World Religions Today

by Esposito, John L.; Fasching, Darrell J.; Lewis, Todd

• ISBN13: 9780195365634
• ISBN10: 0195365631
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

World Religions Today is the only book to examine the effects of modernity and globalization on the daily practice by believers of the world's major religions. It is designed as the core textbook for university survey courses on world religions, usually offered in the first or second year.This particularly lively and thoughtful survey is now updated to cover more aspects of the current international situation and developments in religious life around the world. DT NEW : "Tales of Spiritual Transformation" boxes in each chapter, tell a story of someone whose life was changed through religious faith. Helps to personalize the religions being discussed. DT NEW: "Teachings of Religious Wisdom" boxes also in each chapter, allow each religion to speak for itself through primary source material. Students will find assistance in putting a vast array of data in context, through timelines of each religion and full-color maps, as well as a comprehensive glossary. Discussion questions and suggestions for further reading will help students examine what they have learned, then researchfurther.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Globalization: World Religions in Everyone's Hometown

Understanding Religious Experience and Its Expressions

The Great Transition: From Tribal Life to Urban Life and the Emergence of World Religions

The Great Religious Stories of the World

Modernization in Global Perspective

Modern Colonialism, the Socialist Challenge, and the End of Modernity

Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Conclusion: We Are All Heretics in the Postmodern Situation

Indigenous Religions

Overview

Origins of Homo Religiosus: Prehistory

Indigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and Afterlife

Indigenous Religions Today

Conclusion

The Many Stories of Judaism: Sacred and Secular

Overview

Encounter with Modernity: Modern Judaisms and the Challenge of Ultra-Orthodoxy

Premodern Judaism: The Formative Era

Premodern Judaism: The Classical Era

Judaism and Modernity

Judaism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Conclusion

Christian Diversity and the Road to Modernity

Overview

Encounter with Modernity: The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy

Premodern Christianity: The Formative Era

Premodern Christianity: The Classical Era

Christianity and Modernity

Christianity and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Conclusion

Islam: The Many Faces of the Muslim Experience

Overview

Encounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Western Colonialism

Premodern Islam: The Formative Era

Premodern Islam: The Classical Era

Islam and Modernity

Islam and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Islam: Postmodern Challenges

Conclusion

Hinduism

Overview

Encountering Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State

Premodern Hinduism: The Formative Era

Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE-900 CE)

Premodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era (900 CE-1500 CE)

Hinduism and Modernity

Hinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Hindu Festival Practice

The Religious Institutions of Contemporary Hinduism

Conclusion

Buddhism: Ways to Nirvana

Overview

Encounter with Modernity: Socially Engaged Buddhism

Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era

Premodern Buddhism: The Classical Era

The Core Doctrines

Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion

Buddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Conclusion

East Asian Religions: Traditions of Human Cultivation and Natural Harmony

Overview

Encounter with Modernity: Postcolonial Confucian Economics

East Asian Religions in the Premodern Era

East Asian Religions in the Early Modern Era

East Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World

Conclusion

Globalization: From New to New Age Religions

Overview

New Religions

New Age Religions

East Goes West: Transcendental Meditation

West Goes East: The Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon and the Aum Shinrikyo Movement

Religious Postmodernism and Global Ethics

The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism

The Future of Religion in an Age of Globalization

Glossary

Art Credits

Index

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