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The World's Religions
Huston Smith introduces several of the world’s most influential religious traditions by asking what makes each one compelling to its adherents. Separate chapters consider Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and traditions Smith groups under the historically common but now contested label “primal religions.” Rather than attempting an exhaustive institutional history, he concentrates on formative teachings, spiritual ideals, conceptions of reality, and paths of human transformation. The result is a sympathetic work of comparative religion that treats faiths as living responses to enduring questions about suffering, purpose, morality, community, and transcendence. Smith’s approach helped make the book an enduring introduction to religious diversity, but it also reflects the assumptions of an earlier generation of religious studies: it favors coherent spiritual essences over internal disputes, political conditions, and everyday variations. Readers can t…
