Textbook for:\RS 108 Major World Religions\RS108.

Previous ed.: c1991.

Point of Departure -- Hinduism. What people want -- What people really want -- The beyond within -- Four paths to the goal -- The way to god through knowledge -- The way to god through love -- The way to god through work -- The way to god through psychophysical exercise -- The stages of life -- The stations of life -- "Thou before whom all words recoil" -- Coming of age in the universe -- The world-welcome and farewell -- Many paths to the same summit -- Appendix on Sikhism. -- Buddhism. The man who woke up -- The silent sage -- The rebel saint -- The four noble truths -- The eight-fold path -- Basic Buddhist concepts -- Big raft and little -- The secret of the flower -- The diamond thunderbolt -- The image of crossing -- The confluence of Buddhism and Hinduism in India. -- Confucianism. The first teacher -- The problem Confucius faced -- Rival answers -- Confucius' answer -- The content of deliberate tradition -- The Confucian project -- Ethics or religion? -- Impact on China. -- Taoism. The old master -- The three meanings of Tao -- Three approaches to power and the Taoisms that follow -- Efficient power : philosophical Taoism -- Augmented power: Taoist hygiene and yoga -- Vicarious power: religious Taoism -- The mingling of the powers -- Creative quietude -- Other Taoist values. -- Islam. Background -- The seal of the prophets -- The standing miracle -- Basic theological concepts -- The five Pillar -- Social teachings -- Sufism -- Whither Islam?. -- Judaism. Meaning in God -- Meaning in creation -- Meaning in human existence -- Meaning in history -- Meaning in morality -- Meaning in justice -- Meaning in suffering -- Meaning in Messianism -- The hallowing of life -- Revelation -- The chosen people -- Israel. -- Christianity. The historical Jesus -- The Christ of faith -- The end and the beginning -- The good news -- The mystical body of Christ -- The mind of the church -- Roman Catholicism -- Eastern orthodoxy -- Protestantism. -- The Primal Rreligions. The Australian experience -- Orality, place, and time -- The primal world -- They symbolic mind. -- A final Examination. The relations between religions -- The wisdom traditions -- Listening -- Exploring religious frontiers -- Huston Smith's search for wisdom in a bewildered world.