"In the human frame, we, and our interests are central; and poverty, war, injustice, and oppression are born from human self-centeredness. In the religious frame human beings are not the center. Religion is the hope of the world for peace because each religion forces us to look beyond our personal good, beyond our local or national aspirations to the service of God who is greater than we are," write Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter The Rev. Mpho A. Tutu in the introduction to this magisterial overview of the geographic origins and growth of the five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They join with His Holiness the Dalai Lama who, in the epilogue, expresses the need for mutual respect, reverence, cooperation and harmony between all these sacred paths.
In the first chapter, John L. Esposito, University Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University, outlines the genesis of the human quest for the divine in the natural world, in the mystery of life, and in rituals. Other chapters follow on each of the world religions with an essay on Hinduism by Arvind Sharma, Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada; an essay on Buddhism by Lobsang Dechen, Co-director of the Tibetan Nuns Project in India; an essay on Judaism by Jeremy Rosen. Director of YAKAR, an Orthodox community center in London; an essay on Christianity by Robert L. Wilken, William Kenan Jr., Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia; and an essay on Islam by Hibba Abugideiri , Assistant Professor of History, Honors and International Affairs at Georgetown University.
Each chapter contains the story of the faith and the landscape in which it was developed along with sidebars on sacred texts and daily practices. This exquisite volume contains 200 illustrations, maps and examples of sacred art from around the world.
