Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions

by Wendy Doniger and Encyclopædia Britannica

Religious faith takes many forms. Throughout the centuries and around the globe, the human response to the divine has given rise to a large number of important religions. The "Britannica's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593392664
• ISBN13: 9781593392666
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Length: 1181 Pages
• Weight: 5.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 8.3" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

Best 1-volume reference on religion

Religion is my field, so I have several references, including the great 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion, 15 Volume Set. Unfortunately it has a huge price tag. Among the single-volume references, this is by far the best. It has the most entries, and they are thorough, well-written, and betray no obvious agenda. The illustrations are very well chosen, though there could certainly be more. Its expense is justified, but if you want a cheaper one you should consider the The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion, which I haven't read but expect its articles (but not its illustrations) to be roughly as good as the Brittanica, or The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religion: The A-to-Z Encyclopedia of All the Major Religious Traditions, which is excellent for what it is (especially considering its price), but it doesn't have many entries, and they aren't long enough, and it has no illustrations. If you want the kind of guide to religion that you can read straight through, your best option may be The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions (Cambridge Illustrated Histories), which is ok although it only deals with the major traditions. More famous is Huston Smith's The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions; though I disagree with his "essentialist" approach to religion even more than his gently restrained traditionalist agenda, he is always both respectful and academically plausible. The kind of good information that you can find in those two books is much more plentiful in the Brittanica (the book I'm reviewing now), but if it makes a difference, both of these books are more lavishly illustrated. (Let me just throw this out, in case anyone considers it: the worst is Religion: A Cross-Cultural Dictionary (Oxford Paperback Reference).) Evidently the real paper edition is preferable to the Kindle version, which the other reviewer meant to review.