THINK World Religions

Roy R. Robson is Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He teaches courses on modern Europe, Russia, and world religions. His interdisciplinary teaching includes “Intellectual Heritage: Time” and “Views of the Cosmos." Robson writes extensively on Russian history and world religions. His last book, Solovki, won praise from the New Yorker, The Times (London), Condé Nast Traveler, and the Journal of Modern History. Robson serves as the series editor on Orthodox Christianity for Northern Illinois University Press. This year, the National Endowment for the Humanities honored the University’s Intellectual Heritage program by granting Dr. Robson a fellowship to expand his course on Time. Dr. Robson is president-elect of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies, the largest regional association of Slavic scholars in America.

"Visually attractive, easy to read, with resources that facilitate cross-cultural comparison and critical thinking." - Abraham Velez of Eastern Kentucky University "A cuting-edge text for the digital 21th-century generation studing World Religions or Comparative Religions." - Nathaniel Murrell of UNC Wilmington "Colorful, well-written, appealing to students, good possibilities for connections to resources on the Web." - Alan Meyers of Lindenwood University

• In this Section: 1. Brief Table of Contents2. Full Table of Contents 1. BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:Chapter 1: Thinking about RelgionChapter 2: Talking about ReligionChapter 3: Hinduism: The Eternal LawChapter 4: Hinduism: Law and LifeChapter 5: Buddhism: Becoming AwakeChapter 6: Buddhism: Awakening the WorldChapter 7: East Asian Sacred Ways: The Eternal DaoChapter 8: East Asian Sacred Ways: Harmony in the WorldChpater 9: Judaism: A Chosen People Choosing GodChapter 10: Judaism: Israel in the DiasporaChapter 11: Christianity: The God-Man MessiahChapter 12: Christianity: Communion and CommunityChapter 13: Islam: Submission and FaithChapter 14: Islam: The Pillars and the UmmaChapter 15: Religions of Place: A Sacred World Around UsChapter 16: New Religions: A Quest for the Sacred 2. FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS:Chapter 1: Thinking About ReligionReligion as a Field of StudyAsking Questions about ReligionThe Four QuestionsIs There a God?What Does It Mean to Be Human?How Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?How Does the Sacred Become Community?Do You Have Other Questions?Critical Thinking with THINK World ReligionsThe Visual SummaryDoing Research on ReligionsCreating a Question MatrixImportant Parts of the BookChapter 2: Talking about ReligionSteeler Nation or Church of the Steelers?Can We Describe Steeler Nation as a Religion?Characteristics of ReligionsWhy Is Religion so Difficult to Talk About?The Steeler NationStrategies for Studying World ReligionsThe Big Question: Is Religion True or False?What Is Truth?THINK World Religions: Truthfulness vs. “Truthiness”Can There Be More Than One Truth?THINK World Religions: Pontius Pilate: “What Is Truth?”Back to Steeler NationVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 3: Hinduism: The Eternal LawA Sacred Place: A Hindu TempleIs There a God in Hinduism?DharmaSacred Texts and TraditionsA Sacred Action: The PujaBrahman: Source of All DivinityThree Main Gods of HinduismTHINK World Religions: Beliefs and SciencePrimary Gods: A Closer LookRocks, Rivers, and AnimalsWhat Does it Mean to Be Human?The Caste SystemTHINK World Religions: The Story of Purusha from the Rig-vedaHuman Beings: Out of Touch with BrahmanDharma and KarmaInternal Conflict: Cows and HinduismMoksha: Breaking the CycleChapter ReviewChapter 4: Hinduism: Law and LifeA Place in the World: The Bharatiya TempleHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?The Path of Works: Sacrifice, Purity, and RitualInternal Conflict: Ahimsa and Social MovementsThe Path of Devotion: BhaktiThe Yogic Paths of KnowledgeHow Does the Sacred Become Community?Religion and the FamilyHindu Views of DeathTHINK World Religions: Sati: Ritual Widow BurningSanatana Dharma and the Caste SystemReligion + Gender: Women in HinduismContemporary Religions Issues: Gandhi, Hinduism, and PoliticsConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 5: Buddhism: Becoming AwakeA Sacred Place: The Fogong Si TempleIs There a God?God or Gods in Buddhism: No, Yes, and MaybeA Sacred Action: Alms-GivingThe Life of the BuddhaTHINK World Religions: Some Sanskrit and Pali Equivalent Terms in BuddhismPrinciples of BuddhismWhat Does It Mean to Be Human?The Eightfold PathTHINK World Religions: A U.S. Army Chaplain Who Is a BuddhistThe Human Condition in Theravada and Mahayana TraditionsTHINK World Religions: King Ashoka and the Spread of BuddhismInternal Conflict: Buddhism and GenderChapter ReviewChapter 6: Buddhism: Awakening the WorldA Place in the World: Protests in MyanmarHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?The First Jewel: Taking Refuge in the BuddhaTHINK World Religions: Secret Tantric PracticeThe Second Jewel: Taking Refuge in the DharmaReligion + Health: Mind Over BodyHow Does the Sacred Become Community?Monastic LifeMonastery and Laity: Tibetan BuddhismBuddhism Without a Monastic Sangha: Buddhism Comes to the WestContemporary Religious Issues: Tibet and ChinaConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 7: East Asian Sacred Ways: The Eternal DaoA Sacred Place: Chang LingIs There a God?Dao, Qi, and Yin/YangA Sacred Action: Tai ChiThe Yijing (I Ching)Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism: Syncretic Traditions in East AsiaTHINK World Religions: The AnalectsBuddhism in East AsiaWhat Does It Mean to Be Human?The Confucian View of HumanityThe Daoist View of HumanityInternal Conflict: LegalismTHINK World Religions: The ImmortalsChapter ReviewChapter 8: East Asian Sacred Ways: Harmony in the WorldA Place in the World: Lion Dance in New York’s ChinatownHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?Veneration of ConfuciusInteracting with the Dao through QiContemporary Religious Issues: Falun GongReligion + Medicine: AcupunctureHow Does the Sacred Become Community?ConfucianismTHINK World Religions: What’s in a Name?DaoismCommunity in East Asian Buddhist TraditionsTHINK World Religions: Chairman Mao and the People’s RepublicConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChpater 9: Judaism: A Chosen People Choosing GodA Sacred Place: The Central SynagogueWhat Is Judaism?A Sacred Action: Bar and Bat MitzvahIs There a God?Proof of GodDefinition of GodThe Name of GodHow Does God Communicate with Us?THINK World Religions: Where Are the Pictures?What Does It Mean to Be Human?“In the Beginning”The Human Condition: Abraham, Isaac, and Becoming a Chosen PeopleTHINK World Religions: Jews, Israel, or Children of Israel: Which Term Is Correct?The Commandments: Words and DeedsHistory and Meaning: Cycles of Sin and RedemptionTHINK World Religions: What Happens after We Die?THINK World Religions: A Psalm of Hope and LongingChapter ReviewChapter 10: Judaism: Israel in the DiasporaA Place in the World: The EruvHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?PrayerFollowing the Commandments: The Example of FoodReligion + Education: The Importance of Education in JudaismTHINK World Religions: Deuteronomy 14:1–21Mystical Judaism and the KabbalahHow Does the Sacred Become Community?Calendar and Life Cycle RitualsDenominations in American JudaismJudaism in the Modern WorldTHINK World Religions: Reconstructionist JudaismContemporary Religious Issues: Holocaust DenialConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 11: Christianity: The God-Man MessiahA Sacred Place: St. Stephen’s of WalbrookThe Messiah: Jesus ChristIs There a God?A Sacred Action: Liturgy and EucharistTHINK World Religions: Paul’s Mystical ExperienceTHINK World Religions: Varieties of Early ChristianitySeeking God in the Early Christian ChurchTHINK World Religions: Christianity and Popular Culture: The DaVinci CodeThe Problem with the Holy TrinityTHINK World Religions: Don’t Understand the Holy Trinity? Try These Techniques!What Does It Mean to Be Human?Christian ConfessionsInternal Conflict: Good Nature but Evil Deeds? 1What Happens When Human Beings Die? Christian Ideas of Heaven and HellChristianity + Literature: Dostoevsky, On HellInternal Conflict: Christianity and EvolutionChapter ReviewChapter 12: Christianity: Communion and CommunityA Place in the World: Mother Teresa of CalcuttaHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?What’s in a Name? Churches, Denominations, and CommunitiesTHINK World Religions: Justin Martyr Describes Christian Interaction with the SacredThe Eucharist: An Ancient Christian Form of Communion with GodPrayer: Personal and Communal Interaction with the SacredTHINK World Religions: Music and PrayerContemplation and Quiet as Forms of Interaction with the SacredTHINK World Religions: Spiritual Double ClickingFinding a Direct Link to God: The Charismatic MovementHow Does the Sacred Become Community?MonasticismCalendars, Rituals and Community CelebrationsCommunal Worship and IdentityChristians in the WorldReligion + Politics in the USA: The Religious RightConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 13: Islam: Submission and FaithA Sacred Place: Selimiye Mosque, TurkeyIs There a God?The “Glorious Qur’an”A Sacred Action: Sandys TravailesGod and the KaabaTHINK World Religions: “Allah” or “God”?Comprehending God in IslamReligion + People of the Book: Judaism and Christianity in the Qur’anWhat Does It Mean to Be Human?Muhammad’s BiographyIslam After Muhammad’s DeathWomen in IslamTHINK World Religions: Behind the Veil: Why Islam’s Most Visible Symbol Is SpreadingThe Sira, Sunna, and HadithReligion + Secular Literature: The Fatwa of Salman RushdieWhat Happens after Humans Die?Chapter ReviewChapter 14: Islam: The Pillars and the UmmaA Place in the World: MeccaHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?Shahada: Witnessing and Professing Faith in GodThe Shia Shahada: Purity and FidelityTHINK World Religion: Message to the Blackman in America by Elijah MuhammadInteracting with the Divine through Prayer: The Second Pillar of IslamInteracting with God through Food and Fasting: The Third Pillar of IslamTHINK World Religions: Islam and Ritual PuritySufism: Mystical Interaction with the SacredReligion + Poetry: The Poet RumiTHINK World Religions: The Intoxication of QalandarHow Does the Sacred Become Community?Giving to the Poor: The Fourth Pillar of IslamThe Hajj: The Fifth Pillar of IslamJihad in a Modern World?ConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 15: Religions of Place: A Sacred World Around UsA Sacred Place: The TipiIs There a God?A Sacred Action: Black Elk’s VisionTHINK World Religions: Glooskap the DivinityThe Medicine WheelTHINK World Religions: Sacred Land and Sacred Power Across the GlobeWhat Does It Mean to Be Human?How Do Humans Interact with the Sacred? How Does the Sacred Become Community?Sacred WordsFrom Words to Steps: The Vision QuestSteps Become Ritual: The Sun DanceAmerican Indian Spirituality Meets Christian Spirituality: Is God Red or White?Breaking the Sacred Bonds of the Land: Native Americans and the U.S. GovernmentThinking About Indigenous World ReligionsTHINK World Religions: Casinos and Native American LifeConclusionVisual SummaryChapter ReviewChapter 16: New Religions: A Quest for the SacredA Sacred Place: StonehengeA Sacred Action: The Blessing CeremonyDefining the New Religious MovementsIs There a God?A New Path for Christianity: The Unification MovementWicca and the New Age: Ancient Magick for a Modern EraReligion + Violence: New Religious Movements + Violence 5 Cults?Religion + The Supernatural: UFOlogyWhat Does It Mean to Be Human?UnificationismWicca and the New AgeHow Do Humans Interact with the Sacred?UnificationismWicca and the New AgeHow Does the Sacred Become Community?UnificationismWicca and the New AgeCommunity and Celebrity in the New AgeReligion + Controversy: Religious PluralismConclusion: Thinking about New Religious MovementsVisual SummaryChapter Review