For courses in World Religions. This classic work presents the religions of the world in both a factual and empathetic manner, while tackling some of today's most critical religious issues. text has been fully updated with current information on today's new religious movements, the role of women in world religions today, religion in the years to come, and more. This text includes a wealth of learning aids, including practical outlines that guide students in researching and writing papers.

For three decades this introduction to the world's religions,Many Peoples, Many Faiths,has endeavored in various ways to combine factual information with empathetic writing that tries to convey something of the flavor of our planet's diverse religions and cultures. While striving for accuracy and depth, it is neither an encyclopedic compilation of data nor a survey of alternative philosophies. Instead, it us seeks to present something of the total human experience, made up as it is of an inseparable mingling of conceptual, worship, and social factors of religious life from past to present. The authors hope that their efforts will implant in many readers a sense of the richness and fascination of the areas of scholarship that lie behind the presentation of this experience, and that it will inspire at least some to explore these areas more deeply. Barbara McGraw, Associate Professor, St. Mary's College of California, joined with the original writer, Robert Ellwood, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California, as coauthor for the sixth edition ofMany Peoples, Many Faithsand continues to have a large part in the rewriting of all sections of the subsequent editions of the book. In particular, Professor McGraw has contributed nearly all of the material that was added in the sixth and seventh editions on women in the world religions. The growing interest in this issue and its own intrinsic importance have led both of us to believe that world religions textbooks must give substantial amounts of space and detail to the role and experience of women in religion to more fully reflect the total human experience of religion's influence on the cultures of the world. In general, this eighth edition ofMany Peoples, Many Faithsseeks to continue the balanced, empathetic, yet critical, approach to the religions of the world toward which previous versions have striven. Additions made to earlier editions have been maintained and, where appropriate, updated. For example, in the sixth edition new material was added throughout on the presence of the world religions in the United States. Further, it was previously recognized that in a world increasingly faced with very difficult choices and with a growing awareness of current injustices, no human institution, religion included, can avoid challenge and criticism. New material was previously added to the introductory chapter on critical approaches to religion, and a new final chapter was then appended on religion in the context of present and future crises, and the first and last chapters have been substantially revised for the eighth edition. Readers will be challenged to think about how religion has responded to present developments in science, technology, globalization, the environment, and other trends, and what possible futures for religion there may be in light of them. The glossary was substantially expanded in the seventh edition and has been updated for the eighth edition so that it can be used effectively as a teaching and learning tool. The authors suggest that students be instructed to use the glossary as a study guide for each chapter. In addition, updated material has been added throughout the book, including the addition of recent books to the lists of suggested readings at the end of each chapter. As before, it must be emphasized that these lists are by no means exhaustive. In many of the categories, there are hundreds, even thousands, of valuable books. What we have tried to do is suggest a few books in each subject area, not so much for advanced research as for broader familiarization with the area. Most, therefore, are books written at a level accessible to beginning or middle-level students. Many are textbooks with good further bibliographies. Books footnoted in the text but not cited in the reading lists are generally recommended too. In many cases, the books in the suggested reading lists have gone through a number of editions; the