Phenomenon of Religion

Rating:
Summary: BIG but Simple
Review: A well presented work comprised of three "fields of enquiry": Religious Experience and it's expression, conceptual aspects of religion, and religion in society. It's essentially a book which compares religions and philosophies, all while using themes from other areas of study as psycology and sociology.

It's a fairly large book, around 600 pages, but the simplistic style of authoring doesn't make it a chore as other comparitive religion books.

Rating:
Summary: BIG but Simple
Review: A well presented work comprised of three "fields of enquiry": Religious Experience and it's expression, conceptual aspects of religion, and religion in society. It's essentially a book which compares religions and philosophies, all while using themes from other areas of study as psycology and sociology.

It's a fairly large book, around 600 pages, but the simplistic style of authoring doesn't make it a chore as other comparitive religion books.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful basics
Review: After many years of studying philosophy and religion, I found it refreshing and informative to read this easy to read overview of comparative religion. What I found refreshing was the unique focus and depth of the author, providing insight into the dynamics of the phenomenon of religion and not just another historical survey or catalogue of religion beliefs. His multi-level approach moving from the philosophical dimensions to the psychological aspects that drive religion to the social forces that shape religion and much more, I felt that I gained much insight that a good overview can provide. Criticisms of reductionism while legitimate, I regard as irrelevant here. Any time one strives to identify the thread of shared themes in a large field , some reductionism is unavoidable. Like an an outline collapsed to it's main topics, this can allow us to see the forest through the trees. At times very useful...