Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Religion (16 Vols. in 8)

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Now over ten years in print this major account of the world's religions is the best resource for authoritative information on the world's major religious traditions. Still the work remains especially uneven in the quality of articles. Eliade died soon after the work was in production and there was not as strong or even editorial control over the quality and depth of information presented. Some scholars did excellent contributions, others are rather slap-dash and the selection of article length and topics selected seem somewhat bewildering and idiosyncratic. The work did show something of the creative ferment in religious studies but it tended to avoid controversy or provide a systematic view of history or of religions. But even with these qualifications it is the only current Encyclopedia of religion though it is hoped that some of the Internet projects now in creation will eventually make up for its generally uneven executions. Good reading.

Very informative, in fact