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The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions
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Average Rating:  out of 27 Reviews
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Price: $24.95
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Sale: $13.50
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Manufacturer: HarperOne
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780060674403
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Huston Smith
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Publisher: HarperOne
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Dewey Decimal Number: 291
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Publication Date: 1995-09-22
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Reading Level: 256
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Description: Retaining all the beloved qualities of Huston Smith's classic The Religions of Man and the current fully revised and updated The World's Religions, this stunning pictorial presentation refines the text to its wonderful essentials. In detailed, absorbing, richly illustrated, and highly readable chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and primal religions, we find refreshing and fascinating presentations of both the differences and the similarities among the worldwide religious traditions. The approach is at once classic and contemporary, retaining all the empathy, eloquence and erudition that millions of readers love about the earlier editions, while being edited and designed for a contemporary general readership. This delightful marriage of winsome text and remarkable pictures vividly brings to life the scope and vision of Huston Smith's expertise and insight.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Respect for the wisdom traditions |
Date: 2000-11-16 |
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Details: This book has deep respect for the wisdom traditions and Huston Smith has lived this. A practicing Methodist, Smith had discussions with the Vendanta Society, does Hatha Yoga, and prays five times a day like the Muslims. His perspective is not one looking for divisions within a religion, but as an outsider wanting to understand the experiences. For example, in discussing Islam, he talks about the Sufis, but not about the division between Sunnis and Shi'ites. This book is less about details, facts, and religious holidays, and more about the underlying meaning and unique insight of each religion. E.g., in discussing Hinduism he looks at "What people really want", about a wearing out of the material world. In the chapter of Judaism he discusses meaning in history and justice. The illustrations complement the text with a symbolic sense of the culture and beliefs. Looking at a sculpture of a very sensual Shiva with consorts helps one realize that the Hindu view of pleasure may be different than your own. The Buddhist and Taoism paintings project a sense of peace. The photographs of the worshippers are very respectful. |
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Review Summary: an excellent introduction to religion |
Date: 2001-09-26 |
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Details: In this book Huston discusses many of the major world religions, or systems of belief: Christianity, Judaeism, Islam, Hindism, Animism, etc. The Neutrality in his approach to these religions is refreshing. He's able to discuss the beliefs and practices of each of these religions without saying that one, or the other is necesarilly correct. Thus, the book doesn't get bogged down in discussing the truth claims of any one religion.
Huston has obviously done a great deal of research in the area of World religions. This work is an interesting and informative guide to understanding why people believe what they believe. In each section he gives a brief discussion of the history of each system of belief (for instance, he talks about Siddhartha's life in the section about Bhuddism). He then continues to discuss the main points, or fundamental beliefs, of each religion. In these discussions, Huston is concise and incredibly informative. Again, it's very obvious that he's done his homework. I found all of these sections very illuminating. All of the major branches of religion are repressented here (both oriental and occidental thought). That doesn't necesarilly mean that all of the offshoots of any particular religion are repressented --that would probably lead to a much larger, more cumbersome work. With this in mind, Huston's book is an excellent source of information on the various world religions. I would recomend the book to anybody with an interest in religion. It is an excellent tool to help you understand the world, and is well worth the read. |
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Review Summary: The perfect book for those who are starting their Search. |
Date: 1998-02-10 |
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Details: When I was 16, I started questioning my beliefs as an atheist. Never before had I questioned the fact that there was "something else," and I never had any idea of the rest of the world's religions. Then I ran across this book, and it opened up a whole new world to me. No longer was I smug in my avowment that there was no God. I actually began to understand why and how people could follow their faith, even to levels that would seem in excess to most people in the Western world. This book is a must read for those who are Searching, and for those who are even a little curious about other spiritual beliefs. |
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Review Summary: Excellent |
Date: 2003-08-24 |
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Details: In his intro he writes that the book "respects" religion. He does a great job of explaining the beauty of the different religions and the underlying rationale for them and what we might take away from each (even if you don't care to practice that religion per se -- he gets to each's "wisdom"). He steers away from the ways in which actual implementation of the religions cause problems. For instance, he covers why a caste system could theoretically make sense, if implemented the way the religion had intended it to be -- but points out only briefly that it is not. In all this is an excellent overview of the major religions, put in a way that an adherent to any religion would likely like seeing their religion explained to others. He does seem to have a view that there are a few common themes among the religions (e.g., achieving happiness by losing the separate self in compassionate service to others). |
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Review Summary: A Guide to the World's Wisdom Traditions |
Date: 2000-01-27 |
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Details: I feel hugely privileged to have spent a weekend with Dr. Smith, receiving an oral overview of this material at the Esalen Institute. I found this most avuncular gentleman to the epitome of sincere faith, and his gentle nature reminded me of the late, great actors Robert Young and Jimmy Stewart. The Illustrated Guide to World Religions provides not only a lucid summary for each of the world's great Wisdom Traditions, but also contains gems of wisdom from each one. Browsing through this book, I discovered one such gem that has made a profound difference in my experience of prayer and meditation. Reading Rabi'a al-Adawiyya's "Night Prayer," I came to understand and share in this Sufi saint's feeling of being wedded to one's Maker. |
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