World religions. Western traditions

BRIEF CONTENTS; FULL CONTENTS; CONTRIBUTORS; IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THIS EDITION; PREFACE; 1. : ABOUT RELIGION; BASIC HUMAN RELIGION: LOOKING BOTH WAYS FROM STONEHENGE; LOOKING FORWARD FROM STONEHENGE; WHAT IS RELIGION?; WHY STUDY RELIGION?; 2. : RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD; TERMINOLOGY; RELIGIOSITY; PREHISTORY; DEITIES; UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD; NEGOTIATING THE WORLD; COMMUNING WITH THE DIVINE; OVERCOMING THE WORLD; THE END OF ANTIQUITY; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; SUMMARY; 3. : JEWISH TRADITIONS; JEWISH IDENTITY AS ETHNICITY AND RELIGION; EARLIEST JEWISH HISTORY: THE BIBLICAL STORY; THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD (515 BCE - 70 CE); ENTER THE ROMANS (63 BCE); JEWISH LIFE UNDER ISLAM: SEVENTH-TWELFTH CENTURY; JEWS IN THE CHRISTIAN WORLD: SEVENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURY; THE MODERN PERIOD: (18TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT); THE HOLOCAUST (1933 - 1945); LIFE-CYCLE EVENTS; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; SUMMARY; 4. : CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS; ORIGINS; RELATIONS BETWEEN CHURCH AND SOCIETY; AUTHORITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH; THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORTHODOXY; RELATIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST; PRACTICE; EASTERN ORTHODOXY; MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY; SAINTS; THE EARLY MODERN ERA; THE MODERN ERA; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; SUMMARY; 5. : MUSLIM TRADITIONS; BEGINNINGS; FOUNDATIONS; PRACTICE; VARIATIONS; THE SPREAD OF ISLAM; CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS; TOWARDS THE MODERN WORLD; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; SUMMARY; 6. : INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS; "INDIGENOUS RELIGION"; TRANSMISSION; PRACTICE; CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS; COLONIALISM; RECENT DEVELOPMENTS; SUMMARY; 7. : NEW RELIGIONS AND MOVEMENTS; DEFINING NEW RELIGIONS, SECTS, AND CULTS; NEW RELIGIONS FROM THE EAST; RELIGIONS ARISING FROM THE ABRAHAMIC LINEAGE; RELIGIONS INSPIRED BY OTHER FORMS OF SPIRITUALITY; THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT; SUMMARY; 8. : CURRENT ISSUES; RELIGION AND POLITICS; FUNDAMENTALISM; BIOETHICS; THE ENVIRONMENT; GENDER AND SEXUALITY; RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY; CREDITS; INDEX