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Rating: 
Summary: Good Book for An Introduction To Religions
Review: I have been using Hopfe's book since the fourth edition, and I have found it to be very useful and reliable in my classes. The book shows an awareness of the nuances relevant to the various topics (including definition, contra the claim by a previous reviewer who didn't seem to read past the first page) and Woodward's updating and website keep the book up to date. Yes, the glossary could be more extensive, but I tend to work from the book and not just within the confines of the book (as I'm sure the other reviewer does as well), so this is not a serious impediment. Many more terms are defined in the text than appear in the glossary. A nice little book.
Rating: 
Summary: From One Instructor to Another . . .
Review: I use this text to teach my college class on World Religions (REL 101). It is a nice little text. As with all works it has some advantages and some disadvantages.
ADVANTAGES:
1. An Instructor's Manual With Tests is available. I don't use most of the tests because I prefer class participation and lots of written papers, but the manual helps me keep on target and helps me design questions for class discussion time.
2. A free multimedia cd "The Sacred World" is available to instructors who mass order the text. This is a $60 value and contains 60 short video clips. I like to use these to add accent to class times.
3. The text itself is well written and time tested (This is the 9th edition). It is easy for the student to read. I usually expect them to read the chapters and be prepared for discussion. My lectures bring additional material to the class.
4. All in all these materials are easy to teach from.
DISADVANTAGES:
1. As one can read from previous reviews, the text has limited depth. It must be assumed that the instructor will have the capability to bring additional material to the classroom.
2. The book contains a huge gap in its lack of a chapter on "New Age" religions. This needs to be corrected as any casual trip to a book store will affirm. I usually add the following topics to those which the book covers:
a. Atheistic philosophies
b. The advent of the post modern mind
c. New age religion
Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Review: If you are just interested about the subject or taking a College course on Religion, this book will give you all the info you need to cover the basics in the major world religions. I recomend this book for anyone who is also socially repressed from a theologian point of view.
Rating:
Summary: The only book on the subject that I have read
Review: Outstanding book! I used this book to study for the DANTES exam "Introduction to World Religions." I received a "substantially above the minimum ACE recommendation" score, and I highly recommend it to anyone else taking the exam. It provides a very concise and non-biased review of the world's religions from a mainly historical perspective. The book provides the basic facts of the religions without becoming bogged down in all the dogma commonly found in such books. It will definitely get you a passing score on the exam without requiring a tremendous amount of effort. Well written.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and concise historical review of world religions
Review: Outstanding book! I used this book to study for the DANTES exam "Introduction to World Religions." I received a "substantially above the minimum ACE recommendation" score, and I highly recommend it to anyone else taking the exam. It provides a very concise and non-biased review of the world's religions from a mainly historical perspective. The book provides the basic facts of the religions without becoming bogged down in all the dogma commonly found in such books. It will definitely get you a passing score on the exam without requiring a tremendous amount of effort. Well written.
Rating:
Summary: The only book on the subject that I have read
Review: The book does a good job of explaining major religions without getting caught up in issues of faith.
It would be nice to know the authors personal religious beliefs, in order to confirm a suspected bias. Their beliefs are not listed in the book. I found it odd that in the Christian chapter, it is not mentioned the trinity or that Christians believe Jesus is God.More color pictures would be nice. Many words are missing from the glossary and the index, such as "li". The authors use lots of words that the common person doesn't know such as pantheon/patheon?, monastic, etc...
Rating: 
Summary: The Mind of a Pocket Calculator
Review: Typical of many academic types, Hopfe explains away that which he has no experience with. In this instance, it results in a lifeless mind explaining away world religions, one by one. E.g. the first sentence in the introduction is Webster's definition of religion. One would gather the impression that world religions were the result of a manufacturing process - one similar to the manner in which this book is written - with all the truth and sensitivity of a .45 caliber handgun. If what you want is a kind of macabre vivisection, I suggest Stephen King - he's much better.
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