Customer Reviews

Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge and Change

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the newest edition of Molloy's classic text. At the end of this review I pasted my review of edition 3. But first, let me describe what you get in the 4th edition. . .

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Edition 4

The first thing one notices is the similarities with the earlier edition.
A few terms have been changed and tightened up for clarity and to be politically correct.
The general outline of the chapters has been cleaned up a bit.
A few of the illustrations have been updated.

These make the book a better edition, but not worth bying a higher price than a the older edition. What makes the newer version worth the money? It's facts, figures, understanding of religions, etc. All through the book these have been updated. Religion is a field of studies that is constantly in flux. If you are not reading the most up to date texts, you are reading outdated information. It is the same thing that makes reading today's news more valuable than reading last year's news. Get the most recent edition possible.

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My old review of edition 3

I've used several college religion texts through the years. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. EXPERIENCING THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS is no exception. I especially like the chapters on Hinduism and modern religious expressions. This book comes close to labeling post-modernity without actually going out on a limb to predict the future. The last chapters elevate this book beyond the norm for religious textbooks. The author includes a personal experience (which I like) in each chapter and a hypothetical experience for the reader (which I find distracting) opens each chapter. It doesn't put quite as much emphasis on basic (oral) religions as some texts. For instance, I wish it had a little more on Native American and Traditional African religions.

This is an excellent text for the instructor who is able to bring supplemental material into the classroom. Someone embarking on a private study of world religions should not feel as if the surface has been scratched until more than one text is read. I also reviewed RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD by Hopfe & Woodward. The two texts compliment each other nicely.

This is the review of the 3rd edition.

This is a good introductory textbook. Each religion is introduced with a "First Encounter", based on the author's travels. The chapter then proceeds to describe the history, timeline, basic teachings and practice, and art and literature. Photographs give a taste of the iconography, temples or shrines, and worshippers of each faith, all done in a respectful manner. The chapter on each religion concludes with personal story from the author (for example, visiting the Dalai Lama or inside the monastery on Mount Athos), and then thoughts on the contemporary developments on the religion. These reflect the author's opinion at the time (2005), and I suspect would change from edition to edition. The final chapter "The Modern Search" is perhaps more of an essay on the authors own view on contemporary issues, and perhaps seems focused on the west. At times the text seems like a travelogue, but I do think that allows the reader to focus on cultural aspect.

The book is very informative and descriptive about the religions it addresses. However, I found the author was more romantic when he was describing Eastern religions (especially Buddhism) than when writing about the three monotheistic religions (Judaidsm, Christianity, and Islam)

It is good for acquiring basic background information and offers some nice extended reading.

Learning about world religions can be quite a task, but this book takes you on a world tour to discover each covered religion in a modern, practical sense. While the book covers the all important history of each religion, there were easier to understand with the addition of the author's first-hand observations of the culture in which it resides. This was one of the few textbooks I didn't want to sell back to the bookstore.

While some of the lesser known religions and cults are left out of this book, it does a fabulous job of providing a clear overview to the most influential religions in the world. The historical and cultural perspective provided by the author brought the appropriate perspective to the student.

For almost $100.00, you'd think they'd at least give you a hard-cover. But that's what you must expect from college text books. Thank goodness for Amazon!

I use Molloy's book for the college course I teach on world religions (along with Van Voorst, Anthology of World Scriptures, Wadsworth: 2011). He begins with an insightful chapter on various approaches to the study of religion, then explores indigenous religions. The rest of the book walks students through the origins, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, Daoism and Confucianism, Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Alternative Paths (e.g. contemporary Paganism, Baha'i), and The Modern Search (including women's issues, environmentalism, and spirituality). Each chapter is between 25 and 80 pages long (average is about 50 pages), and is loaded with attractive pictures and interesting sidebars. Personally, I think it's one of the best books out there for those wanting a solid overview of key world religions. It treats each religion appreciatively and fairly and is written in a reader/student friendly fashion. The "Personal Experience" section at the end of each chapter is either "corny" or "interesting," depending on which student you ask. My suggestion: Take students to various places of worship and have guest lectures from those who practice the various religions. This will allow them to have a bit of first-hand "experience" as they read this textbook and passages from the various scriptures.

It's an interesting book, but my professor chose it as the lesser of all evils. He keeps having to supplement the book with handouts because of important points that the author seems to have omitted. The stories are interesting though. I just don't really understand why our professor chose a book he is unhappy with. We pay a lot of money for our texts just to have him criticize Molloy constantly for leaving out important details about different religions.

The book is fine so long as your professor isn't nit picky.

This review is not for the actual text itself but instead for the "Kindle Edition." This edition, despite its name, is not compatible with the kindle! Don't purchase it unless you only want to read it on your computer or *gag* an iPad.

Most "reviews" so far remark briefly on its delivery, condition, or the student's course. A couple criticized doctrinal points, and a few praised its tone and scope. I've been assigned (note the verb--we don't always have a choice!) this text to teach a Comparative Religions course, so I've prepared by studying it cover to cover.

"Understanding Religions" opens, then indigenous varieties, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism & Sikhism, Daoism & Confucianism, and Shintoism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam follow. Alternative religions and "The Modern Search" wrap it up.

Michael Molloy's updated this all for its fifth edition. He takes his task seriously, but he adds insight and verve. That is, he integrates personal encounters into the beginning of his chapters as well as within them, keeping the pace snappier than a chronological structure (each religious tradition's evolution) and geographical one (first ancients everywhere, then Asian, then Middle Eastern, then Western, New Age, earth-based, alternative, and "new religious movements") might portend. His own Hawaiian orientation allows him to use this logical East-West portal as a place for contemplating the island's indigenous and syncretic faiths and outlooks, and his Californian upbringing enriches this with another fitting place from which to scan the varieties of belief and ritual and outlook.

I kept an eye out for how contemporary scholarship, often not matching the mindset of many believers in the pew or temple, entered his treatment of issues. For instance, the lack of evidence for the Exodus, the writing down of sutras long after the death of the historical Buddha, the composition of the Qur'an, and the lag between the ministry of Jesus and the recording of the Gospels are common topics of discussion in seminars but not always within congregations. Molloy manages to address these within his chapters, while not overemphasizing controversial subjects or diminishing the outlooks adopted by everyday folks. He also adds endnotes where some intricate issues are expanded.

Within his Buddhism chapter I found the pithiest yet most diverse discussion of the possible meanings for the mantra "Om mani padme hum" yet, ones more advanced textbooks had not summed up so well. His Christianity chapter notes well how the Gospels differ in depicting Jesus by a process analogous to four portraits rather than identical photographs as it were. He cites another image given for the Qur'an, its suras stacked like leaves falling, the earliest layers first and then later ones on top of them. Such comparisons show the care with which Molloy's arranged his material.

Boldfaced terms are glossed after each chapter, and a handsome timeline graces the flyleaves. Films, music, websites, questions for study, and suggested reading append each chapter. It's not a fatal flaw, but I found his reading lists often bafflingly eclectic or way too narrow or offbeat. This may attest to his wide-ranging attention to quirkier approaches into what makes a faith or a ritual "tick." You never know what source may spark one's own interest.

Overall, as the "further reading" choices don't detract from the success of this ambitious, 560-page work, I'd give it a favorable rating. Another reviewer remarked on the text's lack of alternative religious coverage. Within the limits of two chapters of a vast survey, I'd counter that Molloy examines enough material to give a sense--if not a full treatment of--newer religions, sects, and emerging eclectic or humanist approaches. He discusses the dark side of religious suppression; the damage done by intolerance; the treatment of dissenters, women, and minorities; and the possibilities of multicultural and inter-religious progress. He encourages a critical position that places one within the perspective of each religious variety, enhanced by arts and culture.

Molloy ends this book wonderfully with a conversation he had with friends, in which Einstein's perspective about miracles, God, and belief offers a profound reflection on the great matters this text in six-hundred pages addresses. Its photos, sidebars, and diversions may encourage respect and reflection, no matter what belief or lack of belief or combinations thereof its readers hold.

Received book in a few days. Excellent condition. The Book is very informative and easy reading. I am Catholic and I learned more in the one chapter then I did going to church and religious classes. It really explained a lot about other religions and how it pertains to today.