Why So Many Gods?

by Tim Baker

Book Overview

Did you watch The Matrix and think it had to be something more than just an action flick? Do you wonder what Madonna's henna tattoos mean? This book covers over 100 world religions, secular worldviews, cults, and occult practices from a Christian viewpoint with tolerance and civility. It tells the basic beliefs, short history, important aspects, and it identifies the religions in pop culture-all in a teen-magazine style of writing. The goal of this...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785247637
• ISBN13: 9780785247630
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A good book, if you are a christian, and want a look at other religions from a christian point of vi

I have read all the negative reviews and this inspired me to write a review. ;) You have to realize that when you buy this book it is written and I repeat THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN FROM A CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW. It compares christianity from other types of religion. So if your not Christian you are going to take offense to this book.(if you are Mormon, Satanist, Rastafarian, Hindu, Muslim, Scientologist, etc keep walking and buy another book.) This book wasnt meant to be used to be hurtful towards other people and their religion. But it does say on page 3, "IN THIS BOOK WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THE POSITION THAT CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY TRUE RELIGION." I bought this book as a teenager and have very much enjoyed it(years ago). I think the author could have gone into better detail with the christians, mainly the protestants that would be the only thing I dont like about this book. Overall the book is good.

Informative

Clearly this book gives a christian view of different religions and practices but all the bad reviews are coming from people who dont know the God that I love. This is a good book and recomend it to any christian who is looking for answers on all the religions and practices of the world.

Quick snapshot of basics of religion and ideologies

This book offers quick snapshots of the basics of most religions and religious ideologies in the world today. It is written in a format that is easy to read and comprehend for readers of all ages. It does not give in highly in depth analysis of each religion, but only about 2 to 4 page perspectives on what the fundimental ideas and tenets of each religion are.This book is great to serve as a quick reference for a quick, basic synopsis of a religion and how it relates and/or differs from Christianity. It is a quick and easy read and a must have for anyone who works with youth ministries.

A must-have book for every Christian!

This book is great for anyone and everyone. It shares, in full detail, a lot of informaion on almost every religion, including cults. This book is as much needed as a dictionary is. "Why So Many Gods?" gives you the positive and negative side to each religion, their beliefs, and how it compares to Christiaity.

For your young teens in the pluralistic society

First of all this book is for the teenagers and should not be criticized as an adult book that try to explain all religions in detail-even if it can ever be done. Second, this is a book for Christian teens from Protestant-Christian point of view to address a need among young people living in a confusing pluralistic society. Any religious book addressing other religions could often be found offensive to people from those religions. Thirdly, for Christians, this book is quite moderate, so it will offend both fundamental and liberal Christians. The fundamentalists would be surprised by its inclusiveness of the Roman Catholics, and the liberals would think it too fundamentalistic.This book is an excellent tool for a `good teacher' that needs an attractive material to get the teenagers' attention. By that I mean any religious book can be misused by a bad teacher. Even a Christian church can be cultic, depending on what the leader of that church teaches. No surprising that so many cults came out of Christianity.Some reviewers here are not happy with their religion being put in the category of cults in this book. Unfortunately, the book doesn't give an extensive explanation as to what makes a cult. And again, this is not a book for adults. A detail definition like that would kill the kids.For the information of wu8604, a previous reviewer who thought the book was wrong when it says that the Moonies (Unification Church) has its geographic center in Japan, the book is correct. `Geographic center' is not equal to its originating region. A great deal of Moonies' money comes from Japan and some of them were said to be war criminals. The Moonies in my town (Paramus, New Jersey) that I have seen so far are mostly Japanese women. They had tried very hard to recruit me, but now they gave up on me. But, thanks to Wu for his sharp eyes to catch the spelling errors. It seems to make the book more for the kids! Maybe the authors themselves are kids.This book plus your objective knowledge of other religions will make a good teaching tool for the curious kids. It will stir up some discussions between you and the kids, until they become mature enough to read more sophisticated books.