World Religions

1st Edition hardcover.

World Religions: Beliefs and Traditions from Around the Globe is a primer on world religions by Robert Pollock. It gives basic information for about 50 religions including all the the most popular ones, and several of the smaller, but still interesting, ones.

Personal

I got this book in the bargain section of a book store. After reading it, I was left with a good impression, and reread it years later, though my impression dwindled.

Status

I own this book in hardcover and have read it.

Review

Good

• It covers about 50 religions. For each it briefly describes the origins and history, its prophets and scriptures, its rituals and holy days, and gives a general idea about what sets it apart from others.
• When it comes to books on religions, I found some go into far too much depth while others not nearly enough. I found this book to include just enough information on each religion for it to be helpful without becoming boring.

Bad

• For something as visual as religion, you would expect to see a variety of photos of icons, relics, costumes, etc., but the book doesn't have any illustrations at all.
• The book gives plenty of info about what the various religions believe, but not so much why, and nothing about if the beliefs are justified. Also, while it briefly mentions some of the negative aspects of religions, like Martin Luther's antisemitism, Muslims murdering apostates, and Hindus believing poor people deserve to stay poor, it doesn't go into any depth as to why each religion caused them to happen.
• The structure is odd at times. For example, some of the largest Christian denominations, like Protestantism and Orthodox, are listed in the section labeled "Other Christian Faiths," while minor groups like the Amish and Mennoites are listed in "Prevalent Christian Faiths." A tree diagram would have been much more effective at showing the religion's evolution.
• The book focuses almost entirely on the positive beliefs of each religion, not their negative aspects. For example, in the 54 pages devoted to Christianity, I don't think hell or satan are even mentioned! I noticed similar results with the Islam (no mention of Jahannam or jinni) and Hinduism.
• In the section on Judaism, the author makes the faux pas of referring to the tanakh as the "old testament." I can't tell whether this was done simply out of ignorance or under the assumption the book would have a primarily Christian audience. The author further complicates matters by quoting from a Christian translation of the Torah and use the Christian titles of the books. Later, it does mention Jews don't refer to the tanakh as "old," but still doesn't grasp that "old" is a pejorative to the Jews.
• I spotted a few obvious typos indicating a lack of copy editing.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Links