1-World

Somethingnew...trulyglobal
“WorldScriptureisnotsimplyatoolforthecomparativestudyofreligion.It intendstobeasteponthewaytosomethingnew:ascriptureforatrulyglobalculture,aresourceforatheologyfitforanincreasinglyinterdependentworld.”–John Kelsay,FloridaStateUniversity

On the correct road
“Your project is on the correct road, having chosen the Sacred Books as the ground for the various religions to have a reciprocal understanding, and, leaving aside differences and misunderstandings, bringing together in the integrity of their own beliefs people of different religions.”–Monsignor Antonio Silvestri, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Vatican

An extraordinary journey through sacred writings
World Scriptures is an extraordinary journey through the sacred writings of the world’s great religions. Organized by subject, the quotations, passages, and excerpts presented here provide readers with easy access to teachings on several hundred subjects. This unusual anthology provides a new, holistic approach to understanding religion–stressing what unites us rather than what divides us.

Among the religious texts represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Jainism, Sikhism, Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints, and Zoroastrianism. Also featured are the oral traditions of various religions ofAfrica, Native America, Asia, andOceania along with their recorded prayers and proverbs.

ANDREW WILSON holds a PH.D. in Divinity from Harvard University and is currently director a general multi-volume encyclopedia and author ofThe Nations in Deutero-Isaiah.
NINIAN SMART is the J.F. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religions, University of California, Santa Barbara.

2-The

Smart (emeritus,Univ.ofCalifornia,Santa Barbara)isoneofthefewpublicreligious intellectualswhocanbe comparedtothelate Joseph Campbell.Inthissecondeditionofhisstudyofworldreligions,hehasexpandedhisdiscussionofthe multifaceteddimensionsofreligiousthought.Thisedition retainsthesamestructurefoundintheearlierone:Part 1 chartsthehistoricaldevelopmentofreligionsintheancient worlds,whilePart 2 followshowtheychangedaftertheRenaissance,the settlingoftheAmericas,andothercultural shifts.Inthisversion,he addstheeffectsofthe breakupoftheSovietUnion,theexpansionofIslam,thespreadofAfricanAmericanreligious experiences,andthechangesbroughtaboutbytheintroductionoffemale priests.Itwouldbeamistaketoassignthisbookasaprimarytextbookforaworldreligionsclass;Smartisprimarilyahistorian,andtheemphasishereisonworldreligionsintermsofworldhistoryandconstantly developing systemsoffaith,belief,andtheology. Recommendedforall libraries.?Glenn Masuchika, ChaminadeUniv. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1998ReedBusinessInformation,Inc.


FromBookNews,Inc.
Smart(religiousstudies,U.ofCalif.,Santa Barbara) writesinaclearwayforthegeneralpublicand students.He utilizesa seven-dimensionalframeworktoanalyzethereligions--intermsofethics,ritual,narrativeormyth,experience,institutions,doctrine,andart.AnnotationcopyrightBookNews,Inc.Portland,Or.--Thistext referstoanoutofprintorunavailableeditionofthistitle.


Book Description
TheWorld's Religions offersafascinatinginsightintoawiderangeof faiths,theirhistoryandtheir followers.Intherichly illustratedneweditionofthispopularbook,religionsare describedthroughtheir symbols, rituals, followers,architectureandart. References,statistics, mapsandpictureshavebeen updatedandadded.Thetexthasbeenthoroughly revisedtohighlightrecent developments,suchasthespreadofIslam, African-Americanand Hispanic-Americanreligiousexperience,andwomen priests.

3-World Philosophies

World Philosophies is a comprehensive survey of the world's philosophical and religious traditions by one of our foremost religious thinkers. Ninian Smart discusses notable figures such as Plato and Kierkegaard in the West, the Buddha and Mao Zedong in Asia, Tempels and Knibanga in Africa, and Rodo and Royce in America. Covering a wide range of topics including Indian ideas of testimony and evidence, Chinese notions of moral development, Buddhist concepts of cosmology and Latin American critiques of materialism, Smart sheds new light on the astonishing diversity of philosophies that have developed throughout history.