Customer Reviews

The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions

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I'm a librarian in a grades 7-12 prep school and we have a high demand for books covering the major religions of the world. This has been, by far, the best single resource we have found! Its format and coverage are just right for the reader who needs an excellent overview, but not the minutia. The layout is attractive and functional; the index is thorough. It's easy to find exactly what you're looking for and the humorous presentation makes it readable cover to cover! Of course the provocative title doesn't hurt either...This is a great addition to a home reference library!

For year I had wanted to study comparative theology, but had been daunted by the breadth of the task. When I found Joy of Sects, I was hoping for a broad review of the major world religions. I got this and much more. Not only are the six major eastern and western religions covered, but so too are many of their sects and sub-sects.

In what could otherwise be dry reading, the author has managed to find an appropriate balance between reporting the facts behind each faith, and finding the humor in each and religion in general. Playful, and non-offensive. Yet the work goes deeply enough into each topic as to give the read the history and spiritual nature of each belief system

I would recommend this work to anyone even remotely interested in comparative theology or even those mildly interested in what their friends and neighbors believe.

This is an excellent reference guide for religious scholars and
theorists. It describes Christianity, Judaism, Taoism and a
pletora of the world religious traditions. The work describes
the progression of the early Christian traditions from
democracy toward more hierarchy and orthodoxy. A number of
New Age sects are described in detail. Some controversial
sayings of Jesus Christ are quoted. For instance, Christ
made the following statement in Luke 14:26

"If anyone comes to me and cares about his father or his mother or his wife or his children or his brother or his sisters or even his own soul, he can't be my student."

This statement would be consistent with Christ's teachings
because the thrust is to be concerned about your neighbor.
Love one another is far more inclusive than concern for
family members or for oneself. Christ's teachings are
universal in nature. They extend beyond the community where you live.

The Taoists are concerned with the connectivity between nature and the earth. Even famous religionists are described.
Abu Hamid al-Ghazsali (1058- 1111) was a considerable Islamic
scholar of jurisprudence and Sufi practices.

This work will be useful for any student project on the subject
of religious theory and scholarship.

I've read many books on religion, and The Joy of Sects is a standout for its depth and breadth. History, sects, leaders, theology, terminology - all are made crystal clear for major religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as for New Age and shamanism. Yet although the approach is exhaustive, it's not exhausting: the author manages to avoid the ponderous or slanted tone of many such books. The Joy of Sects is entertaining and even playful without in any way being disrespectful of or cynical toward any religion - a real feat in this genre. Highly recommended not just as an even-handed reference source, but for the pure fun of reading.

This is an excellent book on comparative religions and I enthusiastically recommend it. It is highly informative and also fun to read. One reviewer here quoted his favorite subtitle appearing in the chapter on Hinduism: "It's my karma and I'll cry if I want to." One of my favorites appears under Buddhism--"Stop the wheel, I want to get off." These subtitles give you a flavor of Occhiogross's style of writing, which makes this book so enjoyable.

The book contains numerous sidebars (boxed text) and subheads, which make it very easy to read and comprehend. For example, one such boxed text is titled "You Say Potato: Where Islam Parts Company With Christianity." This is followed by two columns--one labeled "A Christian" and one labeled "A Muslim"--where points of comparison are given.

I also found useful the glossary (called "Coming to Terms") that appears at the end of each chapter. Key words of that particular religion under discussion are defined and a pronunciation guide is given when necessary.

If you are an average reader like me who is curious about world religions, this book will not disappoint you.

I like this book. First off, a disclaimer: This book is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the world's religions. They are plenty of texts for that. The author sets out to create a work of making organized religions and spirtual practices lighthearted and fun to read! Believe me this is no easy task! I found a good balance of interesting facts and pertinent information. So many books on religion are so scholarly that they are often more useful as sleep aids as opposed to inducing lively discussion of the world's wonderful and diverse religious traditions. I found him objective and open minded when discussing the "new age" and some of the more alternative viewpoints so prevelant today. Most authors treat these areas as fluff or as bastardizations of religious traditions that are already in existence and therefore not really worthy of serious study. It is true that there seems to be some bias against the Catholic religion. But I found it subtle and actually fairly objective considering the authors upbringing. Some of the side notes can be a little distracting, but for the most part I found this book an easy, enjoyable read. I read most of it before bedtime, but not as a sleep aid! I would suggest this be a companion text to a traditional exhaustive text, not as a primary text to understanding the plethora of the worlds traditions. Recommended

Very well put together. I was very impressed at the level of reaserch done...I walked away from it being more informed about all of the religous traditions, and that's a good thing, coming from a religious studies major in college. <smile>. I recommend this for everyone...it sure makes for great cocktail party conversation!

I used this book in a college-level course, "Introduction to Religious Studies." This book uses an unusual approach to presenting world religions, a sort of whimsy, such as indicated in the title. One sub-section on Hinduism has the unforgettable title, "It's my Karma, and I'll Cry if I want to"! The graphic layout of the book is very innovative and makes it easy on the eyes. A section in each chapter deals with scripture. Each chapter has its own vocabulary. Structurally, the book is very well laid out. The actual text of the book is very, very uneven. Some sections are very clear and well done, while others are jumbled and at times very confused. The chapter on Christianity is very poorly done. Dealing with the historical Jesus, the author quotes mainly thirty-year-old skeptical criticism on the New Testament and seems quite unaware of more recent scholarship. He gives a few recent references in the bibliography, but doesn't seem familiar with the content. The presentation of the history of Christianity has so many errors that it is of very limited use. The author displays a high level of skepticism to all things dealing with Christianity, but has no such skepticism about other religions. On the whole, it is a very uneven and unbalanced realization of a very interesting project.