Religion: A Cross-Cultural Dictionary (Oxford Paperback Reference) [Paperback]

David Levinson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Oxford Paperback Reference | Publication Date: October 8, 1998

With numerous examples from cultures around the world, Religion: A Cross-Cultural Dictionary documents, describes, and explains both the commonalities and differences in how people experience and express their religious beliefs and spirituality. Clear and concise articles explain the varied philosophies, dogma, practices, and origins of the sixteen religions with worldwide following. Dozens of other articles provide a handy reference to both patterns of similarity and difference in religious practice across the cultures of the world. All cultures, for example, have beliefs in supernatural beings, religious leaders, and burial rituals, but they differ widely in their beliefs about the evil eye, dream interpretation, and the power of sorcerers. Reasons for these similarities and differences are discussed, with fascinating cross-cultural examples of religious customs and practices.
Many unifying themes surface as author David Levinson shows how people around the world express their relationship to the supernatural world. These patterns of relationship include those based on soul journeys, possession by spirits, magical formulas, beliefs in god and goddesses, concepts about the after life, and taboos on eating certain foods. Providing a thorough chronology of the history of religion beginning with the emergence of shamanism some 50,000 years ago, this carefully researched book is essential for anyone interested in humanity's religious and spiritual diversity.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up. This volume could help fill the gap in up-to-date resources on world religions. The material is arranged in dictionary format and includes articles on 16 religions as well as 41 aspects of religious observance, such as taboo, ritual, and supernatural beings. Each of these latter articles provides examples from indigenous religions ("the religious system of a non-industrialized, non-Western society") as well as major world religions, broadening the scope. Most articles are several pages long. The essays on world religions cover their history, beliefs, and observances in more detail than a general encyclopedia, while entries like those on New Age religions and on the Rastafari movement update other resources. An extensive index and frequent cross-referencing provide easy access. The reading is fairly difficult, however, making the information inaccessible to all but the best readers. An unattractive cover and few black-and-white illustrations do little to make this rather imposing text visually appealing.?Danita Nichols, New York Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Concise, comprehensive summary of major concepts. Excellent reference books--could be used for supplementary reading in World Religions or Intro to Religion [courses]."--Dr. Stephen Weisz, Tusculum College

"Best book I have seen so far truly comparative study of religion. Have been searching for two years, since determining that Malefigt's Religion and Culture was simply too theoretically dated and too ethnocentric for today's students. Levinson, in conjunction with Lehmann and Meyers (Mayfield) or Hicks (McGraw-Hill) will make a fine basis for a strong Anthropology of religion class.--Barbara Brooks, University of MO at St. Louis

"I'm putting this on the "buy" list for our library. The book offers some very useful summaries of topics not always covered in typical texts."--Michael McEwen, St. Gregory's University

"Excellent text and related illustrations. New insights, particularly on relationships between social issues, religion, and style."--Ken Roberts, U. of New Mexico, Gallup

"Now here is a volume whose time was long over-due, but for which it was well worth the wait! Levinson has developed a balanced and concise set of chapters/entries which pull together the essential world religious patterns/traditions by topic, His understanding of religion and religions is most impressive. The book deserves wide use and recognition, and should find application in a variety of courses."--Gerald Michael Schnabel, Bemidji State University

"Helpful for those seeking cross-cultural patterns among various religious expressions."--Choice

"A useful tool for quick reference, especially handy to keep around the office."--David Beriss, University of New Orleans

"A helpful general reference text on the phenomenology of religion."--N S Salgodi, Augustana College

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195123115
• ISBN-13: 978-0195123111
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,158,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Less well known sides of religion, December 15, 1999

By 

Delton H. Krueger (Bloomington, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Religion: A Cross-Cultural Dictionary (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

Levinson presents elementary information on subjects such as Taboos, Life-Cycle Rites, Pilgrimmages, Witchcraft, Animism in addition to information on ten great world religions. His approach gives a view of what goes into the "behind-the-scenes" life of religions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars unreliable, June 12, 2005

By 

Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Religion: A Cross-Cultural Dictionary (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

A book like this would be very hard for any one person to write; the amount of knowledge required is simply overwhelming. So it is not surprising that Levinson, despite good intentions, largely failed.

The first entry is ancestor worship, which I know only a little about, and I felt like I learned from it. If you don't know much about the articles, they're all like this.

Next was animism, which was a fair entry; and asceticism, which I can't evaluate. The astrology entry was good. Curiously I couldn't find any hint that it might be pseudo-science, but it was fascinating as a history and phenomenology. The entry on Bahai was just alright. He left out everything controversial, but the information he did present was accurate.

But the entry on Buddhism, from a scholarly point of view, was a joke. There was no hint of critical history, only a single paragraph covering the texts. He drastically misrepresents Theravada tradition; yet the sub-sections titled "Religious Practices" and "Festivals" dealt only with the practices of the Theravada, as though Tibetan or Japanese practices were identical.

Moving on, the entry on cannibalism seemed fine to me; I don't know much and was inclined to agree with what Levinson argued.

Next, Christianity: another horrible entry. His entry was downright theological in its lack of historical consideration. He seems to regard the Jesus Seminar as the best source of speculation about the historical Jesus. He writes about Paul as though he'd never heard of Jewish apocalypticism. Gnosticism has been one of the most exciting areas of recent discussions, and Levinson writes merely, "Paul was not the only person to expound upon Jesus' teaching at this time, however, and several different sects wre formed, including some involving mysticism." And that's it; who is he talking about? Both inadequate and uninformative.

I had planned to read straight through the book, but at this point I started skipping around. On almost any topic that I knew about--for instance Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism--the coverage was so spotty that I almost have to call it inaccurate, and certainly inadequate. He writes the history of Judaism, skipping from Masada to 1492. With that kind of record, how can I trust the entries on topics I don't know about?

I'm sure that a lot of the information in the book is accurate: I have to admit that the entry on Eastern Orthodoxy wasn't terrible. But it's so spotty that I will only reluctantly even refer to it, and never trust it entirely.

I suspect that the "Harper-Collins Dictionary of Religion" would be better, and I hope to get around to checking it out eventually. If you are looking for a book like this, I recommend starting there instead.