Spirituality: Background Information: Religious Traditions

This book is an insightful guide to the diverse ways that religious faith is practiced and spirituality is understood. Discussing contemporary issues such as post-modernism and the emergence of a "new paradigm," the new realities of geopolitics, globalization and global warming, this book explores the importance of religion in people's lives to provide direction in the society today. This book demonstrates the common quest among the world religions for a deeper and more profound spirituality. Describing the spiritual pathways of the various world religions, it assesses the ways that the beliefs, values and practices of these traditions can be life-giving, leading to personal and social responsibility and transformation, but also sometimes harmful and divisive, even used for dangerous purposes. Promoting constructive engagements between the world's religions, this book will connect social justice and ethical engagements with core religious practices and spiritualities. This is an ideal introductory text for students of world religions, spirituality and interfaith relations, broadening their understanding of these lived faiths.

A refreshing approach to understanding different faiths. Detailed annotations to stunning illustrations provide intriguing insights into the world's most important religions--offering a deeper appreciation of the beliefs central to each. World Religions looks at the beliefs and practices of many different religions, from the ancient Egyptians through to Zoroastrianism--the oldest "living" religion--and the great faiths practiced today. Each of the major faiths--Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam--is examined in detail through its sacred texts, epic imagery, key beliefs, and religious artifacts. The distinctive identities of different faiths are explored in World Religions by studying the main principles and thinking of each religion.

The twenty-first century is witnessing a resurgence and globalization of religion. Around the world, religion has become an increasingly more important and pervasive force in personal and public life. Revealing the significance of religion in contemporary life, World Religions Today, SecondEdition, explores eight major religious traditions as dynamic, ongoing forces in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies. Covering historical details more succinctly than the previous edition, this volume features revised chapters on Judaism, Christianity,Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian Religions and adds two new chapters, "Primal Religions," and "Globalization: From New to New Age Religions."