Introduction to the World's Major Religions [6 Volumes]

This a full six volume set. Not sold separately. One volume each for Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism/Taoism.

Grade 9 Up–The volumes include a time line, an introduction, discussions of texts and tenets, branches, practice, rituals and holidays, and major figures, as well as a bibliography and a glossary. Judaism is clearly written, whether describing a holiday or parsing the branches of the faith. Confucianism and Taoism are defined as world religions, using sociological criteria. This challenging, but lucid exposition introduces readers to Chinese language and culture and describes the impact of Confucianism on Japanese and Korean societies as well. The annotated chapter bibliographies are worth the price of the volume. Christianity is poorly organized and lacks historical clarity. The writing is wooden and riddled with errors of expression, and confusion is rampant. There are also errors of fact or implication. Buddhism is refreshingly fluent and accessible, as well as authoritative. It is particularly helpful in explaining the more abstruse aspects of the religion, and in distinguishing Buddhist from Hindu goals. Clearly written, it enables readers to sort out the South Asian, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan varieties of Buddhism. Islam is equally thorough and its chronology is helpful in following the political and sectarian developments in Islam over the centuries. Hinduism is as much a cultural history as an introduction to the religions of India. The author has a lot of complex theology to deal with and manages to convey its depth and variety without overwhelming readers. Unfortunately, the proofreading of this book was a bit lax. These volumes are more detailed but less lively than Peter Occhiogrosso's The Joy of Sects (Doubleday, 1997) and Huston Smith's The World's Religions (Peter Smith, 1992), and the small black-and-white photos look outdated. A cumulative index is in each volume.–Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Describing a major world religion in one volume of less than 200 pages of text (not counting fore and end matter) is a daunting task, nobly achieved by the six authors of this set. According to its publicity material and set preface, the set is intended for high-school students and the general reader, and it is true to its audience. The text is fluid, fluent, and as uncomplicated as possible. Each volume contains an introduction by the author, time line, and narrative chapters on the history, texts and tenets, branches, practice worldwide (including demographics), rituals and holidays, and major figures. The end matter consists of a glossary, bibliography, and index to the set.

The introductions vary in length, from a few pages (in the Christianity volume) to many pages (in Confucianism and Taoism) that discuss what make them religions. The volume on Islam also tackles the topic of religious extremism. The profiles of major figures vary in length from a paragraph to a page or more depending on the number of people profiled. The glossaries have no pronunciation guides, which would have been helpful for the intended audience. The bibliographies contain a plethora of great Internet sites as well as books and journal articles. The few photographs are small and in black and white.

Each volume reflects its author's spirituality and understanding of the religion being explained. There is no author profile to give the reader an idea of either the expertise or the personal religious beliefs of the writer; however, the text has enough personality to lead the reader to accept the accuracy of the information. The authors obviously respect the various differences of the branches of each religion and present all views objectively.

Most school and public libraries will find this set very useful for locating the important information students and the general public are looking for when studying religions. The volumes are straightforward and well structured to help locate the answers to most questions asked about beliefs, practices, holidays, and definitions of the major religions people encounter. Robin Hoelle
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved