The Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions

by John R. Hinnells (Editor)

Comprehensive, informative and authoritative, The Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions is compiled by a team of leading international scholars, and is the definitive guide to the religious belief systems and practices of the world today. This in-depth survey of active religions has now been fully updated to include modern developments and the most recent scholarship. It explains the sources and history of the world's religions, includes material on the phenomenon of Black African and Asian diaspora religions around the world and explores the role of gender in modern religion.

Genres: Religion, Reference, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Buddhism, Mythology

1008 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1985

Reviews

[Jody Mena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book to see how it represented Paganism, if at all. It did, but it got about a page and a half, and while some of the information attempted to be accurate, there was a great deal of condensing and skewing of facts; just for instance, the distinction made between Witchcraft [a practice] and Paganism [a body of belief systems] was fuzzy and weak, almost completely unexplained. It skimmed over several quite important aspects while bringing others to the front that were comparatively less to the point; there was only an off the cuff mention of veneration of nature (which should have been the center of focus), and worship of the Mother Goddess was made to seem like a secular feminist movement.

Gardener is mentioned of course, but they reduce the philosphy and practice of Gardnerian Wicca, the root of modern Wicca, to a single, extremely misleading sentence; none of the other central figures in the history and founding of modern Paganism were included - even Gardener did not 'found' the religion, he 'created' it - like saying Saint Paul 'created' Christianity, an insultingly poor choice of words. They made mention of Dianic Wicca, but only in reference to its connection with feminism, while making no mention of many other influential paths and movements, such as the Faerie tradition, Germanic paths, the Druids and many others - they glossed over these very disparate and individual paths as 'ethnic facades'. It was basically painted that Paganism consists of Gardenarian Wicca, Dianic Wicca, and etc. An almost ridiculous amount of information is missing, considering what they decided to include.

It was also upsetting and insulting that Paganism was grouped in with Satanism. Satanism is a legitimate religion in its own right, but it truly has NOTHING to do with either ceremonial magic or Paganism - if anything, it should be grouped with Christianity, because it is a religion based on Christianity. While the writers pointed out that Pagans do not associate themselves with Satanists, the very fact that the editors felt it was appropriate to group them together sends an extremely conflicting message; modern Pagans and Witches have had to work very hard to separate themselves from the association with Satanism or other forms of evil-god worship, which are, in almost every case, the very antithesis of each other. This so-called handbook on religion, claiming authority on the subject, puts a dent in that effort.

The only reason I gave this any stars is because it actually DID mention Paganism and Witchcraft; many books on religion refuse to even acknowledge their existence, or do not treat them as 'real' religions. Nevertheless, I felt like Ford Prefect from 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' reading his article entry about Earth - a extensive body of complex and relevant information, cut away and reduced to 'mostly harmless'.

I skimmed through other parts of the book, there was some interesting stuff, but considering how painfully inaccurate and incomplete the information on Paganism and Witchcraft proved to be, why would I trust any of the information in this book to be accurate and complete? They've lost all their credibility, and if you must use this book as a reference, I strongly recommend cross referencing with another source.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for over 3 years now. I picked it up this morning to see if I could find if Buddhists could eat after midday. Whilst I didn't find the direct answer to that question, it 'enlightened' :) me enough to realise the answer is both yes and no. Anyway, I am very interested in history, religion, anthropology, sociology; anything that helps me understand who and what I am. I figure if each of us understood the mechanisms that created who we are, then perhaps we will become far more sympathetic and tolerant of others and what they have become: Yeah, I know, good luck.

[Chris Chinchilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive, informative and authoritative, The Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions is compiled by a team of leading international scholars, and is the definitive guide to the religious belief systems and practices of the world today. This in-depth survey of active religions has now been fully updated to include modern developments and the most recent scholarship. It explains the sources and history of the world's religions, includes material on the phenomenon of Black African and Asian diaspora religions around the world and explores the role of gender in modern religion.

About the Author

John R. Hinnells is professor of religious studies at the University of Derby. He has written or edited many books for Penguin.

[Erika RS]

This is a books of essays on different religious traditions. It includes essays on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Chinese religions, Japanese religions, religions in primal societies, modern alternative religions in the west, and a case study on Baha'ism (yay for recitations of the table of contents!). Given the breadth of material, it can be expected that it does not have much depth. However, the book does give an excellent overview of the basic history, beliefs, and current (as of 20 years ago) development of these religions.

[Veleda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is virtually an impossible book to rate. No book could ever hope to be a comprehensive overview of all the world's religions, even one clocking over 900 pages, but this one does its best. The book is very dry, which is almost inevitable, but ultimately readable. Some of the essays near the end, on religious diversity and multiculturalism in various western countries, are overly congratulatory, and in my opinion, papered over continuing struggles.

[Dorothy E. Tissair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference book that goes way beyond the "basics" of the world's major religions and several of the minor religions. It will have a place on my book shelves for many years t come.

[Gareth Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is quite a little handbook, but flawed certainly. The text is peppered with little mistakes, and the quality of information about each religion is quite uneven. Verdict: take with salt.