History of the World's Religions

by Noss, David S.; Grangaard, Blake R.

• ISBN13: 9780136149842
• ISBN10: 0136149847
• Edition: 12th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

For courses in History of World Religions or Introduction to World Religions. A History of the World's Religions gives students an accurate look at the religions of the world by including descriptive and interpretive details from the original source materials, and to bridge the interval between the founding of religions and their present state. Refined by over forty years of dialogue and correspondence with religious experts and practitioners around the world, Noss'sA History of the World's Religionsis widely regarded as the hallmark of scholarship, fairness, and accuracy in its field. It is also the most thorough yet manageable history of world religion available in a single volume, treating many subjects largely neglected in other texts. The book's depth, breadth, and organization free instructors from having to cover everything in lectures, enabling them to select specific assignments and use class time for questions, discussion, and their own favorite materials.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Some Primal and Bygone Religions

Religion in Prehistoric and Primal Cultures

Beginnings: Religion in Prehistoric Cultures

Basic Terminology: Characterisitics of Religion in Primal Cultures

Case Study: The Dieri of Southeast Australia

Case Study: The BaVenda of South Africa

Case Study: The Cherokees of the Southeastern Woodlands

Glossary

Bygone Religions That Have Left Their Mark on the West

Mesopotamia

Greece

Rome

Europe Beyond the Alps

Mesoamerica: The Maya

Glossary

The Religions of South Asia

Early Hinduism: The Passage from Ritual Sacrifice to Mystical Union

The Religion of the Vedic Age

Brahmanism, Caste, and Ceremonial Life

Glossary

Later Hinduism: Religion as the Determinant of Social Behavior

Changes in Brahmanism: The Four Goals and the Three Ways

The Ordered Society: The Way ofWorks

The Reflective Mode: The Way of Knowledge, the Upanishads

The Reflective Models: The Six Acceptable Systems

The Devotional Mode: The Way of Devotion, the Bhagavad Gita

The Devotional Models: Epics, Puranas, and Deities

The Devotional Life

Issues and Problems of the Present

Glossary

Jainism: A Study in Asceticism

Mahaviras Manner of Life

Philosophy and Ethics of Jainism

Mahaviras Followers

Glossary

Buddhism in Its First Phase: Moderation in World Renunciation

Life of the Founder

The Teachings of the Buddha

Glossary

The Religious Development of Buddhism: Diversity in Paths to Nirvana 186

The Spread of Buddhism in India and Southeast Asia

The Rise of the Mahayana in India

The Spread of Buddhism in Northern Lands

The Help-of-Others Message of the Mahayana

The Mahayana Philosophies of Religion

Mahayana Schools of Thought in China and Japan

Buddhism in Tibet

Buddhism Today

Glossary

Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism

The Life and Work of Nanak

Nanaks Teaching

The Political History of Sikhism

Glossary

The Religions of East Asia

Native Chinese Religion and Daoism

The Basic Elements of Chinese Religion

Daoism as a Philosophy (Dao-jia)

Daoism as Magic and Religion (Dao-jiao)

Glossary

Confucius and Confucianism: A Study in Optimistic Humanism

The Man Confucius

The Teachings of Confucius

The Confucian SchoolIts Rivals and Champions

Neo-Confucianism

The State Cult of Confucius

Religion in China in the Modern Period

Glossary

Shinto: The Native Contribution to Japanese Religion

The Background of Shinto

The Shinto Myth

Shinto in Medieval and More Recent Times

State Shinto to 1945

Shinto and the Warrior

Shrine Shinto Today

Domestic and Sectarian Shinto

Glossary

The Religions of the Middle East

Zoroastrianism: A Religion Based on Ethical Dualism

Iranian Religion Before Zoroaster

The Life and Teachings of Zoroaster

The Religion of the Later Avesta

The Zoroastrians of the Present Day

Glossary 3<$$$>

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