Sourcebook of the World's Religions: An Interfaith Guide to Religion and Spirituality

By: Beversluis, Joel D.

Now in its third edition, this is the most comprehensive work available on the rich variety of paths available to today's spiritual seekers. More than a reference work, it explores how religions can collaborate to help the world. Essays explore interfaith community and spiritual practices such as theosophy, wicca, and indigenous religions. Portraits of all the major religious traditions are also included. This revised text offers an unparalleled look at where spirituality is headed in the coming millennium.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1577311213
• ISBN13: 9781577311218
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: New World Library
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.1" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

An essential Interfaith "Reference Guide"

The Sourcebook of the World's Religions is a wonderful reference book to have. It's best however, to understand and appreciate its strengths and limitations before you purchase it. The authors attempted to cover the histories and fundamental belief systems of 20+ religions, and to draw a comparison between them. A very difficult goal. I'm not quite sure Beversluis et al. were completely successful, but they sure did make the effort. There was a gracious attempt to be inclusive of both major and minor religions. But in spite of this heart felt effort, the quality of explanations for each religion is inconsistent. Some descriptions of religions (the list was organized alphabetically) - beginning with A for African Traditional Religions, were skimpy, and superficial, without much thought put into describing the history, richness, beauty and poetry of the faith. Next, B for Baha'i left me with a much clearer understanding and appreciation of the faith. On the bright side, this reference guide has a very good index which allows you to locate whatever religion or subject matter of which you may need a simple explanation. But don't expect in depth discussions. They are brief, a little dry, and almost encyclopedic. The source also provides a directory of faith organizations (addresses, phones and internet sites) which in of itself is very valuable. I do agree with a previous reviewer that Huston Smith's The World's Religions is superior if your intention is to actually learn something about the World's major religions - and it's definitely worth the price. Two books assigned to us in a World Religions course at Harvard University were 1- Living Religions and 2- Anthology of Living Religions (Mary and Pat Fisher) Great books but not as affordable. Pragrammatically speaking, this is something all students of religion, and those working in faith based organizations should own as part of their collection of easy to use reference guides - it's just not a good study tool. Having said that, if a simple reference is what you need, it's definitely worth the [money]!

A truly outstanding guide to world religions & spirituality.

Sourcebook of the World's Religions is an outstanding interfaith guide to religion and spirituality which began as a resource and has grown into its present incarnation: a third enlarged, updated edition which gathers an impressive collection of writings crossing religious traditions. Over twenty religious traditions are presented along with articles, prayers, sacred texts and quotes.