The World's Religions: A Study of the Essential Teachings of the World's Major Faiths (Plus)

This is classic book, so my description of content would just be redundant. But, it is important for the reader to have the correct expectation. As the author says in his preface, this book is not a detailed scholarly treatise of each religion. It evolved from a TV program. The book gives an overview of the main points, main history of each religion. Topics move from point to point quickly, like trying to keep a television audience interested, so they won't get bored and change channels. If you want to understand the general idea of each religion, read this book; if you want to become an expert in one, find something else. Having said that, concerning the three religions that I already knew a lot about, this book effectively explained the main beliefs and history of those religions. So, I believe it must have done an equally good job explaining the others. The author was always respectful of each religion; they were all taken seriously. As a result, I could not tell to which religion(s) the author, himself, believed. The book was not evangelical (which it shouldn't be). It didn't change which three religions that speak to me the most. What it did was broaden my definition of religion. By my old definition, some of the religions in this book (notably Confucianism) would have been a philosophy, but not a religion. The authors definition was more broad than mine. The definition went something like this (paraphrasing): a set of beliefs that guide the moral life of a community. By that definition, Confucianism certainly qualifies. By that definition, even an atheist probably has a religion. The only weakness of the book, which I found, was the list of suggested further reading. I looked at a couple of the listed books about a couple different religions, and I was not impressed. But, don't let that stop you from reading this book.

The standard in the subject

In this book, Huston Smith provides an objective analysis of the world's most influential religions including Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and some primal religions. He succinctly presents the precepts which constitute the foundation of the religions within the scope of this book. This presentation helps the average readers to understand what are the central elements of a specific religion, the meaning of these elements for the adepts, the subtle relationship of these religions. This book does not compare the religions to identify which one is superior, rather focus on understanding them. The book at times can be difficult to read for an average reader because of the complex structure of long sentences and the theological excerpts. However, the author follows up with clear points to help the readers in understanding.

Huston Smith eloquently describes the world’s historical, as well as primal, religions in the traditional sense of noting their differences, but breaking with tradition and including similarities and commonalities to each other.

This book by distinguished scholar Huston Smith (1919- ) remains a popular classical introduction to comparative religion. Originally published in 1958 and revised in 1991, Amazon now offers the 2009 re-edition. This 50th Anniversary Edition includes two prefaces by the author (from 1998 and 2009) and a Plus section consisting of a 14-page lecture by Smith and a 16-page interview conducted by Richard Marranca in 1997. The book is a sui generis study of the world's great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It is not a history of Religions, not a judgmental commentary. It is a knowledgeable presentation of both the differences and similarities in the major religious traditions. In a direct and entertaining dialogue with the reader, Smith delivers his instruction mixing it with anecdotes and references taken from literature or popular culture. A college teacher by profession, Smith explains that he learned the style used in his book from PBS series he participated in: he was told repeatedly by the director that the TV audience was not a captive classroom audience, but an audience in which if the viewers loose the attention for thirty seconds will switch stations without coming back. The book explains, simply and sympathetically, the basic tenets of each religion and the reasons why it attracts millions of devout followers. By request of his publishers, Smith abridged his treatise to provide the text for The Illustrated World's Religions (1995). For an update of the views of the now 94-year old scholar it is useful to watch the 1996 Bill Moyers 5-part PBS special to Smith's life and work, "The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith". Both the illustrated book and the DVD special are offered by Amazon sellers.

I like it

First I would like to indicate that I am reading this book for the second time, and i think it won’t be the last. I read several books on world religions, and each offered a different way of introducing the faiths and their themes. This book focuses on the essence of each religion, its sacredness. It dives into the spiritual aspects of each of the religions and interprets them on a high academic scale. If you’re considering this book and expecting to get introduced to the major world religions, their rituals, texts, world distributions and basic theology, then other books can offer a better context. For, i am not sure how much this book describes the "religion of the common people" or if we can say, the "everyday religion". On the other hand, if you are interested in hearing what Huston Smith, one of the leading scholars in this field, has to say about each religion, about its essence and its deepest values then this is the way to go. The chapter on “Judaism” was a bit complicated for me, and hard to follow. Other chapters especially those on Buddhism, Hinduism and Primal Religions were exceptionally innovative. His views on Hinduism are a philosophy of life. If you are buying this book, I would recommend reading it in parallel with another book: “The World’s Wisdom” by Philip Novak, which contains a rich amount of religious texts and was written to accompany Huston Smith’s book. This book is a must read for anyone wishing to have an objective and deep view of the historical and primitive faith of this world.

Just one thing to add from the many thoughtful and detailed reviews here: Dr Smith describes nine major religions in sufficient depth to give the reader an excellent grounding of understanding for each one. What stood out for me is the complete respect he gives to each one, almost as if he were an adherent of each. As such, I think that any member of these major religions would say: 'Huston Smith really understands my religion. He gets it'

El libro llegó maltratado

This book is essential reading for all who wish to ground themselves in the basics of religions. Huston was also one of the participants in the Marsh Chapel Psilocybin experiment conducted by Walter Pahnke on Good Friday 1962. Huston didn't get the Placebo, and has stated that the experience was powerful and left a permanent mark on his expereinced world view. He had already written this book at the time. Read it for a really balanced insight into what makes the various religious persuasions tick!

I have been interested in religions for a long time. Doing my own religious journey through Christianity and Zen Buddhism. I thought I had achieved a level of understanding that gave me an overview of religions that was quite consistent and robust. This book blew my mind. He had super illuminating points about every religion. The book starts with quotations that while science make major contributions to minor [human] needs, it is religion that makes contributions, however small, to things that matter most. That the book is about religion that exists as acute fever not a dull habit. Hinduism chapter was the longest and one that surprised the most. There is a casual mention that Carl Jung was influenced by Hinduism in creating his (mbti) personality types. It mentions how Hinduism caters to different personality types in how people get to know God. One is a spiritual path based on love of God very much like Christianity. Another is a spiritual path of equal validity based on the dissolution of the mind to experience God very much like Zen Buddhism. The book quotes that there comes a time when one asks even of Shakespeare and Beethoven, is this all? The book also mentions that Hindus believe God to be one and universal, appearing in different forms to each group of people. This was good as it is something that I strongly believed without ever having had confirmation. The book was full of such revelations and confirmations as well as brand new insights that took my breath away. (I copied many extracts for easier access in the process learning for the first time that Kindle books have copy limits. Haha.) This book was very valuable to me.

My deep thinking husband loves philosophy and is self-taught on all the greats. Slogging through Nietzsche and Socrates is his idea of fun. He recently shifted into religions and has really been enjoying studying Asian and Indian religions. I bought him this book as a surprise present to give him more material to chew on. As I hoped, he LOVES it and has barely been able to put it down since I gave it to him a couple of days ago. Instead of giving a history lesson on how the major world religions came to be, this author focuses on the ways various religions attempt to satisfy the longings and concerns of the human soul. I chose this book because I like the author's focus on spiritual principles. I also like the fact that, like my husband, this author seems capable of recognizing and appreciating the kernels of Divine wisdom that all religions have to offer. Once you know who God is, you are able to see Him at work everywhere instead of getting stuck in the idea that there is only one "right" religion. My husband and I have come to the conclusion that there is no perfect religion--instead, they each have their strengths and shortcomings. I really enjoy hearing my husband's summaries of what he's gleaning from this book and would highly recommend for any serious thinkers who are open to seeing God working in a "big picture" kind of way. I also really like how this author discusses some of the less common religions in the final chapter of this book--that was a very nice bonus.

Here the best of all religions is given. The core philosophies of the religion are given, and the author has made himself clear regarding it from the beginning. He has successfully brought out the beauty of all religions, and reading his work you will understand how all religions are similar in several respects. I hope all people will at least read this book before talking about religions in any forum. I have the Kindle version. It's good. There are no diagrams and pictures here, so a Kindle version will do just good.