Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions

In this book, Winfried Corduan provides to us an introduction to the religions of the world. The book covers different religions and their system which include Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, African and Native American traditional religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Baha'i, Chinese popular religion, Shinto and the Japanese synthesis. Winfried Corduan emphasizes not just formal religious teachings but also how each religion is practiced in daily life. I liked the entire book and found it interesting that Corduan did not include a chapter on Christianity as he said «I have chosen not to include a chapter on Christianity." (p.15). Even though he didn't mean to imply that Christianity is not a religion, but in fact considering the Christian worldview as the starting point for most of his readers It interesting to think about Christianity and its supra-cultural and absolute elements in contrast with a proper religious system. Christianity is in fact a religious system, but it also stands above any religious system in its call to a relationship with God. The issues related to contextualization raised on pages 41 and 42 deals with some of the things that we need to learn more as we prepare ourselves to share our faith, specially in a missionary context. In this part of the book, I was able to gain a lot as Corduan challenges is in this regard. I would like to highlight the quote: "...the evangelist must discern the gospel message in its biblical setting. Second, as far as is humanly possible, she must make sure that nothing in her culture obscures or supplants the gospel message.” Here lies the challenge to all of us engaged in the sharing of the gospel.

This book explains the histories, practices, and variations of religions around the world. As the topic is addressed from a Christian perspective, there is also a section at the end of each religion on how a Christian may connect and share with someone of that religion. But I mostly enjoyed the stories from this book. It's genuinely enjoyable to read, and it helps one to understand peoples of distant cultures.

The book was shipped fast and in excellent condition.

I appreciated the author’s respectful and candid approach to describing the world’s main religions from a Christian perspective. Obviously, there are disagreements, and the author was clear about them. But there is much to be said for a kind-hearted and informative presentation of another religion’s beliefs and practices. Knowing a little history and gaining some insight into current practices is beneficial for anyone who wants to engage in an authentic way.

Everybody in general should read this book for the simple fact that "Christianity" stands alone as the true religion of the whole universe! For the simple fact that our "Neighboring Faiths" are based on works, and sacrifices to this false gods? Which in term provide no solution to the needs of the human heart, as they fail to provide unconditional love, intimacy, and salvation to mankind; due in part of the "Sin" nature which was imputed by the "fall" of Adam and Eve. Only in Jesus Christ our hearts, mind, and soul could be restored back to Him? Since God it's a "Spirit" which could only be accessible, as we become believers in Jesus Christ alone!

This latest edition of Neighboring Faiths is a fully up-to-date (2012) version of the standard work on World Religions from an Evangelical Christian perspective. Though the author states his own viewpoint, he is nonetheless accurate, fair and respectful in dealing with other faiths. You will find discussions on all the major religions such as Judaism, Islam, Bahai, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, traditional religions (African & Native American), Chinese faiths (Taoism & Confucianism) and Japanese religions (e.g. Shinto). In addition, there is an excellent introduction dealing with the topic of religion in general. I have reviewed both the earlier work (1998) and this update, and I highly recommend the work as a resource for personal study and as a textbook for classroom purposes.-Michael J. Caba, Dean of Faculty, Kilns College

If you're a missionary, I would highly suggest picking this up and learning about the main religion of the area that you're going to before you get there.I read through this book for one of my classes and I learned a bunch from the class and I would highly suggest reading this if you're dealing with other cultures on a regular basis (or if you just want to learn about them).Very thorough, but not too dry at all. Many textbooks get dry, but this one holds your attention!

I really enjoyed reading this book for my World Religions course. The author, Winfred Corduan, is very knowledgeable about many different religions and shares that knowledge in a way that helps the reader to easily understand. I especially like how he talks about relating the gospel to to people from each religion at the end of each section. He is very Biblically balanced in his approach to sharing the gospel to people of different cultures and religions.

Adequate copy - timely delivery

Old version. New version is very updated. So this is less helpful. New version is excellent

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