Rating: 
Summary: What was He Thinking?
Review: Unimaginable! On page 281, regarding Judaism, Huston writes: "The word sin comes from a root meaning 'to miss the mark,' and this people (despite their high origin) manage continually to do. Meant to be noble, they are usually something less; meant to be generous, they withhold from others. Created more than animal, they often sink to being nothing less." How can this author possibly claim to be objective in his writings, yet offer this piece of script as a description of Jews? This is more than antisimetic; it is racist, vile, and unconscionable. No religion can afford to have this kind of attack waged especially in a work that claims to be multidimensional, providing readers with an overview of "the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions." (See back cover.)I have chosen to remain anonymous in this review because, as a Jew, I have faced endless discrimination simply by virtue of my birthright--I do not need any more than that, and I certainly do not want any reprimands as a result of this negative review I am posting. Jews are not stingy, we are extremely generous. We are not less than noble, and we are certainly not animals. It is this kind of thinking, or preaching, that is the root of many, many difficulties experienced not only by the Jews but by any religion that has been slandered and victimized by authors claiming to be educators. After reading Huston's book I have to wonder what he really thinks regarding Judiasm that, because of a need for this book to be popular, he does not tell us. Is this man also a Holocaust Denier? And how many times has he now seen Mel Gibson's film? Does Huston have a billboard outside his home much like the one outside of a Pentecostal church in Colorado stating that the Jews really did kill Jesus and now it's settled? I think not--Huston would attempt to be more eloquent in his approach to antisemitism, chosing instead to slip it into a four hundred page tract purporting to represent all religions equally. This man does not deserve the praise he has received, nor is he worthy of any honorable degrees. I am offended and shocked, and will be sending a copy of this review to anyone who will read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Religious Traditions!
Review: This book has been a valuable gift to me long ago that made me inquisite to know about World Religions. It is always said 'Avoid 3 P's - Priest, Politician and Press' if you wish the world to be in peace. Leaving this debate, I feel this book is a great reference to understand the main World Religions. Religion is a faith that is observed by a mass of people in their own special way.In their religious goals, men do not differ from one another, no matter where they live and when. All seek favour and protection against dangers of life. They pray for courage in hour of conflict, comfort in time of grief, guidance in daily concerns. They release pangs of conscience. Six great Religions:Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Some have similarities but all six obviously have supplied answers to some of the great questions raised in every human mind by the mystery of life. All of them help men to bear their sorrows. They all tell men how to live, give assurance in the presence of death. Every Religion has noble teachings and lofty moral goals and this book provides very good information on all religions. The author has taken Hindu as first chapter but that doesn't mean he's been partial to christianity or any other religion coz I found the details in this book chapterwise/religionwise, informative with illustrated pictures and religious myths and facts. A good pick and gem collection on shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Good textbook introduction
Review: This is a good introduction to the world's great religions for people who are interested but who have not been especially taught about the subject previously. Garuda is the mount of Vishnu; but who are all these othe multi-armed Hindu gods? Buddhism started in India but seems to have spread to every part of Asia except India; why? These and other, similar questions are specifically ignored ... the introduction states that religion is the manifestation of humanity's search for the ultimate truth and the essence of religion is the answers to the questions and the approach taken, not iconography or history. The analogy is made of many roads leading by different paths up a mountain to the same ultimate peak. The normal wonderings of people is like walking around the base, encountering significant differences and not understanding the similarities that arise from the fact that the questioning basis is the same. This approach will undoubtedly not appeal to fundamentalists who believe in the literal word of the Bible or Koran, but this is in many ways a secular look at religion, albeit from a Western bias. There is a good deal of history for those religions that have a significant historical component to them: Islam and Christianity, for example, are ultimately based on the lives of a single man and their followers; Hinduism's historical roots, however, are not as significant (if they can even be authoritatively traced at all). The book is a text and it is written from an academic perspective which makes it sometimes seem a bit pedantic. But it was worth the trouble of wading through.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money.
Review: I started out reading Huston Smith's The World's Religions with the section on Judaism which I know next to nothing about and then went on to the next section which was on Christisnity. I went to a Catholic grade school, a Jeauit High School and graduated from a Jesuit University so I feel I know something about Christianity though I am a jump-away Catholic today. Half way through the section I had to put the book down, terribly disappointed after concluding he must have been a member of the Vatican's committee on faith and morals and wrote the book while locked in the confines of the Ivory Tower of some monastery (all monasteries have Ivory Towers) while stoned on pot. This book may have been acceptable 40 or so years ago, but in this day and age when reality is paramount---forget it.
Rating:
Summary: Start here
Review: Smith does a good job providing an overview of the "essentials" of each religion, focusing on the positive elements of each religion. His bias is usually displayed in an offhanded manner, and his enormous vocabulary makes the book a difficult read at times. I recommend the paperback version, as a quick start. For a comprehensive study of world religions, supplement with other resources.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved this book
Review: I have been in a "seeking" mood of late, and this book more than any other I've read, gave such context to all the history of mankind's "wisdom traditions." Two key points in considering buying this: 1. In his intros he says this book treats religions with respect, and doesn't focus on the mis-implementation of certain ideas. He does this throughout. There are no value judgments on how followers have misused a given religion's ideas. It's just a pure presentation of the each religion in all its beauty and grandeur. 2. In the title he calls these our "wisdom traditions". That's right on. Religion, at least as I think of it with rites and ceremonies, is too narrow a view of what he conveys. This is thousands of years of mankind at its best in understanding the human condition, boiled down into 30 page chapters on different religions' takes on that. What a wonderful read.
Rating:
Summary: A good survey
Review: For nearly half a century, Huston Smith has educated people in the East and West about the religions of the world. Being raised in different cultures by parents sensitive to their surrounding afforded Smith a broad, inter-faith and ecumenical mindset from the beginning, rather than one that had to be developed through academic or philosophical persuasion. When I took a class on Islam as part of my undergraduate degree, the professor recommended this text, 'The Religions of Man', as short but good overview of the world's major religions generally, and I have always appreciated that recommendation. After a brief introduction, entitled 'Points of Departure', Smith looks at the major religions in turn in the following order: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. This is not an alphabetical ordering, nor geographic or chronological ordering. As Smith realised this book would be mostly read in the West, he put Christianity last, not as a slight, nor as a last-shall-be-first, but rather to develop a sensitivity in the text to other religions without the explicit Christian framework dictating the text. There are several things which this text is NOT, as Smith explains in the introductory chapter. It is not intended as an historical overview of the religions, although that certainly comes into the discussion. It is not intended as a complete or rounded view of the religions - simply exploring the different denominations of Christianity could fill far more pages than this book in whole. Smith has been selective. Drawing from the best features that demonstrate the best values of each religion, he draws together an essay on each. However, this is not a comparative religions text, either. There are few comparisons and contrasts made throughout, permitting each religion to stand on its own merits. Huston Smith sees the twentieth century in history not as a period that will be remembered for wars or nuclear weapons or Communism and Nazism, but rather as 'the time in which all the peoples of the world first had to take one another seriously.' Looking at the religions of the world and taking them seriously in their own right is an important step, as the religions of the people tend to be more enduring than politics, nation-states, and even ethnicity and general culture. This book is accessible and written to the level of beginning undergraduates, relatively free of jargon, with terms defined when they are used, and concepts clearly explained. For each section on the major religions, there are suggestions for further reading, although these may now be somewhat out of date. Originally published in 1958, based on a television series Huston Smith conducted on the major religions of the world, it has been updated occasionally with reprinting. Smith attempts to present the religions as living faiths rather than dry academic subjects. In many respects, he succeeds in this task, which is one of the primary reason the book remains in print and in demand after decades of use.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Start
Review: This text gives a good overview of many of the World's major religions. If you don't really know what you're interested in, this is a good place to start. Its doesn't give as much detail as I would like, but you can only fit so much into one book!
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Overview
Review: If you want detail knowledge of the world religions -- there rituals, detail on their history, extensive mythology, this book is not it. But, if you just want an overview of there theological perspectives its not bad -- a bit appologetic and clearly written for readers with a Western, Judeo-Christian culture, but not really bad. Its also generally pleasant reading, though the costant use of literary and philosophical allusions somethings clutters things a bit (it would be easier to read if my degrees were in literature and philosophy -- not everyone has read some of the obscure refference, I hadn't) -- but its still not to hard as the context and explanation are enough to tell what the author is trying to say.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro
Review: The author's first chapter is on Hinduism. Hindus believe that everybody has their inner Arhat or godly soul and one must work throughout one's life to strip away the selfishness and vanity that covers one's soul. He quotes the 19th century Hindu philospher Ramakrishna's statement that Hinduism is just one of many faiths in the world that are all equal in that they are different ways to worship god. He does a little exploration into the caste system and in his endnotes quotes a few authorities including Sri Krishna, that there is caste system does not exist among true believers of god. In an appendix to this chapter he has a section on Sikhism. This is the religion founed in 1500 in India, apparently with the goal of reconciling the Hindu and Muslim faiths. In tune with Islam, it rejects the Hindu use of symbols for worshipping god and the absolute authority of the vedas. It has its own scriptures. It has a "Khalsa" or pure order whose members abstain from meat, alcohol and tobacco and grow their hair long and put it in a turban, wear a bracelet to symbolize their being shackled to God and wear underpants to symbolize always being ready. In keeping with Hinduism, it teaches that there is a formless god that it is within all of us. The next chapter is on Buddhism. He writes that Zen Buddhism is based on a special interpretation of the Flower sermon delivered by the original Buddha (Sidartha Gautama). The insights flowing from this sermon were carried by twenty eight patriarchs and transmitted to China in the sixth century AD and to Japan in the twelfth century. It tries to avoid verbal expression as much as possible, words being too permanent for things that are beyond descriptions; nothing in life is permanent to put labels or descriptions to them. If a disciple asks a senior monk about say, what is the exact nature of nirvana, he is slapped without a word. The disciple should be weaned off reliance on words. He discusses Confucicius who was lived in the sixth and fifth century B.C. By that time China's golden age where armies of aristocrats fought each other and sent each other food and greetings had long past and wars were conducted with massive barbarity. Confucious wanted to get back to the traditions of the Golden Age. He was only a tutor who lived very modestly and only had one brief official appointment to an unimportant post. Government officials feared him. He elaborated concepts of viture where men would cultivate the virtuous, humble life. Wives would subordinate themselves to husbands, little brothers to big brothers, poor to rich, subject to ruler and so on. There is a problem with this rigid hierarchy in that it can lead to abuse of power, even though confucius set strictures against it. He gives a good account of Islam. He quotes passages from the Koran which call for the toleration of different ways of worshipping god i.e. Christianity and Judaism and that there should be no compulsion in religion. "Jihad" is means a spiritual struggle to purify oneself and secondly, a war of defense against aggressors. He notes that in his charter for the city of Medina, Mohammed specifically gauranteed religous freedom for Jews and then Christians, even inviting Christians at one point to pray in the city mosque. Women on the Arabian peninsula were substantially liberated by Islam for before Mohammed's rule women were regarded as nothing more than chattel. Islam is also not quite as harsh as people make it, he writes. There are 192 references to God as compassionate and merciful and only 17 refering to his vengence. It calls for stoning for adultery but allows for many loopholes to get out of it and flogging for various crimes can be done with a sandal or the hem of a piece of clothing. Islam was the first tradition to grant women the right to inherit property; it calls for women to give their free consent to marriage and allows them to initiate divorce proceedings. In the Koran it is advised that men advise their women only to cover themselves in foreign lands so that they will not be harrassed. Under the Islamic empire of the Middle Ages in the Middle East, Christians and Jews had unlimited worship and generally were treated well during the worst rulers and attained to positions of influence. He also has chapters on Judaism, Christianity, Taoism and the primal religions. I enjoyed the one on Taoism, which seems to be the most reasonable of all these faiths. Similarly with the primal religions. I suppose to enjoy this book completely one has to be in tune with the spiritual passions of the author. To agnostics, of which I'm one, it might seem a little long winded, with too many metaphors and advanced philisophical discourse and not enough succinctness. They might wish that the author would get to his points a little faster. I suppose persons who share his beliefs might feel this way too. This books IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS, merely the author's presentation of the basic practices and best spiritual goods of the world's religions. He spends little time dwelling on the bad side of the religions.
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