Understanding World Religions: An Interdisciplinary Approach

by Irving Hexham

Globalization and high-speed communication put twenty-first century people in contact with adherents to a wide variety of world religions, but usually, valuable knowledge of these other traditions is limited at best. On the one hand, religious stereotypes abound, hampering a serious exploration of unfamiliar philosophies and practices. On the other hand, the popular idea that all religions lead to the same God or the same moral life fails to account for the distinctive origins and radically different teachings found across the world’s many religions. Understanding World Religions presents religion as a complex and intriguing matrix of history, philosophy, culture, beliefs, and practices. Hexham believes that a certain degree of objectivity and critique is inherent in the study of religion, and he guides readers in responsible ways of carrying this out. Of particular importance is Hexham’s decision to explore African religions, which have frequently been absent from major religion texts. He surveys these in addition to varieties of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Genres: History, Religion, Theology, Textbooks, Nonfiction

512 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 2011

About the author

Irving Hexham (born 1943) is a Canadian academic and writer who has published twenty-three books and numerous articles, chapters, and book reviews in respected academic journals. Currently, he is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, married to Dr. Karla Poewe who is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Calgary. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship.

Hexham was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England. After leaving school at the age of fifteen he spent six years (1958–1964) as an apprentice gas fitter with the North Western Gas Board, and obtained his City and Guilds and advanced diplomas in Gas Technology. After the completion of his apprenticeship he was offered a management position with the Gas Board. During his industrial career he also served as a union representative.

Hexham qualified for university matriculation by correspondence study and entered the University of Lancaster in 1967 where he majored in Religious Studies with minors in History and Philosophy. He graduated with a B.A.(Hons) in 1970. He then proceeded to post-graduate studies, obtaining his MA "with commendation" in religious studies and theology from the Bristol University in 1972. His MA was based on anthropological methods and theories and involved a short dissertation on Glastonbury. He obtained a PhD in History from the University of Bristol in 1975. His PhD thesis was on Afrikaner Calvinism and the origins of apartheid as an ideology. In the course of his studies he lived in the Republic of South Africa and studied the languages of German and Afrikaans. His MA supervisor was F.B. Welbourn; his PhD supervisor was Kenneth Ingham. When he was in South Africa Elaine Botha at Potchefstroom University was appointed his local supervisor by the University of Bristol.

Reviews

[Jeremy Bouma · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the 2004 Presidential election, I was living in Northern Virginia while working on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. That morning I, along with millions of other Americans, went to my local elementary school to vote—no I won't tell you for whom I voted! And during this voting experience I was struck by something I had not seen or realized before. I remember waiting to vote and glancing around and saw something peculiar: on the door of the "little boys room" was the English word "boy" and five accompanying translations, including Spanish, Arabic, and an Asian language.

That sight and experience shouldn't have been peculiar, because it wasn't. But it was striking in that I realized for the first time how multi-ethnic and cultured America has become. Now truth be told at the time I lived in the county I lived in the most diverse county (Fairfax County) in the country. So it makes sense there were six languages helping little boys find the appropriate bathroom. I think it does illustrate the reality nationwide, however, that we are no longer the homogenous, white, Christian nation we once were. Things have changed. And not only on the ethnic front, but the religious front, too. Which is why I am thankful I was given a new book from Zondervan by Irving Hexham to review, which I think is a valuable offering to anyone in American grappling with the surrounding religious pluralism and who is interested in engaging that pluralism intelligently and knowledgeably.

The book is divided into four parts: Studying Religion, African Traditions, Yogic Traditions, and the Abrahamic Traditions.

The first part is an introduction of sorts to the comparative religion enterprise, which was a very helpful introduction indeed and included an overview and examination of the major postures toward the understanding of religion.

Part two begins our foray into an understanding of world religions by beginning with Africa and African traditions. It begins with a good, healthy introduction to the African religious experience, noting that "writing about 'African religions' is like writing about 'European religions' or 'Indian religions.' There are many very different African religious traditions; therefore it is impossible to speak about 'African religions' without qualification." (49) But he does qualify and he does attempt to talk about them, beginning with describing them as "primal religions," "because they are essentially oral traditions that give primacy to the interpretations of experience rather than to a collection of sacred scripture." (51) From this intro chapter, Hexham takes the reader on an exploration through witchcraft and sorcery (Ch 4), the Zulu religion (5), and ends with a chapter (7) outlining the problems encountered when attempting to study primal religions by exploring perceptions of the Zulu religious leader Isaiah Shembre. This section was probably the least valuable given our American religious climate, though I understand why it was included given the scope of the project.

In part three things become much more relevant to American Christians as Hexham delves into the "Yogic religions," which include Hinduism, Buddhism, Har Krishna, and other smaller religions (e.g. Sikhs). This section opens with a good historical overview of Indus valley religions and their civilizations and cultures. From this introduction, the author examines "richness of the Hindu tradition" in Ch. 8 and 9, covering the classic ancient forms/roots, the various reform movements that have contributed to modern forms, and the surprising modern "mission movement" to the West, which coincided with the mass migration of skilled Indians to Europe and North America. A fascinating chapter (10) follows these two on the life and contribution to Hinduism by Mahatma Ghandi, who was born a devout Hindu.

Following these chapters on Hinduism are two chapters (11 and 12) on Buddhism, which Hexham say "is arguably the most misunderstood [of world religions] in Western society," which he says is the result of 19th century European writers co-opting Buddhism as an alternative to Christianity and using its texts to satisfy Western needs. (179) Instead, Hexham seeks to go beyond the ethnocentric concerns and interpretations of Westernism in order to "see Buddhism as it is seen by Buddhists and not as we would like the religion to be." (180) In other words, he helps us understand Buddhism on its own terms, not the version co-opted and crafted by the West. He helps us along in this by tracing the history and development of the religion with a detailed re-telling of the Buddhist story and tracing it all the way from India to Europe and beyond to America, an interesting tale indeed! His chapter on practices and beliefs was particularly helpful, especially in light of the recent phenomenon within the Church of younger (and even older!) Christians co-mingling Christian and Buddhist practices.

The final part, part 4, outlines the Abrahamic faith: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ch 16 on Rabbinic and other Judaisms was particularly helpful, especially ch. 17 on Jewish faith and practice, which includes a helpful section on Jewish mysticism. One of the best chapters in this volume was ch. 18, which rounded out the Judaism section with a conversation on Martin Buber and his Zionist spirituality. Hexham writes, "In seeking a Jewish religious leader as a representative figure to give...some insight into the appeal of modern Judaism and the way in which Jewish scholars have negotiated the challenges of the Enlightenment," Hexham chose Buber because "he has profoundly influenced Christian theology...[and] he has also had an enormous effect on Jewish thinking and practice through his philosophical works and studies of Hasidism." (311) As Hexham reveals, Buber does not seek to prove God exists. Instead, "for Buber, it is a basic presupposition that if humans are to live in the world, they must love in the world with meaning...[and that] humans have found meaning in many different ways, and in finding meaning have found themselves as human." (323) Again, a good, solid chapter at the end of a good section.

After Judaism Hexham tacles the history, beliefs, and practices of Christianity, and (curiously) chooses Abraham Kuyper as the Christian representative in a chapter (22) on Christian politics. Hexham rightly states "Anyone wishing to understand modern Christianity in North America needs to begin by recognizing that since the 1980's evangelical Christians have undergone remarkable political transformation," and he says Kuyper has influenced the political thought of both the left and right within evangelicalism. Though I understand why this chapter was included, it didn't really do anything for me, though that's probably because I wasn't interested in the book for the Christian section anyhow! I must say I was very disappointed, and even confused, why these chapters didn't spend more time on subChristian sects like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, which are both increasing in membership from Christians themselves and threats to the historic Christian faith. Addressing them in a chapter on subChristian, deviant sects would have been a very helpful addition. Neglecting them—even failing to mention them in the history section from what I remember—is a major miss in a book on world religions—a serious, regrettable miss, actually.

This volume and part 4 conclude with a lengthy set of chapters on Islam, the biggest development religiously (and even politically) speaking in the West. I must say these were a nice set of "fair and balanced" chapters on a religious topic that often gets the shaft by Christians. I appreciated Hexhams work in these chapters because they were "attempts to understand Islam as it is presented by Muslim scholars who are best-selling authors in the Muslim world and whose works are popular in English-translation among Muslims living in the English-speaking world," which is why he also states that "the understanding of Islam presented here is significantly different on certain issues form that found in most other religious studies textbooks." A solid posture, me thinks. And this posture that listens to the voices from Islam itself takes us through Islam's history, beliefs, practices, and contemporary expressions. Two very interesting sections for me were on jihad and Muslim piety (Ch 25).

Regarding jihad, Hexham explains "For many Muslims...[it] is not an embarrassing relic from the Middle Ages but a practical means to free humans from the demonic dominance of a corrupt society. Jihad provides Muslims with a practical way of imposing God's law, the Sharia, on society to free people from their own inclinations and the evils that are encouraged by rulers who do not acknowledge the true law of God." (430) Now that's a different explanation than the one I've heard from Western leaders, especially conservative Christian ones! Also, the section on Muslim piety was enlightening, especially regarding how Muslims view the Qur'an: "from a Muslim viewpoint Christians confuse the idea of revelation with that of inspiration. Thus, for Muslims, while the Bible is an inspired book, it is not the revealed word of God. For Muslims only the Qur'an is the revealed word of God." Furthermore, "The words of the Qur'an are not the words of the Prophet [Muhammad] but the words of God, and the origin uncreated Qur'an exists in heaven. This means that unlike the Bible, the Qur'an is not a historical book in the sense that it originated in a distinct historical setting, where it was written down by men who influenced the literary style." (447) This was a very helpful distinction and revelation on the Muslim view of their Scriptures.

In the end, I thought Hexham's book was an extremely helpful, condensed examination of the major religions of the world. Though I think neglecting Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witness as deviant, subChristian sects is a serious miss, I still think this volume is a good introduction and manual for pastors, students, and church leaders in understanding the major religions that are no longer simply "out there" in the world, but are right around the corner as neighbors, coworkers, and even fellow students of our elementary kids. If you're looking for a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of the Religious Other that you encounter in your community, pick up this handy manual by Hexham.

[Mo Ha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing about the book was, it is an unbiased attempt at giving you a Religion:101 and then proceeds to giving you many pages of material for coffee and book club discussions...

calling it just an introduction would be unfair .... and it also gives many references and further reading ideas ....

Since, I am not an expert at religions, I can't quote on the factual authenticity and the actual inferences that the author makes, but it is most definitely a very openminded approach to understanding religions as it is titled.

Probably, a book one should include in curriculums at high schools and Universities. Gives food for thought in understanding global current affairs that are very much influenced by the word, "religion".

Highly recommended ! Its actually a 4.5 stars from me, and not 5, but since one can't give that, I would give it 5 stars !!! Best read, in chapters I feel and not as a book in one sitting !!!

[Martijn Vsho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview

An introductory World Religions textbook focusing on the major works religions: African religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also has minor discussions on Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Confucianism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Irving Hexham's focus is on understanding these religions from their own perspective (hence the title) rather than giving a modern Western perspective.

Review

I appreciate his desire to understand and represent world religions from their own perspectives. This is especially seen in his discussion of Islam, where his sources are primarily Muslim sources rather than Western sources and where he is careful to present how the Sunni and the Shia communities view their religion differently. This leads him to conclude for instance that:

Clearly, from these examples found in the writings of both Western scholars studying the term jihad and leading Muslims whose works are widely read today, the popular, milk-and-water version of Islam found in most religious studies texts is, to say the least, misleading. Jihad is indeed primarily a form of warfare waged in defense of Islam.

While he is careful to mention that there are certain groups within Islam that interpret Jihad spiritually as an internal warfare (i.e., inside each person), he shows through discussions of various Muslim authors that such a spiritual understanding of Jihad is a minority view. While my understanding of Islam is minimal and I am therefore not personally able to see where his arguments are fair and correct or misleading and wrong, I appreciated his desire to understand world religions from their own perspectives and to empathize with their worldviews.

After discussing each major works religion, he typically spends a chapter doing an in-depth study on an influential and modern follower of that religion (Isaiah Shembe for African Religions, Gandhi for Hinduism, Edward Conze for Buddhism, Martin Buber for Judaism, Abraham Kuyper for Christianity, and Sayyid Qutb for Islam). These chapters make the study of the world religions more personal and showcase how religion intersects with personal life and context.

However, they also seem to be places where Hexham tends to digress into other matters that can seem out of place. For example, in his chapter on Gandhi, he uses Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden," which Gandhi appreciated, to highlight key and surprising aspects of Gandhi's beliefs. This was interesting, but a big part of this discussion focused instead on modern culture and how this poem relates to us today. Since the poem's relevance was only as it relates to Gandhi, such discussions of its relevance seemed out of place. I would have preferred discussions of Hinduism's or Gandhi's relevance instead.

There is also a surprising amount of repetition. For example, he has two chapters on Buddhism (plus a third on Edward Conze, who was a Buddhist scholar and a devout Buddhist). One of the things he talks about in the first chapter when giving an overview of the history of Buddhism is the lesser and greater vehicles within Buddhism and what this means. In the following chapter, he talks about the Buddhist communities and sects and goes into more depth on the lesser and greater vehicles, but his discussion seems to assume that the reader hasn't read about the lesser and greater vehicles at all yet, which makes it repetitive. This unfortunately happens often throughout his book.

His section on Christianity certainly reads different from the other religions. You get the sense that he is trying to do apologetics. While he is clear that he is writing as a Christian, setting which also is evident in his frequent comparison of the world religions to Christianity, I would have preferred a less apologetic presentation.

Despite these shortcomings, I thoroughly enjoyed this introduction to world religions. It was informative and personal (he didn't hesitate to speak of persobal research or interviews with those of other religions). The discussions of the various world religions seemed balanced and he engaged with scholarly portrayal of the world religions both in the past and today to help students get a grasp of the scholarly field.

4/5 (I really liked it)

[Raj Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western focus, but excellent depth with regard to Islam and Hinduism. Concern about the Christian publisher should be dismissed -- very difficult to discern any bias in this resource.

[Christian Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irving Hexham’s "Understanding World Religions" offers a fresh glimpse on the subject of world religions. As with any book, there are many strong points that Hexham makes as well as some weaknesses in his great textbook on world religions. Hexham’s greatest strength was his apparent disregard and lack of an overpowering bias. Overall, this book was challenging, well thought-out, and it made strong, well-defended arguments.
Hexham opens his book with a length section about the effect of biases—particularly those commonly held in the Western world—on religious studies textbooks. If he had followed up this criticism of other scholars with hundreds of pages in which his own bias bled through, then I would brand him hypocritical and be less inclined to accept what he says. However, this is not what he does; he clearly presents each major religion with as much of an unbiased nature as one could possibly have when talking about such a topic. Though it can be discerned that Hexham comes from a Christian perspective, he does not use his worldview to tear down opposing religions. Instead, he lays aside his own views and approaches the world’s major religions with an open mind that seeks to understand each religion precisely how a follower of that religion understands it.
Hexham’s greatest weakness is that he does not often follow what I would call a logical flow of thinking. That is not to say that his logic is flawed, but rather that the flow of his book can be a little bit disjointed. Though he discusses each religion in a basic format that goes from the history, to traditions, to a specific person within that religion, some of the later chapters muddle this flow. For example, in his section about Islam, Hexham discusses the history, then follows with the traditions and practices of Muslims. He then follows this up with another chapter on Muslim piety. This is an example of something that he does quite often. He covers something in one chapter and then goes back to something within that chapter and expounds upon that. Though this style may work for some, I found it to be confusing at parts. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, the book itself and its material really had very few weaknesses.
This book challenged me to conquer what I believe is the greatest barrier to peace—ignorance. We stereotype other people groups and religions and make assumptions based on those stereotypes, many if not all of which stem from ignorance. This book shoved my own ignorance in my face and forced me to take it on and defeat it. I learned many things that I did not know about other religions. If this knowledge was to stop at just the acquisition stage, it would be pointless. Once I apply it to my life, though, my previously-held stereotypes crumble away and my view of the world and the people in it is changed forever. This book helped facilitate such a change in my life and worldview.
Hexham has gone to great lengths in researching and acquiring a true understanding of each of the world’s major religions, and this hard work is very evident in this book. His strengths well-outweighed his weaknesses and he combined both knowledge and passion in a work of literature that offers a fresh perspective on an old subject. I would recommend this book to any and all, whether one knows nothing about world religions or think they know everything about world religions.

[✨Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in learning about religions that aren't often discussed, primarily Eastern religions such as those practiced in Africa, then I'd suggest reading (or listening as I did) to this lecture. I am curious about the differences but more-so because I want to know how to properly explain my beliefs in a way that will make sense to someone else and the only way I can do that is if I understand why they have theirs or at the very least where their religion stems from. This book helped me understand more easily.

[Dave Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Hexham has written a wonderful book for the exploration of the beliefs of the world's major religions. As a Christian and a pastor, I found it to be an invaluable resource for understanding, sharing my faith and having meaningful dialog with people of other religions. It is academic but clearly written and understandable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My complete review of this book is available on Library Thing.

I rate this 10 out of 5 stars for its very good coverage of African religions at the very beginning of the book. The only improvement that I would like to see is better coverage of Sikhism.

[Daniel Laufer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of world religion. It's a christian teacher for christian students, but it is very fair and respectful towards the other religions. I really enjoyed the stroll through human spiritual history.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First religions book that I’ve read that detailed African religions seriously. Very nuanced and objective in its approach, bringing to light the many ways western thinkers have mislabeled and misunderstood certain religions while also giving helpful case studies at the end of every section.

[Enrique J Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro to World Religions. Read it for my class, it was extremely helpful and follows a consistent format.

[David King · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of major world religions. Hexham explains the history and major theological points of each that he covers.