Introduction to World Religions: Upgrading One's Cultural Literacy

Introduction to World Religions: Upgrading One’s Cultural Literacy is an enlightening and engaging text that provides students with fundamental knowledge about world religions to deepen their awareness and understanding of global cultures. 

The book is divided into three units. Unit I explores the Vedic religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. East Asian belief systems and religions are discussed in Unit II. The final unit describes the Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each unit highlights a major belief, tradition, or practice that unites the featured religions, and each individual chapter includes a list of key terms, selected readings, and comprehension questions to reinforce essential learnings. Throughout, maps build students’ knowledge of world geography, and photographs and illustrations bring key beliefs, traditions, and practices to life. 

Developed to help students expand not only their knowledge of global religions but their knowledge of the world itself and its myriad cultures, Introduction to World Religions is an ideal text for foundational courses in religion and theology.

Darryl E. Howard is a faculty member at North Lake College, part of the Dallas County Community College District, where he teaches courses in philosophy and religion. He holds an Ed.D. in educational administration from Nova Southeastern University and a Th.M. degree with an emphasis in educational leadership and administration from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas.