Charts of World Religions

by House, H Wayne

• ISBN13: 9780310204954
• ISBN10: 031020495X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

Charts of World Religions provides an invaluable resource for students and anyone interested in understanding today's complex religious mosaic. It allows quick comparison and contrast of numerous religions.In clear, easy-to-understand charts, this book provides vital information on such topics as the origins of different religions, the nature of deity or ultimate spiritual reality, the source of spiritual truth, the nature of the human predicament, and the nature of salvation/enlightenment/liberation. Similarities and differences between various beliefs are brought out, and subdivisions of broad categories, such as various branches of Christianity and Islam, are detailed.More than ninety charts appear in six major sections:- Prolegomena to World Religions- Comparison of World Religions- Ancient Mediterranean Religionso Egyptian pantheon, Graeco-Roman deities, and more- Western Religionso Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i, and Secular Humanism- Eastern Religionso Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Confucianism, and Sikhism- Indigenous Religionso African, Caribbean, and Native American"Wayne House's Charts of World Religions is an excellent resource for both the overall picture and the painstaking details of religious belief around the world."-Win Corduan, professor of philosophy and religion, Taylor University

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 11
Acknowledgments	p. 13
Prolegomena to World Religions
What Is Religion?
Four Functional Modes of Religion
Three Basic Views on Faith and Reason
Terms Relating to Religion
Six Dimensions of Religion
Do All Religions Lead to God?
Comparison of Foundational Religious Worldviews
Comparison of World Religions
Major World Religions in Order of Founding
Comparison of Beliefs Among Religions
Holy Books of World Religions
Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World
Ancient Near Eastern Deities (Excluding Egypt)
Egyptian Paganism
Gods of the Egyptian Pantheon
Greek Paganism
Roman Paganism
Graeco-Roman Deities
Western Religions
Historical Relationships of Western Religions
Comparison of Western Religions Judaism
Timeline of Judaism
Judaism
Comparison of Beliefs within Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Reform Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Jewish Scriptures According to Rabbinic Tradition
Jewish Holy Days
The Jewish Calendar
The Jewish Covenants Christianity
Timeline of Christianity
Christianity
Comparison of Beliefs within Christianity
Roman Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Liberal Protestantism
Evangelical Protestantism
Fundamentalist Protestantism
Pentecostal-Charismatic Protestantism
Christian Creeds and Councils
Christian Holy Days
Christian Scriptures Islam
Timeline of Islam
Islam
Comparison of Beliefs within Islam
Sunni Islam
Shi'ite Islam
Sufi Islam
Nation of Islam
Islamic Calendar and Holy Days Baha'i
Timeline of Baha'i
Baha'i Secular Humanism
Timeline of Secular Humanism
Secular Humanism
Eastern Religions
Historical Relationships of Eastern Religions
Comparison of Eastern Religions Hinduism
Timeline of Hinduism
Hinduism
Comparison of Beliefs within Hinduism
Brahmanism
Advaita Vedanta
Bhakti
Self-Realization Fellowship, Appendix on Transcendental Meditation
Ananda Marga Yoga Society
Hare Krishna (ISKCON) Buddhism
Timeline of Buddhism
Buddhism
Comparison of Beliefs within Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism, Appendix on Pure Land Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism
Vajrayana Buddhism
Zen Buddhism
Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism Taoism
Timeline of Taoism
Taoism, Appendix on Religious Taoism Jainism
Timeline of Jainism
Jainism Zoroastrianism
Timeline of Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism Shintoism
Timeline of Shinto
Shinto Confucianism
Timeline of Confucianism
Confucianism Sikhism
Timeline of Sikhism
Sikhism
Indigenous Religions
Historical Relationships of Indigenous Religions
Comparison of Indigenous Religions African
Timeline of African Traditional Religion
African Traditional Religion Caribbean
Caribbean Religions
Comparison of Caribbean Religions
Timeline of Rastafari
Rastafari
Timeline of Santeria and Palo Mayombe
Santeria, Appendix on Palo Mayombe
Timeline of Umbanda and Candombl+¼
Umbanda, Appendix on Candombl+¼
Timeline of Voudon (Voodoo)
Voudon (Voodoo) Native American
Timeline of Native American Religion
Native American Religion
Glossary	p. 316
Sources	p. 322
Recommended Reading List	p. 336
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Charts of World Religions
Copyright © 2006 by H. Wayne House
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
House, H. Wayne.
Charts of world religions / H. Wayne House.
p. cm. (ZondervanCharts)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: This collection of charts shows what the major religions of the world have in common and how they
differ in terms of beliefs, practices, and understanding of human nature and the supernatural — Provided by publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-20495-4 (softcover)
ISBN-10: 0-310-20495-X (softcover)
1. Religions — Charts, diagrams, etc. I. Title. II. Series.
BL82.H68 2005
200'.22'3 — dc22
2005016025
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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Part 1
Prolegomena
to
World Religions
Friedrich
Schleiermacher
(1768–1834)
“The essence of religion consists in the feeling of absolute dependence.”
James Martineau
(1805–1900)
“Religion is the belief in … a Divine mind and will ruling the universe and
holding moral relations with mankind.”
C. P. Tiele
(1830–1902)
“Religion is … that pure and reverential disposition or frame of mind
which we call piety.”
F. H. Bradley
(1846–1924)
“Religion is … the attempt to express the complete reality of goodness
through every aspect of our being.”
James Frazier
(1854–1941) “[Religion is] … a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man.”
Emile Durkheim
(1858–1917)
“[Religion is] … a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred
things, … which unite into one single moral community.”
Rudolf Otto
(1869–1937)
“Religion is that which grows out of, and gives expression to, experience of
the holy in its various aspects.”
Paul Tillich
(1886–1965)
“Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern
which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains
the answer to the question of the meaning of our life.”
J. Milton Yinger
(1916– )
“Religion is a system of beliefs and practices by means of which a group of
people struggle with the ultimate problem of human life.”
John Hick
(1922– ) “Religion constitutes our varied human response to transcendent Reality.”
Ninian Smart
(1927–2001)
Six characteristics or dimensions of religion: “the ritual, the mythological,
the doctrinal, the ethical, the social, and the experiential.”
Peter Berger
(1929– )
“[Religion is] … the establishment through human activity of an allembracing
sacred order, that is, of a sacred cosmos that will be capable of
maintaining itself in the ever-present face of chaos.”
James C. Livingston
(1930– )
“Religion is that system of activities and beliefs directed toward that which
is perceived to be of sacred value and transforming power.”
Roy A. Clouser
(1937– )
“A religious belief is any belief in something or other as divine. ‘Divine’
means having the status of not depending on anything else.”
Roland Robertson
(1938– )
“[Religion pertains] to a distinction between an empirical and a superempirical,
transcendent reality: the affairs of the empirical being subordinated
in significance to the non-empirical.”
What Is Religion?
Chart 1
Existential Faith and religious experience
Intellectual Formal statements of belief (a religion’s central beliefs or truth claims)
Institutional Organizations advocating and transmitting beliefs
Ethical Teachings and beliefs that relate to moral conduct
Four Functional Modes of Religion
Strong Rationalism
In order for a religious belief system to be properly and rationally
accepted, conclusive evidence must be provided that proves the belief system
in question to be true.
Fideism
(Faith-ism)
Religious belief systems cannot (or ought not) be subjected to rational
evaluation.
Critical Rationalism Religious belief systems can and should be rationally criticized and
evaluated, even though conclusive proof of such systems is impossible.
Three Basic Views on Faith and Reason
Belief A statement that is taken to be true; a truth claim.
Experience
An event one lives through (either as a participant or as an observer) and
about which one is conscious or aware. Such events are not merely emotional
states; rather, they involve concepts and beliefs about the Being or Reality that
is experienced.
Religious Statement A truth claim about God or Ultimate Reality and his or its relationship to
the world.
Miracle
An event that is (1) contrary to ordinary human experience, and (2)
the result of divine activity. On one view, this divine activity “breaks,”
“suspends,” or “counteracts via a supernatural force” the laws of nature. On
another, this divine activity causes occurrences that do not conform to the
way in which reality is normally experienced.
Terms Relating to Religion
Charts 2, 3, 4
Experiential Personal spiritual experiences
Ritual Sacred activities expressed in worship, sacrifice, and other formalized practices
Myth Stories that encapsulate fundamental beliefs of a group
Social Institutional forms of religion
Ethics Moral codes and guides to behavior
Doctrine Systematization of beliefs
Six Dimensions of Religion
Position Viewpoint Advocates1
Religious
Exclusivism
There are elements of truth in other religions, but only
one religion is comprehensively and fundamentally true.

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Excerpted from Zond Charts-world Religions by H. Wayne House, H. W. House
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