Based on the best-selling two-volume World Religions: Eastern and Western Traditions, this concise text traces the origins and evolution of the major religious traditions, explains their essential teachings, outlines their practices, and examines their interactions with modern culture and society, while insightful introductory and concluding essays suggest avenues for further reflection and study.

Author Biography

The late Willard G. Oxtoby, the original editor of this work, was professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, where he launched the graduate program in the study of religion. His books include Experiencing India: European Descriptions and Impressions and The Meaning of Other Faiths. Roy C. Amore is professor and an associate dean in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Windsor in Ontario. His extensive research in the areas of comparative religion and Asia has enabled him to author Two Masters, One Message, a book comparing the lives and teachings of Christ and Buddha, and co-author Lustful Maidens and Ascetic Kings: Buddhist and Hindu Stories of Life. Amir Hussain is professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on Islam and world religions. A Canadian of Pakistani origin, he is the author of Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God, an Introduction to Islam for North Americans. He is also the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR). The late Alan F. Segal was a professor of religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. He has written extensively in the fields of comparative religion, Judaism, and early Christianity. His books include Rebecca's Children, Paul the Convert, and Life after Death.