Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices

Rating:
Summary: Objective, unbiased analysis
Review: From the "Aboriginal Cult of Maria Lionza" to "Zoroastrianism" the four volume set "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" has information on every significant religion in the world. When it is a small local group with peculiar beliefs it is typically classified under "ethnoreligions". This is definitely appropriate as it would be impossible to chronicle every minor cult and sect of each religion. However, it covers the largest number of religions of any similarly titled book that I have seen.

One of the things that make this series unique is the entry for each country. Besides having an entry for each religion it has each country listed along with a short religious history of the country and statistical information about the number of adherents of the various religions. For each religious group if there is a central address, web site, or other contact information it is listed. Associations are also listed as well as the history of the association and membership.

The books are hard bound, contain copious photographs, and are of very high quality material and workmanship. All contributors are highly regarded professors, lecturers, and officers of the various religious groups or countries. This is another one of the items that make this set unusual, you are not getting one person's opinion of another person's beliefs but generally are getting the information directly from respected authorities within the religion or authorities on the religion. This is a very pleasant break from the all to common books today where, for example, a Christian is trying to explain Islam and doing so from an obviously slanted perspective. I would trust the information in this set of books to accurately portray the beliefs of the various religions in an unbiased manner more than just about any other book I have seen that professes to be a survey of various religions.

The final point that makes this four book set unusual is the sheer number of religions examined. Most other books list twenty or thirty religions. In this set there are 135 entries just for the letter A.

Professional, unbiased, informative, and thorough, it is the perfect set to own if you are interested in a basic understanding of the various religions of the world. "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" is a very highly recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: Objective, unbiased analysis
Review: From the "Aboriginal Cult of Maria Lionza" to "Zoroastrianism" the four volume set "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" has information on every significant religion in the world. When it is a small local group with peculiar beliefs it is typically classified under "ethnoreligions". This is definitely appropriate as it would be impossible to chronicle every minor cult and sect of each religion. However, it covers the largest number of religions of any similarly titled book that I have seen.

One of the things that make this series unique is the entry for each country. Besides having an entry for each religion it has each country listed along with a short religious history of the country and statistical information about the number of adherents of the various religions. For each religious group if there is a central address, web site, or other contact information it is listed. Associations are also listed as well as the history of the association and membership.

The books are hard bound, contain copious photographs, and are of very high quality material and workmanship. All contributors are highly regarded professors, lecturers, and officers of the various religious groups or countries. This is another one of the items that make this set unusual, you are not getting one person's opinion of another person's beliefs but generally are getting the information directly from respected authorities within the religion or authorities on the religion. This is a very pleasant break from the all to common books today where, for example, a Christian is trying to explain Islam and doing so from an obviously slanted perspective. I would trust the information in this set of books to accurately portray the beliefs of the various religions in an unbiased manner more than just about any other book I have seen that professes to be a survey of various religions.

The final point that makes this four book set unusual is the sheer number of religions examined. Most other books list twenty or thirty religions. In this set there are 135 entries just for the letter A.

Professional, unbiased, informative, and thorough, it is the perfect set to own if you are interested in a basic understanding of the various religions of the world. "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" is a very highly recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: "Scholar" or paid apologist?
Review: J. Gordon Melton in apparently now promoting the seventh edition of his book called the "Encyclopedia of American Religions."

But don't expect to see any meaningful critical analysis or fact-driven revelations within this tome. Instead the part-time teacher and library worker at the University of California in Santa Barbara, basically reiterates whatever religious groups tell him.

For example, you won't read that space aliens from another planet are the actual basis for Scientology's theology.

Why?

Because Scientology didn't tell Mr. Melton that and they don't want this information in his "encyclopedia"

Is this beginning to sound a bit specious for a supposedly scholarly effort?

Melton's book retails for [$$], which may partly explain its ranking at Amazon.com at well below 500,000.

However, Mr. Melton and his book got some good press recently in an article by Richard Ostling, carried by Associated Press.

What Ostling doesn't mention is the more sordid side of the author's work. Melton has often been called a "cult apologist."

In fact Mr. Melton refuses to use the term "cult." Instead he prefers to call groups like Scientology, Krishna and Ramtha, "new religions" or "new religious movements" (NRMs).

Maybe this is because they pay him.

Melton often works for groups called "cults," either through cult-funded "research projects," books or as an expert witness. J.Z. Knight, who leads the Ramtha group, hired him to write the book for her titled Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom.

Scientology has recommended Melton as a resource. And after the Cult Awareness Network was bankrupted by that group's litigation and its name was bought by a Scientologist, Gordon Melton became a "religious resource" recommended by the "new Cult Awareness Network."

Mr. Melton seems eager to help "cults" whenever he can.

He once flew to Japan to defend the cult Aum, right after it released poison gas within Tokyo's subway system. While thousands of victims were being rushed to hospitals Mr. Melton flew in, all of his expenses by the criminal cult.

For a "scholar" Gordon Melton often seems indifferent concerning historical facts.

Jim Jones was responsible for the cult mass murder-suicide of more than 900 people in 1978. However, Mr. Melton said, "This wasn't a cult. This was a respectable, mainline Christian group."

Melton has earned a reputation for largely ignoring and/or discounting the testimony of former cult members.

Professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi of the University of Haifa noted, "In every single case since the Jonestown tragedy, statements by ex-members turned out to be more accurate than those of apologists and NRM researchers... It is indeed baffling... the strange, deafening, silence of [such scholars]... a thorny issue... like the dog that didn't bark... should make us curious, if not outright suspicious."

Is Gordon Melton such a silent scholar, or perhaps even a "silent partner"? After all he is often paid by cults.

Melton was prominently mentioned within a confidential memo written and distributed by Jeffery Hadden. The memo has been cited as a kind of "smoking gun," regarding the cooperation of like-minded "cult apologists."

Within that memo the now deceased Hadden cited Melton's importance and willingness to cooperate in an organized effort, which would hopefully be funded by "cults," to essentially quell criticism about them.

Hadden said, "We recognize that Gordon Melton's Institute is singularly the most important information resource in the US, and we feel that any new organization would need to work closely with him."

Ostling's article carried by the AP cites Melton's "nonpartisan objectivity," but can anyone who objectively reviews his actual professional history really conclude that J. Gordon Melton is nonpartisan?

Rating:
Summary: Resource in Scholarly Analysis
Review: This review was sparked by not only the volume in question, but also by the questionable review by Rick Ross. Ross unfortunately engages in ad hominem attacks against Melton, labeling him with the pejorative term "cult apologist." This is not surprising. Ross' views on certain (most?) new religions is to label them "destructive cults" notwithstanding the tremendously subjective nature and scholarly disagreements over just how to define a "cult." Melton approaches new religions from an academic perspective that necessitates scholarly neutrality with an emphasis upon description rather than on critique. Apparently Ross finds this objectionable and believes that only a discussion of the most extreme forms of activity by "the cults" (behavior found among only a handful of new religions) amounts to the proper methodology for anyone writing on this phenomena.

Readers might pause to reflect upon not only Mr. Ross' problematic definitions and methodology as it relates to new religions, but also the serious controversy that has surrounded him in high profile court cases. Mr. Ross brings his own presuppositions and biases that must be factored into his appraisal of Melton's work. Complete objectively is impossible, and an understanding of Ross' biases and perspective will be helpful to the reader in assessing the validity of the criticism he raises over Melton's book.

As to the substance of Melton's treatment of new religions readers will find it to be a helpful scholarly resource that provides a wealth of information. This material represents a good place to start for descriptive reference materials that will assist the student and/or researcher and which can and should be complimented by interaction with the primary source materials produced by the religious groups and movements themselves.