What the Great Religions Believe

by Joseph Gaer

Book by Gaer, Joseph

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, History

Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1964

About the author

1897-1969

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short excerpt concerning the world's main religions. Depth cannot be added to a work less than two hundred pages, but it is serviceable in covering the base beliefs and historicity of man's religions.

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historic (as in dated) survey of some of the world's most prominent religions and their beliefs is a worthwhile read. It's spirit is constructive and inclusive, a refreshing (and somewhat contrasting) approach relative to similar books of its era. Though the survey is a bit too brief/superficial, as a refresher on some of the major tenets of the major religions in the world, it is a helpful contribution.

So, too, are some of the author's observations. For example, in his concluding section entitled "A New Image of Reality," he makes a compelling plea for religious tolerance and understanding. Among other blessedly sincere observations, he notes that "We can no longer remain parochial and ethnocentric. For when we examine the basic beliefs of the most dissimilar people, we discover to our amazement how much alike they are in certain basic respects." Not exactly rocket science, but, following as it does the observation that historically cultures and their religions have tended to assume that they are superior and alone possess the path to heaven/happiness/enlightenment/etc., such an exhortation is prescient. Or, another favorite from his "Acknowledgments and Bibliography": "History does not repeat itself. However, historians do repeat each other. All history, in whatever field, is a compilation of facts as recorded by former historians, who obtained them from others - all the way back to the presumable eyewitnesses. Rarely is history written by those who experienced it." An insight well-remember to be sure....

On the whole, then, both as a survey of major world religions and as an historical excursion in/into comparative religion, I recommend this book highly.

[Shane Westfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the older books on comparative religion, but then very little has changed about their various beliefs over the last 40-something years. It's very easy reading, and has a lot less bias than many other books in the genre.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an older book (1963) but compact so I felt it would be a good introduction to the topic. It is ok, and I learned some from it, but did not in fact clarify as much as I had hoped.