use handbook of the origins, basic beliefs, and defining features of the world's religions, cults, and sects and how each of them compares with Christianity. Written with the Christian in mind, these profiles provide the reader with the fundamentals of today's religions, from the oldest and most common—like Judaism and Islam—to obscure sects you may not have heard of—such as the Eckankar cult and The Army of Mary. James Beverley has formally studied the world's religions for over 25 years. He is interested in how to understand these traditions and movements in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the Anabaptists to the Zen movement, Religions A to Z This book will help all Christians—from the new believer to the seasoned pastor—better understand the religions, cults, and sects around them.

Genres: Religion

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2005

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was interesting that the author wrote this not as a non-biased individual, but as an evangelical Christian. That put an interesting spin on non-Christian religions, such as Islam. I enjoyed reading about the movements he documented, which essentially are the spin offs the people think of as cults. I wish there had been more information on the different aspects of Christian faith. Each religion had a small section devoted to it, and generally that wasn't enough info for me to feel like I had a good grasp on the rules it follows.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I wanted to learn a lot about the different religions of the world so that I could use it as a starting point for possibly picking one for myself or at least disqualifying the ones that I know I couldn't follow. In other words, I was looking for a menu of religions that would give me summaries of what they believed. This book does not really provide this.

A lot of the entries talk about the organization and history of the religion itself and completely skipped talking about the beliefs. For example, the entry on Zen just says that it is a form of Mahayana Buddhism, says that adherents aim to suddenly achieve enlightenment, and then names two people who brought Zen Buddhism to America and a third individual who it says should not be associated with it. I would have liked to have seen it actually give me some of the core teachings as if a Zen monk was explaining to me what his religion was about.

To be fair, the author was upfront in the foreword about how he was writing this from an evangelical Christian perspective for other evangelicals, and it offers tips for evangelicals on how to deal with the people of the different religions to try to win them over. And to describe the book as "a guide to convert people to evangelical Christianity" would definitely be inaccurate since the author only included his personal thoughts and suggestions at the end of the entries and was very brief when he did, so it wasn't preachy or distracting for me. However, I wish this would have been stated more clearly in the actual description of the book instead of just in the foreword.

In spite of the book turning out to not be quite what I wanted, I still feel like I have gained at least a basic knowledge of a lot of the world's religions, which is definitely something I wanted. For that reason, I'm still happy I bought the book.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to read a white evangelical Christian man discuss the history & all the flaws he points out in other religions, this book is for you.

I was so dissapointed in this. There's so much history, which to be frank, I don't give a shit about. I want to know what the religion BELIEVES. Like what each religions stances are on different issues. This is basically just a historical guide.

While he does mantain some neutrality by discussing history, at the end of each religious movement, he says what is flawed about that religion in relation to his own form of Christianity.

If you're interested in learning about the history of a bunch of religions and you're a Christian, go for it, heck, even give it as a gift. I however did not enjoy reading this. :(

[Brad Waldmsith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book did give info on many different denominations but it gave more info on the historical sides of the faiths and not much info on how the faiths were run or on the belief systems. I would have enjoyed it more if there would have been more information in the book on the beliefs of the religions than on their history.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, concise snapshots of the world's major religions and religious movements. Focuses on the stated claims of each belief and refrains from making judgments or endeavoring to persuade readers in one direction or another. Very readable.

[Cindy Adams hussey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book if you want to read about the historical background of many denominations.

[Jake Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, pretty decent book. One of my first theology books which introduced me to the Protestant perspective of other religions and many denominations of Christianity as well.

[Jonathan Schut · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional resource for the study of religion. Concise, yet thorough in its presentation of numerous religious movements that have had a profound impact on the world.