Customer Reviews

Pillars of Faith: Religions Around the World [VHS]

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I was looking for resources to study for a test on the world's religions and found this to be a useful starting point. The video covers only the major religions and spends about ten minutes on each (running time is 48 minutes). The video does a good job of relating Judaism, Christianity and Islam to each other in several contexts (time, rituals, etc.).

This video may be fine for personal use, but our school purchased it with the intent of using it with our 9th graders as part of their social studies curriculum. With that purpose in mind, I was disappointed upon viewing the tape. Although the voiceover and regional footage are useful, the many segments featuring the college professors are too esoteric--the vocabulary they use is well beyond any 9th grader's comprehension, and is frustrating for even a teacher to sit through! What captured my attention in purchasing this video was the overview of each religion and promise of period and region-related imagery. These are provided; however, I wanted to warn other teachers comtemplating this purchase that, in my opinion, it is a waste of money in terms of a junior high/high school level.