John Bowker (1) (1935–)

Another entry into my Read Your Library list. Since I've been focusing on World History, religion was a natural inclusion since it has been one of the main drives behind humanity from the very beginning.

This book is a nice overview of the more recognizable religions of the world, starting with the ancient religions such as the Greek, Egyptian, and Celtic traditions, and moving on through time to cover Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even touching on smaller native religions around the world.

My one complaint with this one is that I wish they had spent more time on the ancient religions. Plus, there is no mention of the Sumerian religious tradition of the Mesopotamian area, even though it had a strong influence on Judaism (since the Semites, the early Jewish people, were slaves to the Babylonians and indoctrinated in their faith, borrowed almost entirely from early Sumer). Since there is such a focus on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; it would have been nice to take a look at one of the early religions that held many of the original stories that became a major part of those three.

Of course, the author does include a section on further reading in the back, so I now have a list of additional books to look for regarding each of the religions covered here.… (mais)