The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought [Unknown Binding]

Jaroslav Pelikan (Editor), Clifton Fadiman (Editor), Karl Barth (Contributor), William James (Contributor), Karl Marx (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 1990

This world treasury is a collection of some of the greatest and most profound pieces of religious, contemplative and inspirational writings of our time. The contributors represent a range of perspectives from the early 19th century to the present day. They include such figures as Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzche, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Muhammed Iqbal. The collection is organized topically into eight sections that treat such major themes as the will to believe, the grandeur of God and visions of the other world.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Pelikan collects some 66 articles or excerpts from 19th- and 20th-century literature, anthropology, religion, psychology, theology, and philosophy that touch upon religion and religious experience. The writers are as diverse as Kierkegaard and Black Elk, Teilhard de Chardin and Martin Luther King, with representatives of all the major world religions, East and West. While many of the pieces are well known, Pelikan includes a number of less familiar but welcome articles, such as Martin Lings's "The Reality of Sufism" and Nishida Kitaro's "A Study of Good." Pelikan has done the general reader a great service, making accessible a broad and intelligent collection of some of the best thinking on religion. Recommended for undergraduate as well as public libraries.
- T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 635 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.; 1st edition (January 27, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316697702
• ISBN-13: 978-0316697705
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,914,215 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apologia Pro Noia Sua, June 18, 2005

By 

John Philoponus "Ortho Arbiter" (Nitria, Virtual Ortho America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought

":it is probably accurate to estimate that in any decade of these two centuries more was written about religion in German scholarship alone than had been produced in an entire century of the early church." J. Pelikan, Preface



The Courage to Explore:
If the Yale eminent scholar, who devoted forty years to the history of religious thought has found it a bit daunting to put it together, do not be scared away from exploring this intellectually challenging collection. You will discover some enticing writings that will tickle your mind and boost your intellect.
I started examining the contents, and kept counting the pieces I read, or even heard of, and was happy to find some: The Grand Inquisitor; Beyond Good and Evil; Religion, the Opium of the People; I and Thou, The Screwtape Letters, Reverence for Life, the God above God, In the Beginning, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Orthodoxy, The Importance of Living, The Phenomenon of Man, letters from prison. ... Be hopeful, so far so good.

Delicacy in Edition:
After reading the preface to discover the thematic plan of the intellectually enhancing editor, you examine the contents to identify the guide posts. They are Eight: Introduction, that he shares with Dostoyvesky's inquisitor. The Unbeliever, The Will to believe are in first group. The grandeur of God, Reverence for Life, and Reconstruction of Tradition go into a second group. While Love Abides, 'Mystical' Visions, and Faith & Freedom form the epilogue.
Patrick Henry, of the Institute of Ecumenical and Cultural Research concludes that; "This anthology is the best available sourcebook for anyone who realizes, or even just suspects, that the role of religious tradition in the modern world is part of tommorow's news, not simply yesterday's history."

Religious Thought Treasury:
Professor Pelikan selects some 66 pieces, of inspirational writings of the modern period, collected from the last two century World class religious literature. The writings explore central issues, and different approaches to faith in Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and atheism, arranged in eight topical sections, the selection includes a diversity of writings in anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and theology, that had made an impact on modern religious experience. The writers are as diverse as their writing areas, religions, and ethnic origin. While many of the articles are famous, at least to intellectuals, Pelikan includes a number of less known material. He has done the intelligent reader a great service, making accessible, in one volume, an interesting collection of a broad spectrum of the best of relatively recent religious thought.

Treasurer Jaroslav Pelikan:
"Jaroslav Pelikan is one of the world's leading scholars in the history of Christianity and has authored more than 30 books including the five volume The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (1971-1989). He is the Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University where he served on the faculty from 1962 to 1996. He is the immediate past president of the Academy of Arts and Sciences" (wikipedia.org)
Recently, Jaroslav Pelikan was received into full communion with the Orthodox Church in America. In an open letter to members of Bethesda Lutheran Church, to which he had belonged, Pelikan called the move a "logical culmination of a development in my mind and spirit that has been going on for decades."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Resource, December 24, 2008

By 

Joe Anthony "Joe Anthony" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought

For the price of a few pennies plus shipping and posting, it is certainly worth it to own this comprehensive guide to religious thought with outstanding literature by great religionists and philosophers such as C.S. Lewis, Martin Buber, Paul Tillich, William James, Sigmund Freud, Neitzsche, Einstein, Emerson, Albert Schweitzer, Kiekegaard and others; including many from the non-Western traditions of religious thought such as Black Elk, Gandhi, Lin Yutang and D.T. Suzuki.

Opinions range on everything from views on atheism to Christian charity to Hasidic Judaism to Zen Buddhism. This is an exellent resourse for any student of theology, philosophy, history or psychology.

The chapters can be read in sequence or in random order and will no doubt challenge the reader to consider the "need to believe", "the will to believe", and "the meaning of love and freedom".