“For readers in search of a thoughtful, thorough, and approachable survey of the history of religion, this book is an excellent place to start.”—Booklist
Written for those with faith and for those without—and especially for younger readers—A Little History of Religion sweeps us through the story of religion in our world, from the dawn of religious belief to the present.
An emphathetic yet discerning guide to the enduring importance of faith, Richard Holloway introduces us to the history and beliefs of the major world religions—Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism. He also explores where religious belief comes from; the search for meaning through the ages; how differences in belief sometimes lead to hostility and violence; what is a sect and what is a cult; and much more. Throughout, Holloway encourages curiosity and tolerance, accentuates nuance and mystery, and calmly restores a sense of the value of faith.
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Look inside this book.A Little History of Religion (Little Histories) by [Richard Holloway]
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by Richard Holloway (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 290 ratings
Part of: Little Histories (9 Books)
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Yale University Press
Publication date
September 27, 2016
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Editorial Reviews
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"This is a well-written book, from which most of us will come away knowing more about the religions of the world than we knew before. . . . In its own way this engaging book might be seen as a period piece."—John Charmley, Times
"Holloway’s account is brimful of arresting facts."—Ian Thomson, Financial Times
"As an informed reflection on the state of faith in the western world in the 21st century, written by someone who has plenty of experience, it is insightful and intelligent."—Tim Whitmarsh, The Guardian
“Holloway’s narrative is made up of many different threads and details carefully woven together to make a satisfying read. The pace is leisurely despite the amount of ground covered, and he manages to include memorable details.”—Carol Palfrey, Sofia
"In an age of religious tension, this is an important contribution to understanding different beliefs. . . . A straightforward, well-written introduction to religion and its various manifestations."—Library Journal
"For readers in search of a thoughtful, thorough, and approachable survey of the history of religion, this book is an excellent place to start."—Booklist
"[Holloway] deftly makes his knowledge accessible to the public. . . . A great service for students of religion. This is no dry textbook: With its conversational prose and density of information, it is a pleasure to read."—The Weekly Standard
“A Little History of Religion both delights readers and tackles a subject historically and emotionally wide-ranging. . . . Holloway repeatedly links religious movements to political action, perhaps cautionary tales for our times, and how to seek accurate religious history—a surprisingly superior handbook.”—Katharine C. Black, Anglican and Episcopal History
"It is difficult to name anyone more qualified to write on this topic than Richard Holloway. His own journey of faith has encompassed so many experiences that he writes with an admirable combination of detachment, knowledge and affectionate engagement."—Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, is an internationally popular writer and broadcaster. His more than twenty books include the best-selling Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt. He lives in Edinburgh, UK. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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ASIN : B01J26RR5S
Publisher : Yale University Press (September 27, 2016)
Publication date : September 27, 2016
Language : English
File size : 2274 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
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Print length : 253 pages
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Best Sellers Rank: #263,208 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#74 in History of Hinduism
#109 in Christian Papacy
#150 in Religious Studies - Comparative Religion
Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 290 ratings
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little history world religions history of religion religions in the world different religions well written holloway informative islam chapter christianity overview opinion religious scholars secular beliefs christians educational entertaining
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A. Walrus
4.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable and Entertaining Book
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2016
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Taken on its own terms, this is a fascinating and informative book. Holloway is knowledgeable, witty and insightful and especially makes the sometimes complex history of Christianity accessible and understandable to the general reader.
The one weakness the book has it that it gives generally short shrift to the great systems of belief originating in East and South Asia, mentioning most either superficially or not at all, and makes only the most feeble attempts to link them to parallel developments in Christianity, Judaism and Islam (as scholars like Karen Armstrong do). The best defense of Holloway, of course, is that if one does include discussions and analysis of Asian belief systems, such discussions inevitably lead to the undermining of the West's traditional definitions of religion itself. That said, the book is still a valuable read to those interested in the subject of religious history.
12 people found this helpful
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R.B.
5.0 out of 5 stars VERY READABLE AND ENJOYABLE REVIEW
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2018
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I just wanted a well-done, readable history of religion. Something I could read in bed at night like a novel and not have to plow my way through turgid, jargon-laden prose. Guy seems to know his stuff and writes in an accessible and even at times humorous way.
6 people found this helpful
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Dayton Outar
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Account of Most Religions
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2018
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I really liked this book. It's an objective look at religion on a whole. The author's opinion comes through at times and I welcome it. His views are refreshing. Overall very good book.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative and Fun to Read Through
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021
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Approaches world religions in a respectful, informative way. As someone who doesn't adhere to any particular religion, it really enlightened me on the beliefs of different groups. Admittedly it gives a broad explanation and doesn't go into the deeper intricacies but gives enough for you to begin to understand origins and basis of different religions.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A good educational read about Christianity but too little on others
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2018
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Very good, informative, educational read about the history of Christianity. But too few accounts on other religions.
5 people found this helpful
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Todd Banhidy
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2019
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The book starts off making you think one thing, and ends with something else. Very interesting and informative on how all religions started, died, overtook others, and survived.
2 people found this helpful
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T Ghallab
5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating and beautifully written!
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2016
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One of those books that are illuminating and beautifully written. I was looking for introduction to the history of religion that maps the scene and to give an all over view, it delivers that in an intriguing way ! The structure is not exactly linear nor by a separate treatment of each religion, but like the author put it is more of a "zigzag "one. This structure succeeded in integrating a complex subject into one coherent and encompassing overview. The audio format is well narrated and has a soothing effect.
18 people found this helpful
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Pablo A Calvan
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative.
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2018
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This "little histories" books are a good way to introduce readers to various subjects, PAC
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Steve
4.0 out of 5 stars Wise, perceptive and humane
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2016
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If, like me, you have ever wanted to understand the origins and tenets of the man world religions, this is an excellent place to learn. Richard Holloway writes clearly and entertainingly, dispassionately but not uncritically. It emerges that a common theme to most, but not all, world religions is the conviction on the part of one person (usually male) that to him has been revealed the one and only truth about the human condition. More surprising is the relative ease with which these convictions take root - perhaps because we all have to face up to the fact of death and religions offer a way of dodging its finality. Richard Holloway makes no definitive judgements, though it is clear that he finds the less dogmatic faiths the more attractive for their philosophical and theological tolerance. By the end that he has concluded that humanism is as sound a basis for morality as religion, and one that does not bring with it the destructive certainty that tolerates no alternative view.
25 people found this helpful
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L. Davidson
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning in its scope
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2017
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I was very impressed with this book which provides basic facts about the emergence and beliefs of all of the major religions in existence today. He starts off dealing with the Eastern religions before progressing to examine the monotheistic religions of the West. The book is enlightening ,superbly written ,thought provoking and accessible to those readers who have little or no knowledge of religion. The book is a page turner and a trove of information. I am a non practicing Christian,with a small c, and this book helped me to understand the beliefs and histories of the other religions in a way that other books have failed to do and helped to put them all into context. The author comes across as fairly ecumenical and anti fundamentalist in approach but he is able to see all the religious points of view and discuss them in a reasonable manner. The book ends with a discussion on secular humanism which seems to be replacing Christianity in the West in the 21st Century.I would highly recommend this book to readers struggling with getting their heads around the multiplicity of faiths in the world today and it is a good springboard for further,more detailed ,reading on this fascinating subject.
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Yetiman in Clent.
5.0 out of 5 stars Factual account of how religions were created.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2019
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A thorough and objective non religious guide to world religions including key historical info and beliefs- easy to read as an atheist or as a believer in one or more of the gods that humans have dreamt up. Budda, Allaha, Jesus all included.
Helps one to understand how and why humans are compelled to find supernatural beings in a natural world.
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Michael Turnbull
4.0 out of 5 stars A good primer for the serious enquirer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2017
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An intriguing and timely book for those who are bewildered by different religions and sects and yet have a longing for the truth they may contain. Richard Holloway does not pull any punches in laying bare some of the problems religion had brought to the world but neither is he complacent about the triumph of secularism. In his clear and non technical style the author outlines the development of religions as they occurred in the timeline of history.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent simplicity...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2016
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I have not read it all but the whole approach Richard Holloway takes is worth exploring. The Progressive Christianity Network challenges fundamentalist simplicity and "conservative" traditional churchmanship. Start with Marcus Body's Evolution of the Word, then books by John Dominic Cross an, then take on Jack Spong before the Christian churches fall into ruins. Holloway's vision is dynamic and challenging. Outstanding.
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Andrew Smith rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: history-politics, non-fiction
When it comes to religion, I’ve long been unsure whether to describe myself as an agnostic or an atheist. As a boy I attended a Christian (Methodist) church some Sundays with my parents, where a kindly gentleman would take the children aside and talk to us about… well, I can’t actually recall what he talked to us about. He obviously didn’t leave a big impression on me. Later, I attended the church youth club for a while but was eventually expelled for stealing off to a pub during a trip to a neighbouring town – the consumption of alcohol being considered a step to far for the club leader. I even dabbled with a GCE Advanced Level Theology course in my last year at school but that didn’t last long, the material was just too dry and heavy for my tastes. In fact, I always found religion to be too obscure, the debates too esoteric. I didn’t get it, and I didn’t really believe it either.
This book is written in an easy to follow, matter of fact way. I found it particularly interesting as religious education classes I’d attended at school (at least, from what I can remember) focussed entirely on the Christian faith. I left school knowing virtually nothing about other world religions and what I’d subsequently picked up along the way seemed sketchy at best. I was also thankful that the text here wasn’t in any way ‘preachy’ about the subject matter; it’s very much a straight forward history of how the various religions have developed, their key beliefs and what this means for its followers.
All of the major religions are covered and some minor ones too. For instance, I was fascinated to learn that that followers of the ancient Indian religion of Jainism believe in non-violence to the extent they don’t sanction the killing any of living creature and that this also extends to ‘living’ plants. Their food intake is therefore restricted to fruit that has already fallen from the tree. Followers have been known to have intentionally starved themselves to death, a practice not considered to be suicide but rather the ultimate act of spiritualism and self discipline. The text is reasonably comprehensive, if high level, with the whole spectrum of the good, the bad and the ugly aspects being touched on here: the way in which lives have been enriched but also how wars have been fought on the grounds of competing beliefs and how groups have suffered horrific persecution.
So, did this book make me feel differently about religion? I can certainly see that each religion adopts a set of moral guidelines, or rules, that are pretty much essential to any intelligent society. That’s obviously a good thing and to some extent I can see that the dwindling of the Christian faith in the UK has led to what I consider to be a certain moral decline. It’s hard to pinpoint this precisely, but I nonetheless do believe this to be the case. But the bit that I can’t get past, the element that just doesn’t work for me, is the fact that each religion essentially starts with a man (an it’s just about always a man) professing to have received a message from a divine being and then claiming to speak on the entity’s behalf. No, I don’t buy this – particularly given the range of messages passed down to these so called prophets. This book lays out an interesting and colourful history in a very digestible way – but, in truth, it’s one that’s nudged me significantly closer to atheism. (less)
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Kamil
Mar 24, 2017Kamil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: 2017, non-fiction, favorites, audiobook
My first 5 stars book of the year, and it's an audiobook which is quite unusual for me as I tend to wonder off when listening and due to that always am a bit hesitant with ranking.
Richard Halloway introduces history of religion with such an ease and clarity that one can only applaud him for it... From it's very beginnings, as a response to the mystery of death to the most modern religious movements, from it's greatest almost art like qualities to violence it brings, there's hardly any place when he didn't make me nod my head with pleasure.
Brilliant, intertwined, complex history of a construct so many people are willing to die for, strongly recommend for everybody.
(less)
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Swathi Chandrasekaran
Sep 09, 2019Swathi Chandrasekaran rated it it was amazing
Shelves: favorites
Through my childhood, I've had the pleasure and discomfort of sitting through innumerable rituals at home, religiously uttering words that made no sense to me, partaking in every festivity until they became routine to me. The way my legs would cramp up after a few hours of sitting cross legged on the floor, the pangs of hunger we'd feel as we waited for the rituals to get over so we can eat, and what now I think of as the most curious ritual I've performed - placing carefully cooked and colored balls of rice on our terrace for our unfriendly neighborhood crows while praying that all the best things happen to the men in the family. We also had rituals where as a ten year old, I was expected to pray and hope for the best husband. Things rarely made sense then.
I'm sure you have some stories of your own. I'm not saying that this book explains why that particular notion started, why I would be woken up at 6 to feed the cawing crows that I was terrified of, but it definitely to me lent a different way of looking at religion. A way of putting things into perspective for the bad and the good. Everything my parents said, and my grandparents spoke about is there in that one chapter of Hinduism but it made so much more sense reading it now and being able to think about the chronology (the supposed one, in some cases).
The author's writing style is straight-forward, seasoned with some lines of wry humor every now and then. His utter devotion to rationality in arguments is what won me over, and his presentation of multiple sides of the delicate topic for me came through wonderfully (but to begin with, I was and am atheist, perhaps that affected my capacity to tolerate his commentary). The one thing I'd wish for was that more was said about eastern religions, although what was said already held a high potency and helped me understand religion a little better. (less)
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Joy Clark
Aug 09, 2016Joy Clark rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: netgalley-arc, 2016
World religions have always fascinated me - how various cultures make sense of their world and attribute purpose to life. I fall pretty squarely in the agnostic category at this point in my life and have a difficult time with anything that can't be understood scientifically. On the other hand, I recognize that there are aspects of the world that the human mind may be unable to understand (hence the agnostic label), and I can appreciate the comfort and life direction that religion can bring.
Holloway is the former Bishop of Edinburgh who left the church in 2000. He has written about his loss of faith in other books, but in this particular work he remains largely objective, providing factual accounts of the founding and practices of various world religions. He's not afraid to point out the darker side of religion, however, and acknowledges both the good and the bad aspects of major world religions. This is a history book, not an opinion piece, and you won't find much in the way of opinions or theories.
A Little History of Religion is written in a language that makes it appropriate for younger and older readers, although I honestly felt a bit "talked down to" in the opening chapters. On the other hand, he provides entomological background for many commonly used religious words, providing a more comprehensive backdrop for understanding how various religions have started and evolved. Unsurprisingly, a large portion of the book is dedicated to the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), which have been the most influential in Western (and Eastern, to a lesser extent) culture. I still would have liked to have seen a bit more about the Eastern religions, for my own curiosity.
Overall, this is a great overview of world religions that can be enjoyed by those anywhere on the religious spectrum. Holloway does not try to push any religion but does point out its failings, which may anger some of the more fundamental practitioners. If you are fascinated by religion, as I am, this is a good place to start. (less)
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Tariq Mahmood
Jan 11, 2017Tariq Mahmood rated it really liked it
Shelves: history, religion
This short summary of known world religions is very nicely package together, with clear explanations of some very complex religious theologies. I quite enjoyed the manner how different ideologies were juxtaposed together, highlighting commonalities and divergences. I particularly liked the idea that human kind has outgrown its dependence on religion and is mature enough to own collective learned behaviors.
My only critique of the book is that it is far too Catholic heavy, although the author does delve into revival and reformation movements in India and China at times but not in great detail. I feel more effort should have spent explaining different religions in order to justify the grand tile of the book.
(less)
A Little History of Religion by Richard Holloway – review
An agnostic ex-bishop’s account of our enduring love affair with deities is even-handed, elegant and compelling
mecca lit up at night seen from jabal al nour
Light of religion: a pilgrim looks down on Mecca from Jabal al-Nour during the annual hajj. Photograph: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images
Peter Stanford
Sun 14 Aug 2016 17.30 AEST
13
Those who write about religion tend to have an axe to grind. Believers strain credulity to prove that gods exist, or at least their version of them. Meanwhile the violently anti-religious burn an equivalent amount of energy in seeking to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that such claims are plain bunkum – and damaging, cruel, sometimes murderous bunkum at that.
Thank God, then – if I can use that phrase in a neutral way – for Richard Holloway and his carefully weighted, beautifully written and strangely compelling brief history of world religions. For he takes no sides but instead manages to be fair to all in his wise judgments, while instinctively understanding both the appeal of faith and its pitfalls.
As well he might, for Holloway is famously a bishop who stopped believing in God. A former head of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Scotland, he has spoken since his resignation in 2000 of a lifelong struggle to believe. Today a popular broadcaster and prolific writer, he is an agnostic, but bears no grudge against the religious calling that took up so much of his adult life.
What threads the book together as it travels around the globe and through millennia, charting the growth and (sometimes) the decline of religions, is Holloway’s parallel search for what it is in the human situation and psyche that has made us hanker after religion in the first place. He puts it down to us still wanting to know where we come from as a species, what our place is in the universe, and most of all a fear of being alone. In the simplest of terms, religion feeds our appetite for hope – whether it be building communities around shared rituals and beliefs, creating an ultimate dispenser of justice, or just imagining life after life.
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Holloway tells his story in more or less chronological order from 130,000BC – the era when evidence of religious belief in the way our ancestors buried their dead first emerged – right through to today’s Scientologists, secular humanists and scary fundamentalists. Most writers who attempt such a sweep end up giving the religions they know best – by upbringing, culture or preference – too great a prominence. Not Holloway, though: he shows no favouritism to the various branches of the Christian family and is just as authoritative on Islam as he is on Anglicanism.
And as clear-sighted. In the current, polarised climate in the Middle East, it is often deemed politic to avoid pointing out how derivative much of Muhammad’s message was when he started to preach it in 613, or indeed the large debt that Islam owes to Judaism. Holloway, though, has no time for such fudging. “There was,” he states plainly, “nothing original about his message and Muhammad never claimed there was. It was a reminder [to his hearers, the first Muslims] of what they had forgotten. It was the message of the prophet Abraham; idols were dupes and there was no God but God.”
Methodists and Baptists might feel slighted at being entirely overlooked when Quakers get a whole chapter to themselves
He is just as blunt about anyone who claims to have a brand new insight into the divine mind and sets up his own religion (and they are almost entirely men). “Religions are a dime a dozen,” he writes, as ever giving the overview, even in the midst of an avalanche of detail. “And there’s always room for another in the spiritual marketplace. The game changes when the new creed starts threatening the profits and privileges of the established set-up.” That, he points out, is what happened with Jesus in first-century Jerusalem, just as surely as it did with Muhammad in seventh-century Mecca.
Which brings us neatly to the question of religious violence. It is a commonplace in the west today that religion is the cause of all the violence in the world. Some experts, though, have argued persuasively against this view, among them the eminent religious historian Karen Armstrong – another person formerly of faith (she was a Catholic nun) who now stands back and takes a dispassionate view. Violence purportedly carried out in the name of God, she holds, is nearly always in reality caused by other factors – political, social, racial and economic.
Holloway half accepts Armstrong’s point, but is less inclined to absolve religion itself. It has still caused, he insists, some of the worst violence in history. “So if we mean by God the loving creator of the universe,” he writes, “then either he doesn’t exist or religion has got him wrong.”
There are, inevitably, drawbacks in trying to cram 130,000 years of history, and the theology that underpins it, into fewer than 260 pages. Methodists and Baptists, for example, might feel slighted at being entirely overlooked when Quakers, much smaller in number, get a whole chapter to themselves.
Equally, compressing the essence of elaborate systems of belief, which have evolved over thousands of years, into pithy and transparent sentences can cause corners to be cut. Next year sees the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther “starting” the Reformation by nailing his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg, in Germany. Most historians now accept that he never brandished his hammer, but Holloway includes the detail anyway, with no disclaimer. Religions, after all, like their myths and legends.
But these are venial rather than mortal sins. If the book has a message for our times, it comes when Holloway notes the fact that religion has an extraordinary instinct for survival. It is, he writes, “the anvil that has worn out many hammers”.
Since, on such a basis, it is here to stay for the foreseeable future, there can be no better place to learn more about it than in the pages of this enlightening book.
A Little History of Religion is published by Yale University Press (£14.99). Click here to order it for £12.29
