A Sourcebook for Earth's Community of Religions

Here's the perfect whole earth catalog of major religious and spiritual traditions. Supporting the essays on 18 traditions are articles on ecological, social, and political issues. The also includes sacred texts, public declarations, prayers, hundreds of resource listings, and much more. Both a reference tool and an inspiring resource for understanding a new global ethic.

The second World Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1993, 100 years after the historic first parliament, provides the impetus for this volume. Indeed, the first edition was published by the Council for a Parliament of World's Religions on the eve of that meeting. This book is a collection of documents that illustrate the interests of the parliament. It has actual accounts of the parliament and the documents it produced, some of which were in draft form in the earlier edition.

The opening section contains descriptions of the various religious traditions of the world. The scope is broad, extending beyond the traditional religions to include African and Native American religions, wicca, and anthroposophy; even the nonreligion of humanism is included, as well as the controversial Unification Church. The documents in this section not only outline the beliefs of these various groups, but, in many cases, address how each tradition approaches the concerns of ecumenism, the environment, and economic and social justice that were the focus of the parliament. The second section contains documents on interfaith cooperation, notably "Towards a Global Ethic," authored by Hans Kung and adopted by the parliament. The next section examines various social and environmental problems, with responses by various faiths and by the interfaith community; the fourth section, "Choosing Our Future," looks at such groups as women, children, and dispossessed peoples, and at ways the religious community can help solve the world's problems. The final section, new to this edition, is an annotated resource guide, listing organizations, books, videotapes, and Internet resources.

This is by its nature an eclectic group of documents. Many come out of other organizations with interests similar to the World Parliament, such as the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace. Prayers and meditations are interspersed with more discursive materials. There is a great deal of value here for patrons seeking information or source material for interfaith cooperation, or for liberal religious perspectives on global problems. Certain material may strike some as overly trendy, such as the "Twelve Steps of Ecological Spirituality." But there is enough significant material that most libraries will want this on their shelves; most will place it in the circulating collection, despite the inclusion of a detailed index in this edition.

"Towards a Global Ethic" was the lofty declaration of the historic 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions. The pres-ent title brings together highly qualified contributors at the Parliament who explore diverse beliefs, interreligious conflict, population, environment, poverty, and human rights and responsibilities. Other chapters list organizations, books, journals, videos, and electronic forums that envision a religiously tolerant and cooperative Earth in the 21st century. (An earlier edition of this book was compiled for the Parliament; this revised and greatly expanded edition is a timely document from the Parliament.) This effective working tool is highly recommended for both reference and circulating collections in any library.?Gary P. Gillum, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.