Product Description
Experiencing the World's Religions provides a clear and compelling account of religion as a diverse, lived experience by peoples around the world. Global in its coverage, the text conveys the vitality and richness of the world's religions as a living cultural wellspring that not only concerns systems of belief but how those beliefs are expressed in ceremonies, food, clothing, art, architecture, pilgrimage, scripture, and music. The text demonstrates why an understanding of the world's religions enriches our lives. In an engaging narrative emphasizing the experience of religion, the text takes students on a personal voyage through doctrines, history, the religiously inspired arts, ceremonies, and everyday expressions of belief and combines these with powerful photographs from around the globe. The text goes beyond traditional approaches to personally connect students with the vitality of the great religions and how they reach into the lives of individuals and the culture at large. This fourth edition has been thoroughly updated in both content and illustration, to address recent world events and political changes, and provide additional insight into current theory and practice. .
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 If I Were You I'd Buy The Newest Edition Possible ( jrkirkham )
This is the newest edition of Molloy's classic text. At the end of this review I pasted my review of edition 3. But first, let me describe what you get in the 4th edition. . .
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Edition 4
The first thing one notices is the similarities with the earlier edition.
A few terms have been changed and tightened up for clarity and to be politically correct.
The general outline of the chapters has been cleaned up a bit.
A few of the illustrations have been updated.
These make the book a better edition, but not worth bying a higher price than a the older edition. What makes the newer version worth the money? It's facts, figures, understanding of religions, etc. All through the book these have been updated. Religion is a field of studies that is constantly in flux. If you are not reading the most up to date texts, you are reading outdated information. It is the same thing that makes reading today's news more valuable than reading last year's news. Get the most recent edition possible.
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My old review of edition 3
I've used several college religion texts through the years. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. EXPERIENCING THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS is no exception. I especially like the chapters on Hinduism and modern religious expressions. This book comes close to labeling post-modernity without actually going out on a limb to predict the future. The last chapters elevate this book beyond the norm for religious textbooks. The author includes a personal experience (which I like) in each chapter and a hypothetical experience for the reader (which I find distracting) opens each chapter. It doesn't put quite as much emphasis on basic (oral) religions as some texts. For instance, I wish it had a little more on Native American and Traditional African religions.
This is an excellent text for the instructor who is able to bring supplemental material into the classroom. Someone embarking on a private study of world religions should not feel as if the surface has been scratched until more than one text is read. I also reviewed RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD by Hopfe & Woodward. The two texts compliment each other nicely.
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Easy to Understand
Learning about world religions can be quite a task, but this book takes you on a world tour to discover each covered religion in a modern, practical sense. While the book covers the all important history of each religion, there were easier to understand with the addition of the author's first-hand observations of the culture in which it resides. This was one of the few textbooks I didn't want to sell back to the bookstore.
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Looking past the price, it's an excellent overview. ( ptilda )
While some of the lesser known religions and cults are left out of this book, it does a fabulous job of providing a clear overview to the most influential religions in the world. The historical and cultural perspective provided by the author brought the appropriate perspective to the student.
For almost $100.00, you'd think they'd at least give you a hard-cover. But that's what you must expect from college text books. Thank goodness for Amazon!
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 Emphasizing experience ( sprandel )
This is the review of the 3rd edition.
This is a good introductory textbook. Each religion is introduced with a "First Encounter", based on the author's travels. The chapter then proceeds to describe the history, timeline, basic teachings and practice, and art and literature. Photographs give a taste of the iconography, temples or shrines, and worshippers of each faith, all done in a respectful manner. The chapter on each religion concludes with personal story from the author (for example, visiting the Dalai Lama or inside the monastery on Mount Athos), and then thoughts on the contemporary developments on the religion. These reflect the author's opinion at the time (2005), and I suspect would change from edition to edition. The final chapter "The Modern Search" is perhaps more of an essay on the authors own view on contemporary issues, and perhaps seems focused on the west. At times the text seems like a travelogue, but I do think that allows the reader to focus on cultural aspect.
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First Impressions Review
Thank you very much for the experience, although, being that I reside in the State of Hawaii, I was a little "foggy" once I purchased the product. I could not find anywhere on the page on how to adjust the "shipping", is it "because" I live in Hawaii that I am only allowed the "standard" media mail option? There is no such thing as 2-3 business day shipping? I would really like this clarified before purchasing again. I am willing to pay more for the shipping, as long as I can receive my product in a timely manner. If I need to allow additional time for "standard shipping", then I need to know! Because I am definitely planning on purchasing again now that I have gone back to school! Thank you very much for your time.
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