This book by a professor of religion at Boston University is subtitled “The eight rival religions that run the world – and why their differences matter.” The eight religions are Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoruba religion, Judaism and Daoism. The book concludes with a brief coda on atheism.

The author takes a simple four-part approach to defining religions, in which each religion articulates a problem, a solution to this problem (which also serves as the religious goal), a technique (or techniques) for moving from the problem to the solution, and an exemplar (or exemplars) who charts the path from problem to solution.

Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard University says of the book, “This book could well be the most highly readable, accurate, and up-to-date introduction on the world’s major religions.” I certainly found it all that, learning something new about each religion and even discovering a religion or two I didn’t know about.

In this day when so many people say that all religions lead to God it is good to find such a clear and enjoyable read that proves that this is not so. As Miroslav Volf, professor at Yale Divinity School, says of the book, “Enough lazy paddling of the false and dangerous idea that all religions are the same!”

– David McLeod-Jones

By Stephen Prothero
Harper One, New York, 2010
ISBN 978-0-06-157127-5