The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions
by Huston Smith
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Book Summary Information
Author: Huston SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-09-13
ISBN: 0062508113
Number of pages: 399
Publisher: HarperOne
Book Reviews of The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions
Book Review: A Solid Classic- What I've been looking for
Summary: 5 Stars
It is so difficult today to find a scholarly work that gives as detailed a look at the different religions of the world as Huston Smith's classic THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS. The information about this book speaks for itself-- the fact that it has sold over two million copies is one. Another is the author himself-Huston Smith, can you think of anyone more qualified to write such a book?-- Very few people come close. Also of note is that it is updated from Smith's first 1958 publication. Smith has honestly worked half a century to make sure that this book would bring valid information to anyone who sought it.
This book is not just a textbook that you find on world's religion. Nor is it just a philosophical and theological reflection of one individual's perspectives. Smith passionately reveals truths found in all religions, in a way that is both easy to follow and captivating to the reader at the same time. As he points out in the introduction, his book works to 1.) Embrace the world 2.) Take religion seriously, and 3.) Make an effort to communicate
Smith grants that a lot of religion is purely superstitious and has turned away from its true wisdom. Smith successfully brings readers back to the heart of each religious faith to show its importance.
So far I have glanced through and read some of the sections of this book. I made sense of many of my questions by reading briefly. Smith did a wonderful job on clearing up some of the misconceptions about religions such as Buddhism. I personally better understood the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, as Smith shows Edward Conze's markings of similarities between the Nirvana and Godhead(of divine and spiritual reality). This can be found on page 115.
I definitely enjoyed the section about Taoism. This is a religion that Smith pays attention to while many people forget about it. I hope to come across the Tao Te Ching someday. The conclusion of the section on Taoism honestly captured my passion as well.
I've been looking for works like this for quite some time. Huston Smith does an awesome job in this book when he brings many of the truths found in all religion out into a brillant and moving work that should reach everyone's hands.
Smith helps to make sense of many of the questions we have today about religion's place in the world. This book has obviously been a personal oddessy for Smith as well, as he imagines all the people of the world "lifting their voices in the most disparate ways imaginable to the God of all life." "How does it sound from above?" he asks. He grants that we cannot know, since all we have to do is listen.
By doing so, Smith shows us how we can come to reach greater levels of life, happiness, and love for one another. And we see, in the greatest of ways possible, how the religions at their best that Smith reveals in this book challenge people to rise to heights beyond the wildest imagining.
Summary of The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions
Originally titled The Religions of Man, this completely revised and updated edition of Smith?s masterpiece, now with an engaging new foreword, explores the essential elements and teachings of the world?s predominant faiths, including:
Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Confucianism,
Taoism,
Islam,
Judaism,
Christianity,
and the native traditions of the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Oceania.
Emphasising the inner -- rather than institutional -- dimensions of these religions, Smith devotes special attention to Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and the teachings of Jesus. He convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination.
The World's Religions, by Huston Smith, has been a standard introduction to its eponymous subject since its first publication in 1958. Smith writes humbly, forswearing judgment on the validity of world religions. His introduction asks, "How does it all sound from above? Like bedlam, or do the strains blend in strange, ethereal harmony? ... We cannot know. All we can do is try to listen carefully and with full attention to each voice in turn as it addresses the divine. Such listening defines the purpose of this book." His criteria for inclusion and analysis of religions in this book are "relevance to the modern mind" and "universality," and his interest in each religion is more concerned with its principles than its context. Therefore, he avoids cataloging the horrors and crimes of which religions have been accused, and he attempts to show each "at their best." Yet The World's Religions is no pollyannaish romp: "It is about religion alive," Huston writes. "It calls the soul to the highest adventure it can undertake, a proposed journey across the jungles, peaks, and deserts of the human spirit. The call is to confront reality." And by translating the voices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, and Judaism, among others, Smith has amplified the divine call for generations of readers. --Michael Joseph Gross
World Books
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