The Religions of Man
by
Huston Smith
4.11 · Rating details · 433 ratings · 45 reviews
Here is a unique study of the world's great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It is not a history; it is not a critique. Instead it explains, simply and sympathetically, the basic tenets of each religion and the reasons why it attracts millions of devout followers. As the author writes in the first chapter, "This is a book about religion that exists...not as a dull habit but as an acute fever. It is about religion alive. And whenever religion comes to life it displays a startling quality; it takes over. All else, while not silenced, becomes subdued and thrown without contest into a supporting role."
Thoroughly researched, "The Religions of Man" carries its scholarship lightly. It is a dependable, informative, fascinating presentation of both the differences and similarities in the major religious traditions. And it is essential for anyone who would understand peoples of other lands, other cultures, other religions. (less)
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Paperback, 336 pages
Published 1963 by The New American Library (first published 1958)
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One of the most beautiful books on the subject i have ever read. Written not only by an obviously enlightened person - written by a poet and a true humanitarian. highly recommend it to any one - for learning AND for pleasure, for it really is a mesmerizing writing
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Mar 20, 2015Benjamin Atkinson rated it it was amazing
Shelves: non-fiction, studies-of-religion, comparative-religion
It is amazing to me, whatever an individuals outlook on the effects or benefits thereof, how many people do not even take the time to grasp a basic understanding of the world's major religions. Dr. Huston Smith is an expert on the history, content, and sociological impact of religions throughout history. However, this is not that book. He does not take a stand. Instead, he simply lays out the basic tenets of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Catholicism for the purpose of establishing a baseline of understanding so people can have an "informed" discussion about comparative religion. He has a tremendous gift for taking incredibly byzantine, baroque levels of information and deriving the kernel of meaning; without losing any information. Everyone should read this book. He does not claim to have covered all aspects of all religions, instead he just wants to build a small yet valid foundation, for those individuals interested in such an explosive and insidious topic. The book is laid out, one religion per chapter. It is easy to read. I believe that his intention is to help bring people together through exposure to others belief systems. The effect this wonderful book had on this agnostic, is that it opened a large bright window of curiosity and led me to further reading on religions that I am not exposed to very much in the cultural zeitgeist of the U.S. It is often said that the mark of a great, not good, but great piece of writing is that after reading it, you never see the world the same way again. Thank you, Dr. Smith, for helping me to take off my horse-blinders and step into a larger world of knowledge and understanding. (less)
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Oct 01, 2012Mitch rated it really liked it
Shelves: nonfiction
This is a rather old book, comparatively speaking. Copyright, 1958. It's a quick paperback introduction to the basic tenets of the world's largest religions so I don't think most of the content has become invalidated by the passage of a few years.
It is solely my opinion that it does a decent job of this.
On the flip side, the author was clearly Catholic and sometimes takes some interesting stances that I didn't agree with. This was troubling because, if he did that when discussing religions I was more familiar with, what was he doing with the ones I was readily learning about? It's all presented as fairly objective observation.
Regardless, I appreciate that there are those who took the time to study the matter. There are few conclusions to be reached at the end, though, so don't go looking for that. Mostly the reader just gains a basic understanding of less-familiar religions and hopefully some insight into the hearts of those who follow them. (less)
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Jun 18, 2018Debra Leigh rated it it was amazing
This book should be required reading in every high school around the country. We need a way to help our children understand the spiritual traditions of the world. If we are in a "global" time, then we need to open ourselves not only to the "markets" of the world's people, but to the spiritual beliefs and wisdom traditions, the customs and the practices of the world's people. Huston Smith did this work from the mid-20th century and dedicated his life to teaching about the "wisdom traditions" of the world. (less)
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Jun 19, 2019Andrew Diamond rated it really liked it
This is a good overview of the basic tenets and flavor of world's major religions. I found the sections on Hinduism and Islam to be the most interesting. Before reading this, I knew very little about the fundamental beliefs of Hinduism, other than what had filtered through in my readings of Alan Watts. I knew more of Islam, having read some of the Koran.
Smith spends most of the section on Islam writing about the historical context in which Mohamed lived, the formation of his ideas, and the course of his life after his initial revelations. The Arab world, at the time Mohamed appeared, was sorely in need of faith, law, and order, and he gave them all those things.
One interesting aspect of the reading is to see how far in practice some of these religions are from their own principles. Hinduism presents an incredibly rich and broad view of the universe, but in practice, it hardened into a caste system that everyone from Buddha to Nehru have worked to loosen. Christianity and Islam are the two great religions of tolerance, understanding, love, and mercy, but the fundamentalists in both are renowned for being entirely devoid of those qualities.
If you're looking for an overview of the world's religions, this is a good place to start. (less)
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May 28, 2021Reveiws by Roderick rated it really liked it
A few heart stopping moments in The Religions of Man and some close calls.
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May 26, 2021Corrine rated it really liked it
Everything a spirituality should have and lots of action, swell characters.
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Nov 27, 2015John Jr. rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: religion
This was assigned reading either in high school or in the first year of college. It probably fed my inclination to borrow ideas that seemed useful rather than adopting a single belief system. I wouldn't be surprised if it were still being used as a survey. (less)
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Mar 22, 2021Paul rated it it was amazing
Most books I've read or heard about for comparing religions are just the adherent of one religious group trying to disprove another religion by attacking a strawman version of the other relion.
On the other hand, The Religions of Man is the most unbiased book I know on the subject. It doesn't try to convert the reader to any specific religion; it just tries to explain each religion as clearly as possible. It's the only book I've read where the author seems to do a decent job of properly explaining the beliefs of a religion in in a way that an adherent to that religion might (ideally) actually find satisfactory. It's a good basis for truly trying to understand the religions of others.
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Jun 08, 2017John Quinley rated it it was amazing
Prof. Smith's, The Religions of Man, opens up through Comparative Religion an opportunity to see the greats faiths of this globe in ways that engage and show respect and honor to all people.
When I was a newcomer to Bangkok in 1989 and in Thai language school I was able to read, study, and use this text to teach advanced English to classes of Buddhist monks studying at the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya Buddhist University of Bangkok. It was my honor to teach them, and learn much from these earnest young Thai Buddhist men as well. (less)
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Jun 08, 2019David Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It was very well well-written and seemed to be fairly-presented. It made me want to learn more.
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Jun 25, 2021CHAUNCEY rated it really liked it
The characters were believable and I enjoyed the humanity added along with the main theme of the book.
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Jul 10, 2021Terra rated it really liked it
All the other characters were a great blend of personality & human flaws. Great work! Looking forward to reading more.
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Dec 30, 2016Marc Washburne rated it it was amazing
Shelves: religion-spiritual
I show the date-started & the date-ended 2009-2016 because I keep re-reading part of this terrific book. Smith compiled his book with the thought that he would present each current major religion from the perspective of how & why a person would love: the Jewish faith or Islam, or Shinto, or Christianity, etc. The reader is begins to see the beauty in each faith. His summation of each faith is the very best you can find in a 1 volume read. Buy this book for your own library - you will want to refer to it over and over. (less)
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Jan 30, 2017Pat G. rated it it was amazing
Smith was a well-known professor of religious studies, and he wrote this book as a teaching aid. It is a decent introduction and overview of the world's religions.
The first dozen pages of Smith's two chapters on Jesus and the Buddha are without parallel; Smith presented Jesus and Gautama as great and compassionate radicals with much in common with each other. Because of this book, I did a bunch of additional reading about Buddhism and Taoism, in particular. These two chapters, in the book's original edition, are the reason I give this book 5 stars.
The old, original edition (now out of print) is, in my opinion, superior to the second edition. Its ideas are presented simply, whereas all the additional explanation and exceptions added to the newer edition seem to be mere clutter. (less)
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Jul 23, 2015Elizabeth Hin rated it it was amazing
'The Religions of Man' is the seminal work in the scholarship of world spiritual traditions, by the eminent and beloved Huston Smith, who was born to a Christian Missionary family in China and raised among books and humanity to embody a life of nearly a century questing for the meaning of our souls, hearts, and language of seeking, of faith, and of shared purpose. I was privileged to be a graduate student mentored by Huston Smith in his last period of revising the book to engage humanity during the last years of his life and after. He is one of the great, rare souls to humbly live as he seeks, to pray and hope for all of humanity, every day, in all ways. (less)
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Sep 22, 2007Melinda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: nonfiction, read-in-high-school, religion
I found this book - published in the 1950s - on a shelf at the back of the school library. That version of the book is no longer in print; there's an updated version under the title "The World Religions." Why is this book so wonderful? Author Huston Smith discusses each religion not by breaking down its practices and specifics. Instead, he gets at the soul of the religion. It's much about philosophy, spiritual and non-spiritual, than the cut-and-dry religion any standard book would provide. I haven't actually finished this book yet, but I've been fascinated by the chapters I've read so far. (less)
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May 06, 2015N.N. Light rated it it was amazing
Shelves: reviews-by-mrs-n, spiritual, nonfiction, religion
A thorough and academic overview of the seven world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity). It explains in very simplistic terms the basic beliefs of each religion and it amazes me how similar they are. In many of these sacred texts, for instance, makes references to the Virgin Mary. I thought it was really interesting and I wholly recommend this to every person out there.
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Dec 22, 2015Al Grithm rated it really liked it
Recommends it for: anyone interested in comparative religion
Recommended to Al by: text book in his course
I had the great good fortune in taking Professor Smith's comparative religion course up at UC Berkeley and then saw him interview the Dalai Lama at a one day conference at UCLA. This was a great textbook written by someone who really had a deep respect and comprehensive knowledge of all religions. The last chapter on Christianity read more like a thoughtful essay than a breakdown of the religion, maybe because he assumes most people are familiar with the basics. (less)
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Jul 16, 2010Thamrong rated it it was ok
This is a very old book indeed. It was first published in 1958 by Harper & Row. This is not a history book about world religions but a brief run on the tenets of each belief and its structure. Written by Huston Smith who was a professor of Philosophy at MIT. It starts with Chapter One – Point of Departure and ended with Chapter Nine- A Final Examination.
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Jun 29, 2012Tommy Carlson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Long ago, Huston Smith was content with describing religions in a non-judgmental way.
More recently, he's been more concerned with portraying them as an objective good. But, back in the day, there was no better source to learn about the various religions without feeling like there was an agenda behind it.
