World religions today [Sixth edition] 9780190644192, 0190644192

Table of contents :
Cover......Page 1
World Religions Today......Page 2
Dedication......Page 6
Brief Contents......Page 8
Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 20
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION: Understanding World Religions in Global Perspective......Page 30
Why Study World Religions?......Page 31
Our Task......Page 34
Understanding Religious Experience and Its Formative Elements......Page 35
The Sacred......Page 36
Myth, Scripture, and Beliefs......Page 37
Ritual......Page 40
Community and Morality......Page 41
Religious Leaders/Experts......Page 42
China and the Myths of Harmony......Page 43
India and the Myths of Liberation......Page 45
The Middle East and the Myths of History......Page 46
Religious Diversity and Historical Change: The Structure of This Book......Page 47
Historical Overview: From Premodern to Postmodern......Page 50
The Modern/Postmodern Transition: Colonialism, Socialism, and the End of Modernity......Page 54
Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World......Page 57
Conclusion: We Are All Heretics in Our Postmodern Situation......Page 58
Discussion Questions......Page 59
Notes......Page 60
Overview......Page 62
Origins of Homo religiosus: Prehistory......Page 63
Religion's Origins Among Hunter-Gatherers......Page 68
Religion in Prehistory: The Secret of Early Cave Rituals......Page 69
Indigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and Afterlife......Page 71
Totemism: Australian Aboriginal Religion......Page 74
Shamans: "Technicians of the Sacred"......Page 76
Case Studies in Indigenous Religious Practices Today......Page 77
Bear Sacrifice: A Widespread Arctic and Pacific Rim Tradition......Page 79
Shamans Who Repair the World......Page 80
The Cataclysms of Colonialism......Page 82
Shamanism in Modern Asia: Division of Labor Within the World Religions......Page 86
Global Neo-Shamanism: Expropriation by "White Shamans"......Page 88
Conclusion......Page 89
Discussion Questions......Page 90
Suggested Readings......Page 91
Additional Resources......Page 92
Overview......Page 94
The Conflict over Public Life: Religion and Politics in the State of Israel......Page 98
The Biblical Roots of Judaism......Page 100
The Historical Roots of Diversity......Page 105
Exodus and Exile: Story, History, and Modernity......Page 107
From Torah to Talmud......Page 108
The Premodern Rabbinic World: God, Torah, and Israel......Page 114
The Medieval Journey of Judaism......Page 116
Kabbalah—Jewish Mysticism......Page 123
Hasidism......Page 124
The Emergence of Modern Religious Forms of Judaism......Page 125
The Emergence of Secular Forms of Judaism......Page 130
Challenges to Jewish Faith After the Holocaust......Page 137
Challenges to Jewish Existence After the Holocaust......Page 141
Conclusion......Page 147
Discussion Questions......Page 148
Notes......Page 149
Additional Resources......Page 150
Overview......Page 152
Overview: The Beliefs of Christians......Page 153
The Protestant Confrontation with Modernity......Page 157
The Catholic Confrontation with Modernity......Page 158
The New Testament and the Life of Jesus......Page 159
Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation......Page 163
Christianity's Emergence from Judaism......Page 165
The Fall of the Temple......Page 167
The Origins of Christian Anti-Jewish Sentiment......Page 168
Jesus as Son of God......Page 169
Constantinianism: The Marriage of Christianity and Empire......Page 170
Augustine, Architect of Western Christianity......Page 172
The Eastern Orthodox Churches......Page 174
Premodern Christianity: The Classical Era (451–1517 CE)......Page 175
The Medieval Worldview: Sacraments and Festivals......Page 176
The Two Cities Revisited......Page 178
Christianity, Judaism, Islam: Crusades and Inquisition......Page 181
Millennialism: History as Progress......Page 183
The Via Moderna and Devotio Moderna......Page 184
Devotio Moderna and the Protestant Reformation......Page 185
Other Reform Movements......Page 187
Religious Diversity: Church and State in War and Peace......Page 189
Enlightenment Rationalism and Christian Pietism......Page 190
Nineteenth-Century Romanticism and Existentialism......Page 193
From the Holocaust to Hiroshima: The Global Collapse of the Modern Myth of History as Progress......Page 196
From Colonial to Postcolonial Christianity......Page 198
Conclusion: The Challenge of Religious Pluralism......Page 206
Key Terms......Page 207
Additional Resources......Page 208
Overview......Page 210
Encounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Western Colonialism......Page 216
The Islamic Resurgence......Page 217
Premodern Islam: The Formative Era......Page 218
Muhammad's Early Life......Page 219
After the Hijra......Page 221
The Message of the Quran......Page 224
A Golden Age of Expansion, Conquest, and Creativity......Page 225
Diversity, Division, and Dissent......Page 228
The Origins of the Sunni_Shiah Split......Page 230
Premodern Islam: The Classical Era......Page 231
Law and Mysticism: The Exterior and Interior Paths to God......Page 232
The Five Pillars of Islam......Page 233
Women and Muslim Family Law......Page 238
The Interior Path of Love: Islamic Mysticism......Page 242
Islam and the State......Page 244
Islam and the West (Christendom): The Crusades......Page 246
Premodern Revivalist Movements......Page 249
Islam and Modernity......Page 250
Modern Islamic Revivalist Movements......Page 251
Radical Islam......Page 253
Islam in Modern State and Society......Page 255
The Failure of Modernity and the Islamic Revival......Page 256
The Religious Worldview of Contemporary Islamic Activism......Page 257
From the Periphery to Mainstream Politics and Society......Page 258
The Road to 9/11......Page 259
Jihad as Armed Struggle......Page 261
Post 9/11: Impact and Response......Page 263
European Muslims......Page 265
A Common Word Between Us and You......Page 266
Islam and the Arab Awakening: Between Authoritarianism and Pluralism......Page 267
Questions for Postmodern Times: Issues of Authority and Interpretation......Page 268
Islam in the West......Page 269
Islam: Postmodern Challenges......Page 276
Women and Minorities......Page 278
Islamic Reform......Page 281
Conclusion......Page 282
Discussion Questions......Page 283
Suggested Readings......Page 284
Additional Resources......Page 285
Overview......Page 288
Defining Hinduism: Unity, Diversity, Localities......Page 290
Encounter with Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State......Page 293
Vedic Religion......Page 295
Karma, Yoga, and the Quest for Liberation......Page 297
Yoga......Page 298
Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE–900 CE)......Page 300
Jainism: The Tradition of Spiritual Conquerors......Page 301
The Reality of Karma and Caste......Page 303
The Four Stages and Four Aims of Life......Page 304
Epics and the Development of Classical Hinduism......Page 305
Mainstream Hinduism and the Rise of Devotion to the Great Deities......Page 306
The Formation of Major Hindu Schools of Thought......Page 311
The Rise of Sikhism......Page 314
Hinduism and Modernity......Page 318
Hinduism Under British Colonialism......Page 319
Challenges and Responses to Colonialism......Page 320
The Work of Gandhi: Hindu Elements in Indian Nationalism......Page 325
The Persistence of Traditional Religious Understandings......Page 328
Contemporary Hindu Practices......Page 330
Hindu and Sikh Festival Practice......Page 335
Pilgrimage Festivals......Page 336
Sikh Festivals......Page 341
The Religious Institutions of Contemporary Hinduism......Page 342
Changes and Continuities: Examples of Postcolonial Hinduism......Page 343
Religious Nationalism: Secular India and Its Discontents......Page 350
A Growing Global Tradition......Page 353
Conclusion......Page 357
Discussion Questions......Page 359
Suggested Readings......Page 360
Additional Resources......Page 361
Overview......Page 364
Encounter with Modernity: Socially "Engaged Buddhism"......Page 368
The Buddha: Context and Biography......Page 369
Buddhism as the Path to Nirvana......Page 375
The First Community and Its Development......Page 378
How Buddhism Became a World Religion......Page 379
Sangha and Monastery: The Institutional Vehicles of Buddhism's Expansion......Page 380
The Core Doctrines......Page 383
The Classical Ideal: Buddhist Civilization......Page 389
The Mahayana: Philosophies and East Asian Monastic Schools......Page 390
Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion (400–1500 CE)......Page 395
South Asia......Page 396
China......Page 397
Southeast Asia......Page 398
Japan......Page 399
The Himalayan Region......Page 400
Early Modern Buddhist Polities: Monastics, Householders, Kings......Page 401
Buddhist Monasticism......Page 402
Buddhism Under Colonialism (1500_1960)......Page 408
Challenges from Colonialism, Communism, and Modern Critics (1800–Present)......Page 409
The Twentieth-Century Buddhist Revival Gains Strength......Page 410
South Asia......Page 412
Theravada Buddhism Today in Southeast Asia......Page 416
Tooth Relics and Anti-Muslim Riots in Myanmar......Page 417
Three Contemporary Faces of Thai Buddhism......Page 419
East Asia......Page 422
Buddhism Today in Diaspora and in Asia......Page 425
Buddhism's Affinity for Modernization......Page 428
The Sangha: Adaptive Reformism?......Page 429
State Buddhism and the Poison of Ethnic Passion......Page 432
Conclusion......Page 433
Key Terms......Page 436
Suggested Readings......Page 437
Additional Resources......Page 438
Overview......Page 440
The Postcolonial Challenge of Confucianism......Page 447
Earliest History: Shang (1766–1122 BCE)......Page 448
Development of the Multiple Traditions in Post-Han China......Page 459
Religion Under the Early Japanese Imperial State: Buddhism and Shinto......Page 461
Classical Imperial China (645–1271 CE)......Page 463
The Development of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in Korea and Japan......Page 465
East Asian Religions in the Late Classical Era (1400–1800)......Page 467
Disruptive European Intrusions......Page 471
Traumatic Transitions of the Modern Era......Page 472
The Appearance of New Religious Movements and Religions......Page 476
Continuities and Transformations in the East Asian Religions......Page 480
The Religious Institutions: Monasteries, Temples, Shrines......Page 483
The Return of Religion to China: Case Studies......Page 488
Japan's Creative Diversity: Old Traditions and New......Page 496
Korea's Strong Confucian Tradition Accommodates Diversity......Page 503
Conclusion: Have We Entered a Third Confucian Age?......Page 507
Key Terms......Page 510
Suggested Readings......Page 511
Additional Resources......Page 512
Overview......Page 514
Encounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Global Diversity to the "Purity" of Tradition......Page 515
Old Religions and New Religions in the History of Religions......Page 516
Postmodernism and the New Age......Page 521
Theosophy, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity......Page 525
Scientology......Page 526
The Baha'i Global Religious Vision......Page 528
Conclusion: The Postmodern Challenge—Can There Be a Global Ethic in a World of Religious Diversity?......Page 531
Beyond Atheism: The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism......Page 532
"Passing Over": A Postmodern Spiritual Adventure That Responds to the Challenge of Globalization......Page 535
Tolstoy, Jesus, and "Saint Buddha": An Ancient Tale with a Thousand Faces......Page 538
The Children of Gandhi: An Experiment in Postmodern Global Ethics......Page 541
The Future of Religion in an Age of Globalization......Page 543
Suggested Readings......Page 544
Additional Resources......Page 545
Glossary......Page 546
Index......Page 568