Hudson Smith The World's Religion Summary

To try and persuade someone to believe in religion, if they are not willing listen, is a sure fire way to start a conflict, which is why I feel this book contradicts itself in some ways. An example of this is where Sande wrote in chapter 7on page 145:

Huston Smith is known for his research and interest in the religions of the world. He published a book, Religion’s of Man in 1958, which was later revised and renamed World’s Greatest Religions. This book was a summary of the adventures Huston Smith went on in his life as he traveled the world searching for new knowledge and understanding of the religions of the world. Huston Smith also made a collection of videos about various religions across the world, known as his “Wisdom of Faith” video series. I recently watched the Christianity and Judaism video from this collection and discovered many of Smith’s views on those religions.

Huston Smith -----The World's Religions Huston Smith first wrote this book The World’s Religions with the name The Man’s Religions in 1958. Since then the book has remained a renowned literary and religiously popular among the literary as well as the religious circles. The book provides a good source of nearly all the prominent religions of the world, gives us an understanding, and insight and the point of view of these religions. His first chapter of the book is Point of Departure. In this chapter, Huston explains his journey though various religions. Though it is just an overview of his thoughts and beliefs, it gives a premise of what lay ahead. In the fist paragraph of this chapter that reads: “Traditionally, When People Wanted Answers to life's ultimate questions -- Where are we? Why are we here? What does it all mean? What, if anything, are we supposed to do? -- they looked to their revealed texts; or to their ancestral myths if they were oral peoples (it comes to the same thing). Since the rise of modern science, however, they have turned increasingly to it for answers. This is understandable, for controlled experiments enable science to prove its theses; and with those theses it has remade the world. It is a signal feature of our century's close that we recognize that this turn to science was mistaken. Not entirely mistaken, for science (and its spin-off, technology) have their place. What was mistaken was to expect science to answer ultimate questions, for its

He starts off with an introduction to his overall views of how science and religion work together, which transitions to his introduction to science in general. We learn about how he, as a young boy, grew out of his remote world and into one of interconnectedness, unimaginably useful tools, quantum mechanics, and what would appear to simply be magic. As he talks about how he learns of these concepts, he tells the reader his initial standpoint, and how it grew and became part of his understanding of Buddhism. He noticed how the idea of interconnectedness and parts of a whole was similar to beliefs within Buddhism. On the other hand, when he discusses the “beginning” of the universe, he is willing to reject theories that have little sound reasoning to him. He then enters the second half of the book, where he goes in depth with the concept of consciousness and how to study it. He believes that the only way to observe it is within, from a first person view. As he suggests ways to better science and research, he pushes for a more ethical method. He is aware that science can have a destructive power to humans and the environment. He ends on a note of hope, that science can improve our ways of living, and that in doing so, won’t destroy what makes us

The first couple of chapters in this selection was very interesting in that we see how the ways of the world slowly began to overcome the righteousness of the people. Although they did not teach contrary to the direct word of God, they did claim to have another system of beliefs that so happened to be different the standard system of beliefs. This so closely follows current day problems; some religious groups were simply formed to go contrary to the normal system of beliefs and sometimes become hostile to the traditional believers.

In the essay “Religion,” Robert Baird argues against teaching techniques of secular university religion courses. Baird’s repeated use of phrases like “humanistic,” “human culture” and “understanding of man” in the paragraphs following thesection titled “The Secular Study of Religion” all accurately describes the state of secular university religion courses. The first point Baird uses to argue against the methods of teaching, is the humanistic basis of the courses. Braid also argues that secular religious courses have no specific line of attack.

Even though I do not consider myself a religious person, religion is an important part of many people’s lives it is vital to have a basic understanding and awareness of the world's religions if given the opportunity to do so. I had limited, and mostly negative, experiences in Christian denominations in my childhood, while much more positive experiences in communities of other religions, particularly Islam and Buddhism. However, between this class and classes in high school, I have been given the chance to explore more aspects of Christianity and understand the history behind it better.

Smith presents the multiplicity of religious traditions as one of his five major problems with religion. “In addition to a myriad of lesser groups, there are on earth not one but at least four or five major religious communities each proclaiming a faith with a long and impressive, even brilliant, past and with the continuing creative allegiance of mighty civilizations.” The problem

In America and the United Kingdom the top five religions that will be addressed in this paper are Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. In order for society to work well in such a diverse religious population we have to first know the statistics. The United States and the United Kingdom share one major thing in common, that Christianity is the top ranked religion in both countries. Although Christianity remains as the largest religious population, Islam is the fastest growing religion.

The evolution of religion in world history has been a fascinating journey to say the least. So many of us profess to be a part of a certain religion but yet we don’t understand how it came to be. By unraveling the beginnings of today’s major religions, we can gain a better understanding and appreciation of religions around the world. Just as everyone is special and unique - so too are the various religions. It’s important to understand and respect whatever beliefs others may have - no matter if we agree with them or not.

The most interesting content in Leonard Swidler and Paul Mojzes book “The Study of Religion in an age of Global Dialogue” thus far to me is the overall definition the author’s layout for the reader. They explain religion is the most fundamental, comprehensive of all human activities. Religion tries to make sense out of not simply just one or two aspect of human life, (examples where we come from and what happens when we die) but of all aspects of human experience. At the core of every civilization is its religion in some form or another, which both reflects and shapes it. So in order to understand human life in general Swidler and Mojzes suggest that our specific culture and history can be understood by our religions.

In his seminal work, The Meaning and End of Religion, Wilfred Cantwell Smith proposes using two separate concepts for religious studies. Believing that the conventional approach of studying “a religion” or “the religions” is inadequate and misleading, Smith states, “If religion or a religion is anything at all, it is not only in fact but in theory something in which actual living, historical persons are involved” (1838). Therefore, he offers his theories of examining “faith” and “cumulative tradition” as more valuable for any intellectual analysis of the religious experience of mankind. With these two separate, albeit, related concepts, Smith theorizes that religious studies can better grasp both the mundane and the transcendent aspects

According to Russel McCutcheon, the academic study of religion emphasizes two main points. These two elements of analysis are historical accuracy and descriptive accuracy (McCutcheon, 1). Ideally, this approach to the study of religion should be completely neutral. Theology, on the other hand, may accentuate a particular viewpoint or method of living that is consistent with the religion being studied. The approach that McCutcheon describes is also utilized by Brown throughout the first chapter of his book. This is evident due to the plethora of examples which describe the branches of the Islamic people, and the different set of beliefs that come with it.

He unfolds the key components of changing perspective by conveying through reversed facts and theories that were originally created. In one scenario, the religious temple where apes were taught about men’s cruelty shows that man is creature which upholds the nature of evil and destruction. Additionally, the dialogue from Taylor to Dr Zaius " Dr. Zaius, How did this upside down civilization ever get started? You may well call it upside down, since you occupy its lowest level.” Illustrates the evolution of human has reversed and hence gave the apes the leading role in the evolution chain. Lastly, the second article of faith this was meant to be about Christianity but, in the movie it was portrayed as a book about ape’s culture and its scrolls against men behaviour.

Religion plays a major role in people’s lives, it is not surprising that it influences their daily lives so much. There are many religions in this world. Some religions have a very concentrated following related to their specific geographic areas, while others have enormous followers in the entire globe. Each of the world’s religions has certain differences that makes them unique yet all follow a structure of basic morals and similar instructions on how to live their lives.