Synopses & Reviews
The twenty-first century is witnessing a resurgence and globalization of religion. Around the world, religion has become an increasingly more important and pervasive force in personal and public life, and faith and politics now play a powerful role in international affairs. Revealing the significance of religion in contemporary life,
World Religions Today explores major religious traditions--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian religions--as dynamic, ongoing forces in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies. Moving beyond the almost exclusively historical perspective of many books in the field, this text takes a fresh approach, using solid historical coverage of the various religious traditions as a framework to help students understand how faiths have evolved to the present day. It connects today's religions to their classical beliefs and practices but also shows how these religions have responded to and been transformed by the modern world. To help students grasp what might be "new" about the emerging era of religious life in the 21st century, the authors open each discussion with a contemporary scenario of religious experience that illustrates the tensions between pre-modern views and modernity.
World Religions Today includes a general introduction that provides essential background information for students and features many pedagogical aids including timelines, maps, numerous illustrations, questions for discussion, and a glossary of key terms. Ideal for undergraduate courses in world religions and comparative religion, World Religions Today emphasizes the interconnectedness of faith, culture, politics, and society, providing a peerless examination of the diverse ways in which contemporary human beings are religious.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. INTRODUCTION
Globalization: World Religions in Everyone's Hometown
Understanding Religious Experience and Its Expressions
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
Discussion Questions
Notes
2. CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROAD TO MODERNITY
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
3. THE MANY FACES OF JUDAISM: SACRED AND SECULAR
Encounter with Modernity: Modern Judaisms and the Challenge of Ultra-Orthodoxy
Premodern Judaism: The Formative Era--Biblical Origins
Premodern Judaism: The Formative Era--From Torah to Talmud
Premodern Judaism: The Classical Era
Judaism and Modernity
Judaism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
4. ISLAM: THE MANY FACES OF THE MUSLIM EXPERIENCE
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
5. HINDUISM: MYRIAD PATHS TO SALVATION
Encounter with Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State
Premodern Hinduism: The Formative Era
Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era
Premodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era
Hinduism and Modernity
Hinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
6. BUDDHISM: WAYS TO NIRVANA
Encounter with Modernity: Socially Engaged Buddhism
Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era
Premodern Buddhism: The Classical Era
Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion
Buddhism and Modernity
Buddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
7. EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: TRADITIONS OF HUMAN CULTIVATION AND NATURAL HARMONY
Encounter with Modernity: Postcolonial Confucian Economics
East Asian Religions in the Premodern Era
East Asian Religions and Modernity
East Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
Glossary
Time Lines
Index
Chapters 2-7 open with an Overview and end with a Conclusion, Discussion Questions, Key Terms, and Suggested Reading. Chapters 3-7 also include Notes.