Rating: 
Summary: Gets the job done but not at Paladin's handbook caliber.
Review: This book had a lot of useful information on clerics but nothing too spectacular in the way of feats. There are interesting cleric prestige classes throughout the book and paladin's aren't exactly on the 'low end of the totem pole' either. It has a very useful section on roleplaying tips for a 'defender of the faith' for beleivers of all deities.
The book is biased against the 'evil side' but it doesn't exclude them completely either. It doesn't take into effect that much in the fact that there are people out there who want evil clerics in their campaign, whether they be PCs or NPCs. It does help you build a complete paladin or cleric (some feats are useless but most are useful), but I think it does leave plenty of room for imagination with approval of your DM.
Overall if you are going to play a cleric (they are very important on campaigns, every group really should have one) or a paladin (a very formidable and well rounded warrior) then you should get this book, or just read it at a book store before making a decision to buy it.
This book is not intended to hold your hand a give you a step by step guide on playing such characters, because believe it or not you do need to use your imagination to some extent. A paladin in particular is tough to play as a beginning RPG player. By now you should have most of the information on playing a paladin through the use of the AD&D 2nd edition Paladin's Handbook, or just from experience on playing AD&D 2nd edition.
If you can afford buying both the 2nd ed. Paladin's Handbook and Defenders Of The Faith, I suggest you do so to help complete your understanding of the Paladin character.
Rating:
Summary: Serious Religion for D&D
Review: This book has a lot of information about clerics and churches, along with lists of sacred equipment and example temples. For the first time, clerics are treated as actual religious leaders instead of just "guys with healing spells." There are many prestige classes for church specialists, including exorcists, and there are also prestige domains, which are only available to clerics who take a prestige class. Don't listen to the other guy who says this book has nothing for paladins. How about... a paladin with a DRAGON mount! Yes, your paladin can now ride a dragon into battle! If that's too rich for you, your paladin can ride almost anything else, from dire lions to monstrous spiders! After reading this book, your paladin will never go near a mere horse again!
Rating:
Summary: Nice work
Review: This book is just fine, it is not as good Tome and blood, but it is still fine. I must admit that one of the best classes existing in D&D is the cleric, and this book gives a lot more care to paladins than to clerics.Let's begin with the new feats, some of them are really good, some others, on the other hand, are "useless", but most of them are fine, and add a good repertoire of "tricks" to your paladin/cleric. The spells are just weird, most of them seem great at first glance, then you look to the dissadvantages and realize that they are very difficult to use, or very dangerous too. You shall be very careful if you don't want to give advantage to your enemies, but if you use them correctly, there is no way you can lose a combat. I personally don't understand theese prestiges classes, since nearly all of them are for paladins or clerics who have "unarmed strike" , "combat reflexes" and so on, the color you can give to your cleric lies in the churches you can belong too, this doesn't mean that they are mistreated, they are just treated in another way. the negative point regarding the cleric's abilities, is that almost all of them in this book, relies in the ability to "turn/rebuke undeads", and I personaly think that there's a lot more for a cleric to do than this. I liked this book a lot, as I said before, it's not as goog as Tome and Blood but it is still a must have for a D&D fan. I have it and I recomend it.
Rating: 
Summary: OK With + and -
Review: This book is ok with plusses and minuses. On the good side, the prestige classes were cool; some new, powerful spells were introduced; and the philosophy of each alignment was presented. The alignment philosophies were the most usefull part of the book for me. I finally know how a lawful good/neurtal/evil cleric differs from a chaotic good/neutral/evil cleric. However, there was little roleplaying information. How do some of these new spells and prestige classes fit into my campaign? (I guess that it's completely up to me). I would like to have seen more castles and temples, more campaign information, and more about how to blend religious orders into the leadership hierarchy of a kingdom. Anyway, I did get some "food for thought" from this supplement, and the games must go on.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best supplements...
Review: This guide was very informative. There were a lot of prestige classes and new spells. I really liked the fact that an entire book was dedicated to one class as opposed to Sword and Fist, Song and Silence and Tome and Blood which had to abbreviate the information listed for each class.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best supplements...
Review: This guide was very informative. There were a lot of prestige classes and new spells. I really liked the fact that an entire book was dedicated to one class as opposed to Sword and Fist, Song and Silence and Tome and Blood which had to abbreviate the information listed for each class.
Rating:
Summary: More about D&D spirituality.
Review: This is a helpful book, but it has left me lacking. The character clases seem to favor good characters and clerics mostly. It would have been alot better if they had added more about religeon and deitys but it's good none the less. I recomend buying this just for the sake of having it around.
Rating:
Summary: Paladins and Clerics rejoice!
Review: This resource is a wonderful addition to any D&D game. As a DM (and former paladin) I find the additional options for mounts very very helpful. (few players want a plain ordinary horse in a world with so much more) In addition the many addition spells and feats allow clerics and paladins to really show off they're divine abilities. It even has a short (albiet to brief) strategy guide for playing clerics and paladins effeciently.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Bunk...much like Real Religion...
Review: To be honest, when I went to this book to create a Half-Celestial Character NPC of mine, I found that Defenders of the Faith to be both a chore and a godsend. First, the Chore part: The book doesn't fully explain many of the religions accurately (I found at least several discrepencies when I compared them to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings Book). It also seems to be bias toward the "pagan" religions... Lolth, Hector, etc. Seems being bad is frowned upon, while being good is righteous and holy (perhaps a "hidden meaning??"). Also, theirs not enough stuff for Evil Clerics!! For the godsend: Uh, their is none. Period. The Prestige Classes are a laugh, there is no new stuff for Clerics or Paladins, and theirs nothing good added to help Paladins...or fully explain what happens when they turn to the darker aspects of their service... Buy only for reference when you need it...but don't trust most of the items in there...Of course, that's my opinion, I COULD BE WRONG...
Rating:
Summary: Much Better than S&F
Review: Which, of course, doesn't tell us much about this, since S&F really wasn't that good. This is, as you may've guessed, the D&D3 splatbook for clerics and paladins. In it, you'll find a collection of roleplaying and character advice, new equipment, prestige classes, and spells. There are also sample temples based on alignment, and a few other organizations. What's good? Well, for starters, the material is more substantive. There's more here on almost every subject, leading to a lack of intentional filler material. The prestige classes are decent, and I liked the advice on playing a paladin. Having non-standard mounts is also a nice touch. What's bad? Not so much as S&F. Actually, very little specifically bad. It seemed a tad dense to me, and a lot of the new abilities are rather...munchkin-capable. (A member of my party uses one ability, I forget the name, that has him spend a turning attempt and get a massive attack and damage bonus...and his charisma is rather high) Also, the appendix with monster religions is disappointing; while a nice thing to get you started, I wonder why each humanoid race has only one deity. Check out the old AD&D2 Monster Mythology, or for demihumans, the FR supp. Demihuman Deities. All in all, not bad. I wasn't disappointed, but wasn't that thrilled.
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