The World Religions Reader

by Beckerlegge; Gwilym

• ISBN13: 9780415247498
• ISBN10: 0415247497
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-01-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The World Religions Readergathers together material on six of the world's most influential faiths. The selection of readings is drawn from a broad range of historical and contemporary sources, giving a full picture of the beliefs and practices of each religion. This new edition includes introductions to each religious tradition, and extensively revised section on Hinduism and a completely new selection of readings on Buddhism.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Second Edition	xix
Preface	xxi
Acknowledgements	xxiii
PART ONE: JUDAISM
Introduction	3	(1)
Passages from the Jewish Bible
Torah: The Five Books of Moses	4	(5)
God's covenant with the Jews (Exodus 6:2--8)	4	(1)
God's encounter with Moses on the mountain (Exodus 19)	4	(2)
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1--18)	6	(1)
God's law: its extension (Leviticus 19)	6	(2)
Hear, O Israel (Deuteronomy 6:1--9)	8	(1)
The Prophets	9	(8)
Prophetic words of judgement (Isaiah 1:1--20)	9	(2)
Prophetic words of promise (Isaiah 40:1--11)	11	(1)
The Jewish people: God's servant (Isaiah 42:1--9)	12	(1)
The treachery of God's servant (Hosea 13)	13	(1)
God's promise of forgiveness (Hosea 14)	14	(1)
God's choice of the Jews carries justice with it (Amos 3:1--8)	15	(1)
God will establish his rule (Micah 4:1--8)	16	(1)
The Writings	17	(6)
God's majesty and humanity's great vocation (Psalm 8)	17	(1)
God demands righteousness of his people (Psalm 15)	18	(1)
God's providential care (Psalm 23)	18	(1)
Psalm of thanksgiving to God (Psalm 103)	19	(1)
Psalm of praise to God (Psalm 150)	20	(1)
True wisdom (Job 28)	20	(3)
From the Rabbinic Tradition
The Sanhedrin from the Mishnah	23	(1)
Laws of prayer from the Shulkhan Arukh	24	(1)
Laws concerning the Seven Days of Mourning	25	(1)
Readings from The Authorised Daily Prayer Book	26	(3)
Ethics of the Fathers	26	(2)
Morning Service: from the Mishnah. Peah, ch. i	28	(1)
Morning Service: Three Prayers	28	(1)
Prayer from Service of the Heart	29	(1)
Kol Nidre Prayer	30	(2)
Leo Baeck
Different Voices from the Past
Hasidic: Sayings of the Bratzlaver	32	(1)
Jewish poets of Spain	33	(3)
All glory to his name	33	(1)
Before I was born	34	(1)
Lament on the Devastation of the Land of Israel	34	(2)
Maimonides	36	(4)
On Charity	36	(1)
On Free Will	37	(1)
To Obadiah the Proselyte	38	(2)
Judaism as a `revealed legislation'	40	(4)
Moses Mendelssohn
The rock of Judaism	44	(5)
S. R. Hirsch
The Holocaust and Post-Holocaust Theology
Yossel Rakover's appeal to God	49	(2)
Z. Kolitz
The concept of man after Auschwitz	51	(1)
J. Bemporad
Survival and memory	52	(2)
Itka Frajman Zygmuntowicz
Sara Horowitz
Judaism and Israel
The redemption of Israel	54	(1)
Z. H. Kallischer
Muslims, Jews, and the Western world -- A Jewish view	55	(3)
Richard L. Rubenstein
The current role of Halakhah	58	(3)
David Novak
Torah and Covenant: Recent and Contemporary Voices
The concept of Torah	61	(1)
H. N. Bialik
The people and the Book	62	(1)
Leo Baeck
The Pharisaic movement	63	(1)
Leo Baeck
The law is not a burden	64	(1)
S. Schechter
A priest-people	65	(1)
K. Kohler
The chosen people	66	(4)
Louis Jacobs
Reclaiming the covenant: A Jewish feminist's search for meaning	70	(1)
Ellen M. Umansky
Domestic observances	71	(6)
Shlomo Deshen
PART TWO: CHRISTIANITY
Introduction	77	(1)
Passages from the Christian Bible
Creation and the original condition of humanity according to the Old Testament	78	(2)
Genesis 1:26--8	78	(1)
Genesis 2:7--9, 15--17	78	(1)
Genesis 3:1--7, 14--19, 22--4	79	(1)
The Kingdom of God	80	(1)
Daniel 2:44	80	(1)
Daniel 4:3	80	(1)
Matthew 6:10	80	(1)
Mark 1:14--15	80	(1)
Mark 9:47	80	(1)
Luke 11:20	80	(1)
Luke 13:18--19	81	(1)
Luke 17:20--1	81	(1)
John 3:3	81	(1)
The Sermon on the Mount -- Matthew 5--7	81	(4)
The Resurrection	85	(5)
Matthew 28	85	(1)
Luke 24:13--53	86	(1)
John 20:11--29	87	(1)
John 21:1--14	88	(1)
I Corinthians 15:3--8	88	(1)
I Corinthians 15:35--57	89	(1)
Philippians 2:5--11	89	(1)
The work of Christ	90	(1)
Romans 5:1--10	90	(1)
Hebrews 9:24--8	90	(1)
Baptism	91	(1)
Matthew 28:18--20	91	(1)
Mark 10:13--14	91	(1)
Acts 2:37--8	91	(1)
I Corinthians 1:13--16	91	(1)
Galatians 3:26--7	91	(1)
The Church Fathers
Origen on the baptism of infants	92	(1)
St Ignatius on the ministry and sacraments	92	(1)
St Irenaeus on tradition and succession	93	(1)
The Churches: Their Life and Faith
The `Nicene' or Constantinopolitan Creed (325 CE)	94	(1)
The Athanasian Creed	95	(1)
A declaration of the Second Vatican Council (1964)	96	(1)
Anglican attitudes to the creeds (1976)	97	(2)
Hymns	99	(3)
For Christ's saving death upon the cross	99	(1)
To pay the price of sin	100	(1)
Love so amazing	100	(1)
For Christ's Resurrection	101	(1)
A joint declaration by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Rome, 1989	102	(1)
The Primacy of the Bishop of Rome from a homily by Pope John Paul II, 1989	103	(2)
Confessions of faith: the St Hilda community	105	(1)
On abortion from Evangelium Vitae	106	(1)
Women's Voices and Feminist Theology
God as Mother and Father	107	(1)
The Intifada, nonviolence and the Bible	108	(2)
Jean Zaru
Mary as one of the bases of feminist theology	110	(1)
Theological perspectives of a religious woman today	111	(2)
Sister Mary John Mananzan
Christianity and Social Justice
An attempt at synthesis: solidarity and poverty	113	(2)
Gustavo Gutierrez
The black Messiah and black humanity	115	(4)
Allan Boesak
Reflections on liberation theology	119	(1)
Desmond Tutu
Declaration of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, April 1990	120	(3)
A statement in support of Lithuanian independence, Easter eve, 1990	123	(4)
Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevicius
PART THREE: ISLAM
Introduction	127	(1)
From the Qur'an
The Cow (extract)	128	(4)
The Night Journey (extract)	132	(2)
The Believers (extract)	134	(6)
Light (extract)	140	(2)
Ya Sin (extract)	142	(1)
The Mount (extract)	142	(1)
Iron (extract)	143	(3)
The Mustering (extract)	146	(1)
The Land	147	(1)
The Sun	148	(1)
The Night	148	(1)
The Forenoon	149	(1)
The Expanding	149	(1)
The Fig	150	(1)
The Blood-Clot	150	(1)
Power	151	(1)
The Clear Sign	151	(1)
The Earthquake	151	(1)
The Chargers	152	(1)
The Clatterer	152	(1)
Rivalry	152	(1)
Afternoon	153	(1)
The Backbiter	153	(1)
The Elephant	153	(1)
Koraish	154	(1)
Charity	154	(1)
Abundance	154	(1)
The Unbelievers	154	(1)
Help	155	(1)
Perish	155	(1)
Sincere Religion	155	(1)
Daybreak	155	(1)
Men	155	(2)
The Beautiful Names
From Abu Hamid al-Ghazali	157	(4)
The Great	157	(1)
The Opener	158	(1)
The Forgiving	158	(1)
The One Who Raises to Honour and Abases	159	(1)
The Grand One	160	(1)
Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi on the beautiful names	161	(1)
From Edwin Arnold's Pearls of Faith	162	(5)
Pearl of al-Kabir (The Grand One)	162	(1)
Pearl of al-Fattah (The Opener)	163	(4)
Hadith/Sunnah
The living thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad	167	(3)
Law in Islam
On birth control	170	(5)
Al-Ghazali	170	(1)
Maulana Mawdudi	171	(4)
The character of Islamic law	175	(3)
A. al-Azmeh
Muslim Mystics
`The Blemishes of the Soul'	178	(3)
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
`Poem of the Way'	181	(1)
Ibn al-Farid
Shaikh Abu-l-Abbas al-Alawi	182	(3)
From the newspaper Al-Balagh	183	(1)
Shaikh Abu-l-Abbas al-Alawi remembered by a contemporary	184	(1)
Islam in the Late Twentieth Century
A statement by the Islamic Council of Europe, 1976	185	(5)
Veiled threats	190	(4)
Rana Kabbani
Disaggregating `Islam': four guidelines	194	(7)
Fred Halliday
PART FOUR: HINDUISM
Introduction	201	(1)
Village Hinduism
The concept `Hinduism'	202	(1)
W. Cantwell Smith
The problem of Village Hinduism	203	(17)
U. Sharma
Caste, food and commensality	220	(5)
L. Dumont
Status evaluation in the Hindu caste system	225	(1)
H. N. C. Stevenson
Theodicy and the doctrine of Karma	226	(19)
U. Sharma
Hindu Patterns of Liberation
From the Upanishads	245	(8)
The Isha Upanishad	245	(2)
The Chandogya Upanishad	247	(6)
From the Bhagavad Gita	253	(31)
From the Laws of Manu: duties of husband and wife	284	(3)
The Modern Period
The meaning of moksha in contemporary Hindu thought and life	287	(7)
K. Sivaraman
The unity of religions	294	(3)
Each religion as a path to God	294	(2)
Sri Ramakrishna
Hinduism -- The mother of religions	296	(1)
Swami Vivekananda
A modern interpretation of Advaita	297	(1)
Swami Vivekananda
The coming of a spiritual age: Sri Aurobindo and Auroville	298	(6)
Integral perfection	298	(2)
Sri Aurobindo
Man a transitional being	300	(2)
Sri Aurobindo
A dream	302	(1)
The Mother [of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram]
To be a true Aurovillian	303	(1)
The Mother [of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram]
No religion	304	(1)
The Mother [of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram]
M. K. Gandhi's Experiments with Truth	304	(12)
Experiments with Truth	304	(2)
Gandhi's mission	306	(1)
Gandhism	306	(1)
On the Gita	307	(1)
Ashram vows	308	(6)
Sanatana Dharma	314	(2)
`Hindu-ness'	316	(1)
V. D. Savarkar
A modern Hindu philosopher's understanding of caste	317	(3)
S. Radhakrishnan
New wine, old skins: The Sangh Parivar and the transformation of `Hinduism'	320	(11)
James G. Lochtefeld
PART FIVE: BUDDHISM
Introduction	331	(1)
From the Suttas (discourses) and Vinaya (discipline) of the Theravada Tradition
The Buddha	332	(10)
The great renunciation	332	(1)
The Buddha's enlightenment	333	(2)
The Buddha hesitates to preach the profound Dhamma	335	(2)
From the Buddha's last days	337	(3)
The Buddha in a previous life	340	(2)
The Dhamma	342	(11)
The Four-Noble Truths	342	(2)
The senses are burning	344	(1)
Questions unconnected with the goal	345	(2)
Testing the teachings	347	(2)
A teaching about Nirvana (Nibbana)	349	(1)
King Milinda's questions	350	(2)
Extracts from the Dhammapada	352	(1)
The Sangha	353	(6)
Control of admission to the monastic Sangha	353	(1)
Training precepts for novices	354	(1)
The monastic rules entailing defeat	355	(1)
The founding of the nuns order and the eight important rules	355	(4)
From the Mahayana Texts
The Mahayana	359	(15)
The Bodhisattva vows	359	(2)
The six perfections of a Bodhisattva	361	(3)
The qualities of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara	364	(2)
The illusion of self-hood	366	(1)
Praise of the Awakening Mind	366	(2)
The Dragon Princess	368	(2)
From the Shorter Pure Land Sutra (Sukhavativyuha)	370	(3)
The benefits of the Lotus Sutra	373	(1)
Mahayana Philosophy	374	(13)
The Heart Sutra from the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) Texts	374	(2)
The meaning of `empty' in Madhyamaka philosophy	376	(2)
A Yogacara treatise	378	(5)
The Tathagata-garbha doctrine	383	(1)
Nine examples which illustrate how the Buddha Nature is obscured	384	(3)
Buddhist Practices
Theravada Sources	387	(5)
Anapanasati meditation -- `mindfulness of breathing'	387	(1)
Two parrita chants	388	(2)
Vinaya rules on food	390	(1)
From the Therigatha, the elder nuns' verses	391	(1)
Promoting the Dharma -- Ashoka's Rock Edict IV	391	(1)
Mahayana Sources	392	(5)
Chinese sources relating to Ch'an Buddhism	392	(1)
Japanese sources relating to Zen Buddhism	393	(1)
Militant Buddhism: the determination of Nichiren	394	(3)
Vajrayana Sources	397	(8)
Meeting Spiritual Friends	397	(2)
Searching for reincarnated Lamas	399	(3)
An Avalokiteshvara tantric liturgy: For All Beings Throughout Space	402	(2)
Tantric `weather' practices	404	(1)
Recent and Contemporary Buddhist Concerns
The benefits of Nichiren's teaching	405	(2)
Josei Toda
Zen hardship versus `instant enlightenment'	407	(1)
Z. Shibayama
Western clothes for Zen Buddhism?	408	(1)
C. Humphreys
Helping others	409	(3)
T. Deshimaru
Buddhist grass-roots activism	412	(5)
K. Jones
Sarvodaya: self-help in Sri Lanka	417	(3)
A. T. Ariyaratne
See the suffering	420	(2)
Thich Nhat Hanh
Sake, ancestors and meditation: A visit to a Zen temple	422	(5)
Ian Reader
PART SIX: SIKHISM
Introduction	427	(1)
Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh
A selection of the hymns of Guru Nanak	428	(18)
Japji	428	(8)
Sohila Arti	436	(10)
From the Dasam Granth of Guru Gobind Singh	446	(5)
The Jap: By the Grace of the Eternal One, the True Guru	446	(1)
In praise of the Eternal One (Akal Ustat)	447	(4)
The Sikh Tradition
Sikhism	451	(8)
H. McLeod
The Code of Sikh Conduct and Conventions: from Sikh Rahit Maryada	459	(6)
Khalistan and Sikh Identity
`We are not Hindus'	465	(2)
Kahn Singh Nabha
Characteristics of Sikh Fundamentalism	467	(3)
T. N. Madan
What is and what is not anti-Sikh	470	(1)
Khushwant Singh
Sikhism and politics	471	(2)
Bhai Sahib Sirdar Kapur Singh
The status and position of the Golden Temple	473	(2)
Kapur Singh
A Sikh Woman of the Nineties
Sikhism, love, Amrit	475	(4)
Index	479