The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions [Paperback]

Philip Novak (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 20, 1995

A world Bible for our time from Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and primal religion sources!

In this perfect companion to Huston Smith's bestselling The World's Wisdom, Philip Novak distills the most powerful and elegant expressions of the wisdom of humankind. Authentic, poetic translations of key texts are coupled with insightful introductions and "grace notes."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a compendium of sacred texts of the religions of the world, written as a companion for Huston Smith's classic The Religions of Man. Chapters cover Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Primal religions (e.g., Native American, African, etc.). The intent of the book is clearly to whet the appetite of the first-year college student by offering tidbits from the New Testament, Tao Te Ching, Qur'an, Hebrew Bible, etc., in small, tasty portions, easily consumed without any need for deep reading or reflection. The narratives accompanying the texts are informative but are sometimes woven into the texts, occasionally making it difficult to tell where the narrative leaves off and the texts actually begin. There is a lack of ample citations that would allow the interested student to track down the actual location of an excerpt in the original sacred manuscript. Yet when Novak's book is used jointly with Huston's, it will serve as a good text and supplementary reader for any college introductory class in religious studies. Recommended for undergraduate libraries.
Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A smorgasbord of delicacies prepared by the greatest chefs of religious literature that's bound to please the spiritually discriminating palate." -- Ram Dass

"A superb collection from the most entrancing literature ever to find expression in human language..." -- -- Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth

"A superb collection from the most entrancing literature ever to find expression in human language, literature that emerges from the mysterious depths of the soul where the primordial world of the sacred manifests itself most clearly." -- Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth

"I do not know where I could turn to find a richer harvest" -- Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions

"I do not know where I could turn to find a richer harvest." -- -- Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions

"Philip Novak's loving and imaginative presentation of key texts from several traditions offers an excellent resource . . . showing that all the wisdom we need is already available to us in abundance." -- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Soul Mates

"Phillip Novak's loving and imaginative presentation of key texts from several traditions offers an excellent resource . . ." -- -- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Soul Mates

"[Shows] that all the widsom we need is already available to us in abundance." -- -- Thomas Moore

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 425 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1ST edition (July 20, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060663421
• ISBN-13: 978-0060663421
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Comparative Religion
  • #100 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The World's Wisdom November 1, 2000

By Zerzura

Format:Hardcover

Novak does a fine job selecting many absolute jewels from the texts of the world's major religions. His chapter introductions and brief explanations of certain passages will suffice to keep the beginner student of world religions focused upon the intended meaning of these texts. Each chapter glances different textual moments in the history of a particular religious group. There are "Grace Notes" sections at the end of each chapter which include some splendid writings from mystics/commentators within their respective traditions. One word of warning: there are some alterations made to some passages in order to include women in the many spiritual traditions which have sadly neglected to recognize women's spirituality. To Novak's credit, he does annotate each occassional alteration. In spite of this one possible nuisance for some few readers, this book is sure to inspire, and could well serve as a map for further, more thorough study of world religions. (Note: though Novak's book stands alone, it is designed--chapter by chapter--after Huston Smith's classic _The Religions of Man_, which examines the world's major religious traditions with far fewer references to their texts. Novak's selections make for a much more authentic and interesting introduction to the religions of the world.)

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars great idea, but... April 23, 2007

By L. Hans

Format:Hardcover

Let me start by saying that I am an undergraduate student taking a class on world religions. I didn't just pick this book up for a fun introduction to religious scripture; it's for my class.

That said, I have really enjoyed it. We're only at Christianity in the class so far, but the author seems to have a wide-spread knowledge of which selections are important to talk about (though as a lay-person, I really have no idea) and include. I already have it all marked up with my favorite passages from different religions and little notes about them!

The reason I'm giving it 3 stars, however, is this: lack of quick and easy citations. I am not a Bible scholar, nor am I a Jew or Christian, so reading his sections on Judaism and Christianity have been particularly confusing, since he does not tell the reader which book the selections are from. I have a feeling that there is some meaning lost when taken out of context and I really would like to be able to flip to the specific book of the OT or NT that a passage is from, but that is unrealistic at this point. If, however, he had given the name of the book, the chapter, line, etc etc, it would be much much easier. Other than that, I've loved it. I just wish that, when talking about the Gospels in class, I could flip to that section in Novak and know which book which passage came from immediately.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the best of religion September 3, 2000

By R. Reilly

Format:Paperback

Easily the best anthology of religious writings I've seen, and I've seen quite a few. Beautiful and educational; as a teacher, I've found it very useful for religion courses. If you've any interest in religion or spirituality, this book is a must for your collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The World's Wisdom February 25, 2006

By Joseph G. Mohlman Jr.

Format:Paperback

An excellent compliation of primary materials on world religions. Excellent, but brief introductory notes make this book an excellent companion for introductory comparative religion courses.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous and affordable little book. October 30, 2009

By E. Godfrey

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

To begin, Novak assembled this book as a compendium to accompany Huston Smith's book on world religions, so you may want to give both of them a shot at the same time, reading Novak's sections after the corresponding Smith sections.

Concerning the book itself, it is a fantastic collection of original sources and it looks like you can get a used copy + shipping for less than $10. For me, that says a lot. Concerning what was selected, there is no doubt that Novak put some serious effort in selecting what he did. The reader will get a very nice exposure to many elements within each religious tradition. However, the translations chosen are not so impressive, but there may be issues beyond the author's control here, so I cannot fault him too much. For example, the Dao Dejing was translated by Stephen Mitchell, who did an alright job, but his is hardly considered to be the authoritative translation. The good news is that it is nearly published in it entirety! On a similar positive note, the citations in the back are often quite informative. With a flip to the back, you will be brought to the original source. Now, I don't want to say that this book is showing its age, but many of the sources seem a bit dated. My suspicion is that this was how the price of the book was kept to a minimum. Also, in the last fourteen years since this was published, a lot of good translation work has come from Chinese philosophy. I worry that some of the older translations may give false impressions as to the state of the research today.

With this book, you have to take the good with the bad, and the best part seems to be the affordability. You will not be able to find a collection as thorough as this for anywhere near the price.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference Material June 1, 2009

By Constance Cook-core

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book, filled with excerpts of sacred texts of many of the major world religions, is a planned companion in structure to Huston Smith's masterpiece, World Religions. It offers the sacred texts without commentary or judgement to support the reader in simply BE-ing with the texts and finding their own interpretation of the essence of the writings. "The World's Wisdom" is a book I will continue to reference throughout my ministry - and that I will share with interfaith students as a valuable source of inspiration and comparison.