The message and the book
Subtitle: sacred texts of the world's religions
By: John Bowker
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 406
ISBN-13: 9781848878112
Subjects: Sacred books
Other titles: Sacred texts of the world's religions
Description: "Most people alive today (more than three-quarters of the world's population) belong to one of the great religious traditions. These faiths are built on the foundation-stones of their sacred texts, to which their adherents go for spiritual inspiration and moral guidance. But what are these texts and what do they mean? In 'The Message and the Book', John Bowker explores the content and core principles of the key texts of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Parsi, Vedic, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Chinese, Korean and Japanese religious traditions. From the Jewish Torah to the Christian gospels, and from the Hadith of Islam to the Sikh 'Adi Granth', 'The Message and the Book' will help believers and unbelievers alike to understand why these sacred writings matter so much to so many people: the Bible remains the bestselling book worldwide, and other texts from the past are hugely influential in the present--for example, the 'Analects' of Confucius in Asia and the Quran for Muslims. 'The Message and the Book' is an accessible, scholarly and informative guide to the sacred literature of the faiths of the world. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the influence of religious texts both in the past and in the world of today"--Publisher's description, p. [2] of dust jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 358-388) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Judaism; title: Christianity; title: Islam; title: Zoroastrians and Parsis; title: India; title: Sikhs; title: Jains; title: Buddhism (for Buddhism in Korea, see Korea); title: China (for Buddhism in China, see Buddhism); title: Korea; title: Japan (for Buddhism in Japan, see also Buddhism); title: Conclusion.