World Religions Today

World Religions Today, as the title suggests, is the only book to focus on the effect of modernity on world religions: what their adherents practice as well as the way the faiths developed historically. This core textbook is designed for the first university survey course on the major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, as well as indigenous and new religions), and includes full instructor and student supports. The third edition is updated to address primary sources, personal transformation, and current global developments, all in a new full-color format.

Chapters 2-9 open with an Overview. Chapters 2-8 end with a Conclusion.; Preface: ; 1. Introduction; Globalization: World Religions in Everyone's Hometown; Understanding Religious Experience and Its Expressions; The Great Transition: From Tribal Life to Urban Life and the Emergence of World Religions; 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; Conclusion: We Are All Heretics in the Postmodern Situation; 2. Indigenous Religions; I. Origins of Homo Religiosus: Prehistory; II. Indigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and Afterlife; III. Indigenous Religions Today; 3. The Many Stories of Judaism: Sacred and Secular; Encounter with Modernity: Modern Judaisms and the Challenge of Ultra-Orthodoxy; Premodern Judaism: The Formative Era; Premodern Judaism: The Classical Era; Judaism and Modernity; Judaism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World; 4. Christian Diversity 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; 5. 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; 6. Hinduism; Encountering Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State; Premodern Hinduism: The Formative Era; Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE-900 CE); Premodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era (900 CE-1500 CE); Hinduism and Modernity; Hinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World; Hindu Festival Practice; The Religious Institutions of Contemporary Hinduism; 7. Buddhism: Ways to Nirvana; Encounter with Modernity: Socially Engaged Buddhism; Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era; Premodern Buddhism: The Classical Era; The Core Doctrines; Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion; Buddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World; 8. 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 in the Early Modern Era; East Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World; 9. Globalization: From New to New Age Religions; New Religions; New Age Religions; East Goes West: Transcendental Meditation; West Goes East: The Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon and the Aum Shinrikyo Movement; Religious Postmodernism and Global Ethics; The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism; The Future of Religion in an Age of Globalization; Glossary: ; Art Credits: ; Index: