Irving Hexham

The best thing about this book is its coverage of African religious traditions. I don't know of any other comparative religions textbook that covers African religious beliefs this thoroughly. There are more people who live in Africa than in Europe and North America combined, so citizens of the world should know much more about this continent than we do. The author understands the importance of Africa, so African religions are placed at the beginning of the book from pages 49 to 111. I found this section very educational and also enjoyable to read.

I purchased this book to read what it had to say about Hinduism. As an IT professional, I work for one of the largest companies in India and have many Indian coworkers. There is a large cultural gap between India and the USA. I think that part of the worldview difference stems from Hinduism. I am still on a quest to understand Indian culture and how to work effectively in a company that is horrendously inefficient, labyrinthine, and bureaucratic. I am able to wrap my monotheistic head around Hinduism a little better after reading this book, though.

The section of a chapter on Sikhism was of interest to me. I find that religion fascinating, but I was disappointed in how little this religion was covered in this book. The 5 signs of Khalsa are covered, but very little is mentioned of the essential doctrines of Sikhism. More and more Sikhs are moving to the USA and understanding Sikh beliefs will lead to good inter-faith relations.

This book was published by an evangelical publisher, but it is very respectful of other religions and seeks to show what theologians/philosophers/adherents of each religion say that they believe. The author does an excellent job of explaining to someone coming from a Christian/monotheistic worldview how a person of a polytheistic or nontheistic religion differs in their underlying assumptions of how the world works. The book is actually preachy in the sense of highlighting the failures of Christianity as practiced by its followers and how followers of other religions can see those failures and hypocrisies.

I would rate the book 10 stars out of 5 just for its coverage of African religions. I don't know of any other comparative religion textbook with as thorough coverage of that.… (more)