The World’s Religions (Plus)

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The World’s Religions, by beloved author and pioneering professor Huston Smith (Tales of Wonder), is the definitive classic for introducing the essential elements and teachings of the world’s predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as regional native traditions.

This revised and updated edition provides sympathetic descriptions of the various traditions, explaining how they work “from the inside,” which is a big reason why this cherished classic has sold more than two million copies since it first appeared in 1958.

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Jeremy David Stevens
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I don’t see how you could pass on this book
Review: “Six aspects of religion surface so regularly as to suggest that their seeds are in the human makeup.” (Chapter III, p. 92 50th Anniversary Edition)I actually found that sentence buried in the chapter on Buddhism, as a short setup for a line of reasoning much less important than I thought such a statement merited. There’s so much to unpack in such a short sentence like that one that it’s hard to move past it and keep reading. An assertion like that really needs its own chapter.So there are two elements to this statement. The first is the six aspects, and that is fairly straight forward (although the author goes on to assert that Buddhism is a rarity in that it doesn’t initially embrace such concepts).These are the six aspects of religion that surface regularly, according to Huston Smith:AuthorityRitualSpeculationTraditionGraceMysteryI’ll accept the six aspects as they are so we can move to the second element of the assertion. These six key aspects “surface so regularly as to suggest that their seeds are in the human makeup.” This second element is where it really gets interesting for me. In other words, the implication is that we come right out of the package psychologically pre-programmed with these archetypal ideas. This a concept that I’ve been looking into for a number of months now while reading Carl Jung and Jordan B. Peterson and I’ve come to accept it as the truth. In fact, Huston Smith cites Jung several times throughout the book, so it’s not surprising that he’d been reading some of Jung’s work to come to a conclusion like that.Look for other flashes of brilliance like that throughout the book.Just in case you read this in hopes of an actual book review, I guess I can do that, too:The World’s Religions by Huston Smith is considered a classic in the genre by many. It’s such a respected book that it’s often used as a university textbook in World Religion classes. But this book does more than present the history and spirit of the major religions as you might expect from the title and some of the reviews. There are some very sophisticated and thoughtful parts of the book, too.I want to quickly address a criticism I’ve seen while looking through reviews: If you have a version that contains pictures and only a couple hundred pages, you have the abridged, illustrated version instead of the full book. I haven’t seen inside of that one but no wonder you have complaints about the sections being too brief. Do yourself a favor and go buy the genuine article. It’s over four-hundred pages and it’s quite thorough.Final say: Overall, I don’t see how you could pass on this book if you’re the least bit interested in religion or philosophy.RIP Huston SmithBorn: May 31, 1919Died: December 30, 2016

Reviewer: Tamika Huley
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good read
Review: It gets so good.

Reviewer: twain admirer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Got what I wanted
Review: Received a used book in quick order, in condition promised. Very pleased.

Reviewer: Jeffrey Van Wagoner
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good single volume summary
Review: Good summary of the world’s great religions from a man that has great respect for and experience in many of these religions. It’s refreshing to read about the great religions from someone that has made a lifetime of studying them with a true desire to understand them. I definitely recommend this book for those wanting a quick look at what makes them different from each other. There is a lot to admire in each one.Of course, where only one chapter is dedicated to each religion, you will not learn everything, but it will give you a start and the author recommends good books for more in depth study.I found the Plus section quite interesting, which is where I found out more about the author’s life and perspective.I studied this book with a group of friends, and the major complaint we had was on his section on Judaism. The one Jew in the group didn’t think he caught the essence too well. It turns out that Smith admitted that Judaism is one of the religions that he knew the least about, since he had never seriously investigated it has he had most of the others.

Reviewer: Thomas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Book Required for College–Well Written
Review: I had to write many papers and essays based on the chapters in this book. Huston Smith does a fine job of taking comprehensive, complex religions and synopsizing each one into manageable chunks.

Reviewer: Alberto Mendez
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A classical introduction to comparative religion
Review: This book by distinguished scholar Huston Smith (1919- ) remains a popular classical introduction to comparative religion. Originally published in 1958 and revised in 1991, Amazon now offers the 2009 re-edition. This 50th Anniversary Edition includes two prefaces by the author (from 1998 and 2009) and a Plus section consisting of a 14-page lecture by Smith and a 16-page interview conducted by Richard Marranca in 1997.The book is a sui generis study of the world’s great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It is not a history of Religions, not a judgmental commentary. It is a knowledgeable presentation of both the differences and similarities in the major religious traditions. In a direct and entertaining dialogue with the reader, Smith delivers his instruction mixing it with anecdotes and references taken from literature or popular culture. A college teacher by profession, Smith explains that he learned the style used in his book from PBS series he participated in: he was told repeatedly by the director that the TV audience was not a captive classroom audience, but an audience in which if the viewers loose the attention for thirty seconds will switch stations without coming back.The book explains, simply and sympathetically, the basic tenets of each religion and the reasons why it attracts millions of devout followers. By request of his publishers, Smith abridged his treatise to provide the text for The Illustrated World’s Religions (1995).For an update of the views of the now 94-year old scholar it is useful to watch the 1996 Bill Moyers 5-part PBS special to Smith’s life and work, “The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith”. Both the illustrated book and the DVD special are offered by Amazon sellers.

Reviewer: Hatchet33
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very Hard To Read
Review: I had to read this book for a college course on religious studies. Normally I enjoy reading deeply informative books on subjects, but this book was very long-winded. I would call it extraneous blubbering. I stopped reading it to find it on Audible, so I could see if listening to it would be better. This book was not on Audible then, but the author’s lectures were listed under the same name as the book. Once again, his extraneous blubbering in his lectures forced me to return the Audible listening and go back to the book. The author obviously knows these religious subjects, but he throws in quite a bit of flowery writing and takes his time (and mine) before he gets to the point.

Reviewer: Gabriela G.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: El libro llegó maltratado

Reviewer: Peter Irvine
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book is essential reading for all who wish to ground themselves in the basics of religions. Huston was also one of the participants in the Marsh Chapel Psilocybin experiment conducted by Walter Pahnke on Good Friday 1962. Huston didn’t get the Placebo, and has stated that the experience was powerful and left a permanent mark on his expereinced world view. He had already written this book at the time. Read it for a really balanced insight into what makes the various religious persuasions tick!

Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My deep thinking husband loves philosophy and is self-taught on all the greats. Slogging through Nietzsche and Socrates is his idea of fun. He recently shifted into religions and has really been enjoying studying Asian and Indian religions. I bought him this book as a surprise present to give him more material to chew on. As I hoped, he LOVES it and has barely been able to put it down since I gave it to him a couple of days ago. Instead of giving a history lesson on how the major world religions came to be, this author focuses on the ways various religions attempt to satisfy the longings and concerns of the human soul. I chose this book because I like the author’s focus on spiritual principles. I also like the fact that, like my husband, this author seems capable of recognizing and appreciating the kernels of Divine wisdom that all religions have to offer. Once you know who God is, you are able to see Him at work everywhere instead of getting stuck in the idea that there is only one “right” religion. My husband and I have come to the conclusion that there is no perfect religion–instead, they each have their strengths and shortcomings. I really enjoy hearing my husband’s summaries of what he’s gleaning from this book and would highly recommend for any serious thinkers who are open to seeing God working in a “big picture” kind of way. I also really like how this author discusses some of the less common religions in the final chapter of this book–that was a very nice bonus.

Reviewer: Sangappan Murugesan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: THE PAPER QUALITY IS NOT GOOD .

Reviewer: NotMe
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book is a comprehensive treatise of the most popular religions in the world today. Huston Smith is a wonderful writer and has an amazing knowledge that he imparts beautifully. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a curiosity about the history and beliefs of the worlds religions. In each chapter, he recommends other works for futher study. I also very much enjoyed the final chapter, the primal religions. All in all this is a facinating book.

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