Each of the 14 chapters of Sacred Texts is devoted to one of the principal religious and other belief systems of humanity, including the primitive, ancient and esoteric alongside the living faiths of both Western and Eastern cultures. The chapters follow a consistent pattern: a short and accessible introduction to the faith in question, followed by extracts that clearly illustrate its mythic narratives, its spiritual and theological doctrines, its central moral teachings, its rituals and modes of worship, and its mystical traditions. The texts quoted embrace the core sacred writings of all of the world's major faiths, including the Bible, the Qur'an, the Jewish Torah, the Vedas of Hinduism, the Sutras of Buddhism, and the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs. Accompanying notes make clear the meanings of all the cited passages. Taken together, the extracts provide a rounded and coherent picture of each religious tradition.
Sacred Texts covers not only Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism and Sikhism, but also small-scale traditional religions, new religions, and secular worldviews such as humanism. It is an essential reference for those who wish to understand the nature- and continuing appeal- of religious belief in a globalised, multi-faith world.
The late Ninian Smart was a distinguished academic theologian who founded the UK's first major department of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster. Richard D. Hecht is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California (Santa Barbara).
