A Little History of Religion
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4.2 • 6 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
“For readers in search of a thoughtful, thorough, and approachable survey of the history of religion, this book is an excellent place to start.”—Booklist
Written for those with faith and for those without—and especially for younger readers—A Little History of Religion sweeps us through the story of religion in our world, from the dawn of religious belief to the present.
An emphathetic yet discerning guide to the enduring importance of faith, Richard Holloway introduces us to the history and beliefs of the major world religions—Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism. He also explores where religious belief comes from; the search for meaning through the ages; how differences in belief sometimes lead to hostility and violence; what is a sect and what is a cult; and much more. Throughout, Holloway encourages curiosity and tolerance, accentuates nuance and mystery, and calmly restores a sense of the value of faith.
Customer Reviews
Disappointing
I was so disappointed by this book. I was expecting a well-researched history of religion, from tens of thousands of years ago through to modern times. I was expecting it to be focussed on evidence, and note how one religion led to the next. I thought it would be an academic work with plenty of interesting references from other work, that might point me in the direction of other books to read. I wanted more info on how Christianity borrowed from Greek mythology, for example, or how it was shaped by political considerations in the first century. Instead, this is a very simplistic introduction of the kind you’d get in a church. It’s also very focussed on Christianity, which I think makes the title misleading. It’s not totally dire, there’s the odd interesting snippet here and there, but you’ll have to wade through some dull context-free bible stories of the kind people tell you their children to get to them.