Looking for the best Comparative Religion books? Browse our list to find excellent book recommendations on the subject.
1. Comparative Religion: Investigate the World Through Religious Tradition (Inquire and Investigate) (2015)
Over 7 billion people live on the earth, and 84 percent of them describe themselves as being religious. Few topics incite such passion as religion. What does that mean? Why are humans invested in ideas that may never be proved? Why has religion played such an important role in history?In Comparative Religion: Investigate the World through Religious Tradition, readers seek answers to these questions by comparing and contrasting the cultural, spiritual, and geographical underpinnings of five different religions. By developing a better understanding of the similarities and differences among…
2. The World’s Religions (Plus) (2009)
Huston Smith’s masterpiece explores the essential elements and teachings of the world’s predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the native traditions of Australia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Emphasizing the inner—rather than the institutional—dimension of these religions, Smith devotes special attention to Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and the teachings of Jesus. He convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination. #6,915 in Books (See Top 100…
3. 12 Major World Religions: The Beliefs, Rituals, and Traditions of Humanity’s Most Influential Faiths (2016)
For billions of people, having a religious belief system provides purpose in life. For some, religion serves as a guide for moral behavior. Today’s world is one in which our understanding of world religions is both understatedly important, as well as increasingly complex.After many years exploring the foundations of various world religions, Jason Boyett has written this comprehensive, easy-to-understand exploration of the twelve major world religions through a meticulous, yet unbiased lens. 12 Major World Religions offers an impartial look at where…
4. World Religions in Dialogue, Enhanced Edition: A Comparative Theological Approach (2017)
In our pluralistic world, it’s not sufficient to simply learn about other religions: we must learn from them.World Religions in Dialogue: A Comparative Theological Approach, Enhanced Edition, provides an opportunity to do just that. Exploring the five major world religions―Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism―this text offers both insider and outsider perspectives on each religious tradition, creating a dialogical approach that combines scholarship with lived experience. Equipped with glossaries, research questions, and suggestions for…
5. Comparative Religion For Dummies (2008)
Want to know more about the faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? This plain-English guide traces their evolution from their commonorigin – Abraham – and explains their different, yet linked, beliefs.You’ll see how each religion developed, endured setbacks, and became a fixture in modern society – and you’ll learn how members havedeveloped similar approaches to worship. #250,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #12 in Mecca in Islam #157 in Mythology (Books) #429 in History of Religion & Politics Would you like to ?If you are a seller for this product, would you like to ?…
6. THINK World Religions (2010)
is informed with the latest research and the most contemporary examples, allowing you to bring current events directly into your classroom with little additional work. An engaging visual design developed through extensive student feedback will appeal to your students and deliver the core concepts of World Religions in a way that they can actually understand. In addition, a groundbreaking instructor supplements package will help you bring the core concepts of World Religions to life without burdening your students with heavy, too dense or too expensive learning solutions. For your…
7. Comparative Religions: Practical Apologetics for the Real World (Teacher Guide) (World Religions & Cults) (World Religions and Cults) (2018)
The vital resource for grading all assignments from the Comparative Religions course, which includes: OVERVIEW: A world religion is a belief system that attempts to explain some aspect of reality and often how the physical and spiritual world operates; and yet it is independent of another world religion (though they often have different sects, cults, or denominations). A cult is typically defined as a religious offshoot of a major world religion that no longer holds to the core tenets of that world religion. This course cannot examine every world religion, cult, sect, or system, but quite a few have been selected…
8. So What’s the Difference (2001)
Completely revised and updated for the postmodern age, So What’s the Difference? gives you easy-to-understand, nonjudgmental answers to the question, "How does orthodox biblical Christianity differ from other faiths?" Here Fritz Ridenour explains the basic tenets of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, New Age, Mormonism, and other religions and belief systems of the world.You will also learn why relative thinking–the idea that there is no objective, absolute truth–has become the predominant mindset in our culture, and how you can…
9. World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (1998)
World Scripture is an extraordinary journey through the sacred writings of the world’s great religions. Organized by subject, the quotations, passages, and excerpts presented here provide readers with easy access to teachings on several hundred subjects, with quotes from different religious traditions. This unusual anthology provides a new, holistic approach to understanding religion–stressing what unites us rather than what divides us. Among the religious texts represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Jainism, Sikhism,…
10. God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World (2011)
In God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World, New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy and religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that persistent attempts to portray all religions as different paths to the same God overlook the distinct problem that each tradition seeks to solve. Delving into the different problems and solutions that Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Yoruba Religion, Daoism and Atheism strive to combat, God is Not One is an indispensable guide to the questions human beings have asked for…
11. What is Civilisation? and Other Essays (2000)
Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations › View or edit your browsing history After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. #2,288,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5136 in Comparative Religion (Books) Would you like to ?If you are a seller for this product, would you like to ?…
12. Patterns in Comparative Religion (1996)
In this era of increased knowledge the essence of religious phenomena eludes the psychologists, sociologists, linguists, and other specialists because they do not study it as religious. According to Mircea Eliade, they miss the one irreducible element in religious phenomena—the element of the sacred. Eliade abundantly demonstrates universal religious experience and shows how humanity’s effort to live within a sacred sphere has manifested itself in myriad cultures from ancient to modern times; how certain beliefs, rituals, symbols,…
13. Scriptures of the East (2003)
This anthology of scriptures offers selections that vary in length from a few paragraphs to 10 pages, accompanied by brief introductions that discuss the nature and scope of scripture within each religion as well as the history of each scripture presented. Scriptures of The East contains sacred writings of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and indigenous religions of the East; a companion text, Scriptures of The West, contains sacred writings of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Baha’i faith, and indigenous religions of the West….
Best Comparative Religion Books Everyone Should Read
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Brahman and Dao: Comparative Studies of Indian and Chinese Philosophy and Religion
Author(s): Ithamar Theodor, Zhihua Yao
Publisher: Lexington Books, Year: 7 Nov 2013, Size: 3 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 2307300
Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion: In Merovingian and Viking Scandinavia
Author(s): Klas Wikström af Edholm, Peter Jackson Rova, Andreas Nordberg, Olof Sundqvist, Torun Zachrisson (eds.)
Publisher: Stockholm University Press, Year: 2019, Size: 25 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2393455
Regimes of Happiness: Comparative and Historical Studies
Author(s): Yuri Contreras-Vejar, Joanna Tice Jen, Bryan S Turner
Publisher: Anthem Press, Year: 2019, Size: 1 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 2434137
Plantingian Religious Epistemology and World Religions: Prospects and Problems
Author(s): Baldwin, Erik Daniel; McNabb, Tyler Dalton; Plantinga, Alvin; Plantinga, Alvin
Publisher: Lexington Books, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2442074
World Religions in Practice: A Comparative Introduction
Author(s): Paul Gwynne
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Year: 2018, Size: 10 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2227117
Three Pillars of Skepticism in Classical India: Nagarjuna, Jayarasi, and Sri Harsa (Studies in Comparative Philosophy and Religion)
Author(s): Ethan Mills
Publisher: Lexington Books, Year: 2018, Size: 769 Kb, Download: epub
ID: 2325684
Interpreting Charles Taylor’s Social Theory on Religion and Secularization: A Comparative Study
Author(s): Germán McKenzie
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2017, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1625607
World Religions in Practice : A Comparative Introduction
Author(s): Gwynne, Paul
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, Year: 2017, Size: 10 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2135857
Copts in Context: Negotiating Identity, Tradition, and Modernity
Author(s): Nelly van Doorn-Harder
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press, Year: 2017, Size: 4 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2151186
Constitutions, Religion and Politics in Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka
Author(s): Dian A. H. Shah
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 2017, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2161846
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are truly chart-busters according to Chicago Tribune, others are written by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.