Overview: The updated guide to differences-and similarities-of faiths around the world. In this revised and updated edition of the popular guide to the many faiths followed around the world, modern and ancient religions are extensively covered as well as New Thought religions. This edition also now features a chapter on Sikhism, more coverage of religious extremism in the 21st century, a new chapter on the afterlife, and additional online resources making it the most up-to-date volume available. Outdoes the competition with more chapters on current and ancient religions -- Appeals to students, theologists, and those generally interesting in religions around the world.

"A revealing comparison of the faiths that shape the lives of millions"--Cover.

Part 1: Opening Up To Other Traditions: -- Why Learn About Other Faiths?: -- I read the news today, oh boy -- Catching up with the constitution -- How this book can help -- I don't need this! I'm an atheist! -- Hey, this sounds familiar! -- Academic obstacle -- Beyond fear: -- Other -- Words, words, words -- Lots Of Different Names, Some Familiar Ideas: -- Ancient truths: -- Voices: Timeless ideas behind the world's great religions -- Humanity and the eternal: -- Voices: Humanity's relationship with the eternal -- Voices: Interconnectedness in all creation -- Beyond words, beyond mind: -- Voices: Limits of the logical mind -- One more thing -- Speaking Softly And Dropping The Stick: -- Non-sectarian knees -- Six paths to alienation: -- 1: Fixate on why -- 2: Follow the (unflattering) lead of the media -- 3: Stare -- 4: Talk about what's normal -- 5: Use attack language to describe someone's faith -- 6: Stomp o toes that are already bruised -- Ask questions! -- Now, a word from the Federal Government -- We're all in the same boat -- Part 2: Judaism: -- Roots Of Judaism: -- Hebrews: -- Ten enduring rules -- Ten commandments -- Kingdom and the dispersion -- Prophets -- Fundamental precepts -- Some key aspects of Judaism: -- Covenant -- Community gathered -- Modern Jewish Experience: -- Reactions to the modern world -- Orthodox tradition -- Conservative Judaism -- Reform Judaism -- Pressures of the outside world -- Diversity of Jewishness -- Two extraordinary modern events -- Jewish Ritual And Celebration: -- Life: ultimate religious ceremony -- Dietary laws -- What happens in the service? -- Shabbat -- Major observances: -- Rosh Hashanah -- Yom Kippur -- Sukkot -- Chanukah (Hanukkah) -- Purim -- Pesach (Passover) -- Sahvuot -- Life rituals -- Breaking Down Barriers To Judaism: -- Misconception #1: Zionism equals Judaism -- Misconception #2: Jewish people are guilty of deicide -- Misconception #3: Judaism views women in a negative way -- Misconception #4: Judeo-Christian means, basically, Christian -- Misconception #5: Judaism is monolithic -- Part 3: Christianity: -- Christian Beginnings: -- Man at the center of the faith -- Christian mystery -- Christianity in the world: -- Cultural and historical adaptability -- Unfinished faith -- Peter and Paul-and beyond -- Development, conflict, and acceptance: -- Protestant reformations -- Beyond the divisions -- Many Christian Denominations: --Roman Catholicism: -- What Catholics believe -- Trinity -- Expansion-and a rift -- Challenge and change -- Orthodox Church: -- Shared origins, different rites -- Organization -- Orthodox Church today -- Protestantism -- Faith, not works -- Other major denominations -- Distinctive protestant movements -- Quilt of many squares -- Christian Celebration: -- Advent -- Christmas: -- Epiphany -- Lent -- Palm Sunday -- Good Friday -- Easter -- Pentecost -- Feast of the Assumption -- New Year --Breaking Down Barriers To Christianity: -- Myth #1: Christian faith is unanimous -- Myth #2: Only Catholics practice confession -- Myth #3: Christianity condemns homosexuals -- Myth #4: All Christians believe that their version of Christianity is the only true religion -- Myth #5: Catholics believe the pope to be infallible in all his pronouncements -- Myth #6: Modern Mormon Church permits or encourages polygamy -- Islam: -- Early History Of Islam: --Deen of the prophet -- West or East? -- Who was Muhammad? -- God -- Man who wouldn't go away -- Migration -- Qu'an: -- Verbal scripture -- What it teaches -- Five pillars -- Expansion and evolution -- After Muhammad: -- Islamic Empire -- Four Caliphs: -- Dissent and controversy -- Sunni Muslims -- Shiite Muslims: -- Karbala and beyond -- Imam -- Other important movements: -- Sufis -- Salafi -- Wahabbism -- Ramadan And Other Observances: -- Day by day -- Important Islamic life rituals: -- Welcoming ritual -- Initiation -- Marriage ritual -- Funerals and mourning periods -- Ramadan -- Other important Islamic Holy Days: -- Lailatul-Qadr -- Eid al-Fitr -- Eid ul-Adha -- Breaking Down Barriers To Islam: -- Global phenomenon: -- Myth #1: Muslim equals Arab -- Myth #2: Stereotypes concerning the Sword of Islam -- Myth #3: Jihad -- Myth #4: Islam degrades and oppress women -- Myth #5: Qur'an advocates the slaughter of unbelievers -- Part 5: Hinduism: -- That Old Time Religion: -- No founder -- Indus valley civilization -- One and many -- Vedic period -- Faith develops: circles of life -- Hindu philosophy -- Social realities -- Hindu beliefs -- God's Many Faces: -- One God, many Gods -- Having it both ways -- Big picture -- Brief introduction: -- Big three -- Some other important deities -- Respect For Life And Personal Growth: -- Life and death -- Asceticism -- Religion, religion everywhere -- Where's the Sabbath? -- Temples and homes -- Celebrations -- Life rituals -- Breaking Down Barriers To Hinduism: -- Myth #1: Hinduism is a polytheistic religion -- Myth #2: Hindus are idol worshippers -- Myth #3: Hinduism promotes social discrimination and the exploitation of the poor -- Part 6: Buddhism: -- Buddhist Origins And Doctrine: --Legend of the Buddha: -- On to asceticism -- Awakening -- Attaining true knowledge -- Nirvana (before it was a rock band) -- Beyond substance -- Gods -- Teaching, living,, dying -- Buddhism After the Buddha: -- After the Buddha -- Two schools of Buddhism: -- Theravada Buddhism -- Theravada Scriptures -- Mahayana school -- Mahayana in black and white -- Tibetan Buddhism -- Zen And Other Buddhist Schools Popular In The West: -- What is the sound of Zen beginning? -- Bodhidharma gets things started -- Original mind -- Two schools -- Next stop: Japan -- Other Buddhist sects: -- Prue land school -- Nichiren Buddhism -- Celebrations: -- Nirvana Day -- Buddha Day -- Bodhi Day -- Breaking Down Barriers To Buddhism: -- Myth #1: Buddhists worship Buddha as Christians worship Jesus -- Myth #2: Overemphasizing reincarnation -- Myth #3: Buddhism is masochistic -- Myth #4: All Buddhists look at mediation in the same way -- Myth #5: Buddhists hate life -- Part 7: Other Influential Traditions: -- Confucianism: Human Relations 101: -- Who was he? -- Five interactions -- Opposition, departure, return -- Analects -- Other literary stuff: -- Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes -- Does it, you know-work? -- After the master -- Confucianism tops the charts -- Changing, changeless way of Confucius -- Taoism: The Effortless Path: -- Not to be impolite, but: -- Nature: close to the ground -- Words: Tao Te Ching -- Words: Chuang-Tzu -- Wow: the Tao! -- Who founded Taoism?: -- Old voices -- New voices -- Back and forth with Buddhism -- How has Taoism expressed itself?: -- Believers -- Outside world -- It caught on!: -- What was that about immortality? -- What was that about release? -- Shinto: Harmony And Clarity: -- Shinto: the basics -- Two big dates: -- 1868: Drawing the line -- 1945: New direction -- Day by day -- In the shrine -- Heart of Shinto: -- Anything missing? -- Divine power -- Core beliefs -- Binding force -- Sikhism: Pursuing The Path Of God: -- Guru speaks -- Ten Gurus -- So-who is a Sikh? -- What Sikhs believe, what Sikhs practice -- Sikh turban -- Part 8: Old Paths, New Paths: -- Ancient Creeds: -- Ancient Egyptian worship: -- Ancient Egyptian worship: the cultural/historical setting -- Two ancient Egyptian creation myths -- Key concepts from ancient Egyptian observance -- Ancient Greek worship: -- Ancient Greek worship: the cultural/historical setting -- Ancient Greek creation myth -- Key concepts from ancient Greek observance -- Ancient Mayan worship: -- Ancient Mayan worship: the cultural/historical setting -- Ancient Mayan creation myth -- Key concepts from ancient Mayan observance -- Ancient Druidic worship: -- Druids: the cultural/historical setting -- (Conjecture on an) Ancient Druidic creation myth -- Key concepts from ancient Druidic practice -- Ancient Aztec worship: -- Aztec worship: the cultural/historical setting -- Ancient Aztec creation myth -- Key concepts from ancient Aztec observance -- Nonscriptural Nature Religions: -- Inside, outside -- Ideas that stay: -- Shaman -- Totem -- Fetish -- Huna Kupua -- African traditions: -- Names of God -- Spirits, good and bad -- Native American traditions: -- All together now -- Integrity -- Contact! -- Mystic Voices: -- Let the mystics do the talking -- Kabbalah -- Sufism -- Christian mystic tradition: Thomas a Kempis -- New Religious Movements: -- What is a new religion? -- Seven new faiths-and a movement -- Nation of Islam: -- Separatist practice -- Pride and action -- International society for Krishna consciousness: -- ISKCON's goals -- Core practices and beliefs -- Room for all -- Transcendental meditation: -- Simple meditation -- Non-faith "faith"? -- Neo-Paganism: -- Sun and moon -- Persecution and revival -- Dance of the seasons -- Winter solstice -- Imbolc -- Spring Equinox -- Beltane -- Summer Solstice -- Lammas -- Fall Equinox -- Samhain -- Baha'i faith: -- Unity -- Equality and harmony -- Rapid growth -- Santeria: -- Orisha -- New form -- Rastafarianism -- New age movement -- Part 9: Matter Of Life And Death: -- Afterlife: -- Judaism and the afterlife: -- What Jewish people believe --Stark contrast -- Christianity and the afterlife: -- Day of judgment -- Where do people go when they die? -- Heaven, hell, and the gospels -- It depends on the denomination -- Purgatory -- What will win success in the afterlife? -- What is heaven like? What is hell like? -- What will happen on the second coming? -- Eternal reward -- Islam and the afterlife: -- Trial -- Reckoning -- Reminder to humanity -- Destinations -- Non-Muslims and the after life -- Islam on death and dying -- Angel of death -- Death will find you out! -- Following the example of the prophet -- Hinduism and the afterlife: -- Exiting the body -- Embracing the death experience -- Death rituals in Hinduism -- Buddhism and the afterlife: -- Cycle of life -- Karma and death -- What's the focus? -- Other Big Questions: -- War and peace: -- Judaism on war -- Christianity and war -- Islam and war -- Buddhism on war -- Hinduism and war -- Judaism on euthanasia and suicide -- Christianity on euthanasia and suicide -- Islam on euthanasia and suicide -- Buddhism on euthanasia and suicide -- Hinduism on euthanasia and suicide -- Thoughts on abortion -- Religious Extremism In The Twenty-First Century: -- Hand of blind rage -- Global phenomenon: -- Totalist outlook -- Charismatic figures, feelings of victimization -- Increasing chaos and injustice -- Selective interpretation -- So what is the answer? -- All Down In Black And White: -- Scripture as a meeting place -- Sense of purpose -- What are we doing here? -- Importance of personal resolve: -- How do we stay on the path? -- Loving others as ourselves: -- How should we act? -- Almighty as protector and sustainer: -- Who is watching over us? -- Constant praise to the almighty: -- How do human voices glorify the divine presence? -- Striving toward the infinite: -- What guides our relationship with God? -- Divine plan: -- Why do we suffer and die? -- Appendixes: -- A: Fellow travelers -- B: Scriptures to keep you company -- C: Timelines of major world religions -- D: Names of God -- Glossary -- Index.