Expand your knowledge of the religions of the world with this comprehensive introduction to more than 200 faiths, sects, and cults. Written from a Christian perspective by a leading evangelical scholar, this complete and up-to-date guide provides a context for your own beliefs and worldview. The easy-to-follow format makes it ideal for students and laypeople alike. 640 pages, hardcover.
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(4.5 out of 5 stars)
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4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Bob Hunter (Canada), February 02, 2010
Drawn by its attractive appearance and large size and impressed by the descriptions on its jacket of it and its author, I recently borrowed Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions by Professor James A. Beverley from our local library. A few days later I finished reading it and decided to share my impressions of it here.
Postitively, I found Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions a very readable introduction to both the main world religions and the mass of religious sects and cults in today's world. Its encyclopedic style, respectful treatment of all religions, lists of favourable and critical websites and readings, and comprehensive index make it a useful reference tool for anyone interested in contemporary world and American religious groups.
Negatively, I was disappointed by the light treatment of the main world religions in Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions compared to the books on world religions that I used in university. In comparison to them it seems more a scrapbook of religious groups, particularly sects and cults, than a guide to world religions. I was also disappointed by its unbalanced treatment of the religious groups that it considers. For example, it devotes more pages to New Age than to any of the religious groups generally recognized as world religions except Christianity. For both reasons, I'd suggest that owners of it interested in the main world religions supplement it with a standard introduction to world religions, such as Huston Smith's The World's Religions.
Finally, I'll note that Professor Beverley is an evangelical Protestant and thus that Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions is written from that perspective. On the one hand, this should make the book especially useful to evangelical Protestants. On the other hand, despite the writer's attempt not to be judgmental, his criticism of some aspects of other religious viewpoints may offend those holding those viewpoints.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Becky (Port Orchard, WA), October 06, 2009
This huge hardback book is as the subtitle states "a comprehensive introduction to the religions of the world". From a Christian perspective, it introduces the reader to the history and evolution of the prevalent religions we see today. Each entry also includes some questions and answers and Internet sources for further information. The religions included are Baha'i, Branch Davidians, Buddhism, Christian Science, Christian Sectarian Groups, Hinduism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Judaism, Mormonism, The New Age, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Satanism, Scientology, Sikhism, Unification Church, and Witchcraft.
I really enjoyed reading this book, though it did take me quite a while to get through. It is quite lengthy (over 700 pages) and is not just a light read. It's a great resource to keep on hand when meeting people of a different religion and then being able to fully understand what they believe. The fact that it is written from a Christian perspective makes it my choice of a resource like this for our family. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in becoming of aware of what other religions/cults believe (for evangelistic purposes), but mostly just as a good resource to have on the bookshelf to refer to.
Note: This review was done for Thomas Nelson. http://brb.thomasnelson.com/
3 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Alyssa (Oregon), August 05, 2009
This book was educational. It covered a wide range of religions. Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, and more. Many groups I’ve never heard of are included. In my opinion, it was a little too soft towards false religions but it did compare them with essential Christian doctrine and attempted to have a Christian perspective. Still, this book should probably only be read by believers who already know where they stand. Children should definitely not read this book as it is very blunt toward the sick practices of the world and of certain cult leaders. This book is very long (over seven hundred pages) and holds some unnecessary information in my view. I would be more apt to recommend this book if it was not so incredibly dry. If I had not been obligated as a reviewer to finish the book, I probably would not have finished it. I was very relieved and happy to finally be done with it. That is one of the reasons why, although I appreciate the amount of research done and helpful information offered, I cannot give it that high of a rating. The pictures are interesting but are not enough to balance out the blocks and blocks of text. With all that being said, it works well as a reference book.
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Kristen H. (Winston-Salem, NC), July 12, 2009
Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions is a comprehensive book explaining the basic principles of 19 major religions of the world. Each of the chapters is devoted to a different religion and contains pertinent information such as the basic tenets of the religion, its founder, and its major leaders throughout its history. The distinguishing features of the branches of the various religions are also explained. The text includes many color illustrations as well as informative charts and tables.
I was very excited when I ordered this selection as a Thomas Nelson blog reviewer (http://brb.thomasnelson.com), and I have not been disappointed by my choice. James Beverly has done an excellent job of summarizing each religion. I greatly appreciate that he did not attempt to write an "unbiased" religion book. He is unapologetically Christian, and as such presents the religions from a Christian perspective. The book includes not only facts about each of the religions, but also what the Christian response to those religions should be. I especially appreciate the chapter on Protestantism because of the analysis of the differences between the various denominations of the Protestant faith.
Though the book will serve as a great reference book, I also found it very interesting and readable. In fact, I plan to have my 6th grader read sections of it as we study various religions in our history curriculum next year. I highly recommend this book for the Christian home.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Phil Naessens (Greece), June 26, 2009
I’ve recently joined the Thomas Nelson Blogger Book Review team and I selected the book Nelsons Illustrated Guide To Religions by James A Beverley. I’m very glad I did!
The book dubs itself as “A comprehensive introduction to the religions of the world” and that is exactly what this book is. Each “religion” featured is handled in a concise compact easily readable style that takes the reader on a journey from the beginnings to the current status of the particular “religion”.
This book isn’t a book you will read from cover to cover nor do I believe it is intended to be however its easily readable style and interesting facts made this a difficult book for me to put down.
It’s clear that Mr. Beverley has spent the majority of his life studying the major and minor religions and how they compare with Orthodox Christianity. He’s pictured with spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama (p63) which lends credibility to the author. I like the fact he attempts to personally interact with the leaders of religions that differ from his own.
With the Internet being such a valued tool in today’s world I liked the addition of websites at the end of each section. This allows the reader to investigate further without just accepting what’s presented at face value. This is very important to me and I’m happy to see it’s important to Mr. Beverley as well.
This book has become an important part of my ministry and I wholeheartedly recommend Nelsons Illustrated Guide To Religions by James A Beverley to anyone seeking to gain a better understanding of religions of the world.
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Debbie (Alpena, AR), June 09, 2009
This book is a good introduction to modern religions, but I was disappointed by how much critical information was left out in favor of less important information (in my opinion). Also, the organization wasn't consistently handled as to which religions were covered in which section and what information was focused on for each. However, the book was still very usable, easy to read, and useful.
While the history of each religion was briefly covered, the focus was usually on when the important leaders lived and various controversies occurred rather than the historical beliefs of the religion.
The book generally focused on the shared beliefs of all the subgroups in each religion. However, sometimes beliefs unique to the largest subgroup were given as the beliefs of the majority of the religion. This may be technically true, but I felt it could be misleading when the book failed to note when a belief was only held by one subgroup.
That said, the information given was generally fair and balanced, though definitely from a Protestant Christian viewpoint. (The Protestant section mainly covered how the various denominations came about, their defining beliefs, and any controversies surrounding them.) The author clearly did a lot of research and tries to portray what the believers of the religion say about their own religion rather than what other religions say about it. The information given correlates with what practitioners have told me about their religions.
Overall, I felt the book was a good, fair introduction to the various modern religions in the world for those who know very little about them. However, if you've already done a lot of research into the various religions, books that focus in-depth on a single religion might be more useful to you.
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Bryan (Chico, CA), June 05, 2009
I reviewed Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions, and I found this book amazingly done. I, myself, am Christian. However, I always wanted to know why others believe what they do. The Guide to Religions does an excellent job of not only going into detail of each religious sect, but does so with great respect for each and every religion. Never in the book does it belittle or degrade other religions compared to Christianity. This I thought was very respectful.
It not only gives a greater understanding of the religions of the world, but for myself, it gave me a deeper appreciation for my own. It is easy to find myself going through the motions, saying I am a Christian more than “being” a Christian. By reading this book, I am able to better reflect on my own beliefs and understandings. Through this process, I grow deeper in my relationship with my Lord and Savior. I want to thank Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions for doing very extensive and, I would imagine, exhausting research that was required to put a 640 page book on religions together.
I would recommend this book for anyone who always wonders why others believe what they do. But I would also recommend this to anyone who wonders why I believe what I do.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Tracy (canada), May 25, 2009
This book so impressed me with its easy to read style, plus it was very thourough about describing each religion, including a guide to the key points of each religion. I found the book very well written and easy to get through! I would definately recommend this to anyone wanting an easy and quick guide to the world religions!
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