12 Major World Religions: The Beliefs, Rituals, and Traditions of Humanity's Most Influential Faiths

by Jason Boyett

For billions of people, having a religious belief system provides purpose in life. For some, religion serves as a guide for moral behavior. Today's world is one in which our understanding of world religions is both understatedly important, as well as increasingly complex.

After many years exploring the foundations of various world religions, Jason Boyett has written this comprehensive, easy-to-understand exploration of the twelve major world religions through a meticulous, yet unbiased lens. 12 Major World Religions offers an impartial look at where each of these belief systems intersects, how they differ, and why some have been—or are currently—misunderstood.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Spirituality, Reference, Audiobook

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2016

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a general overview of and introduction to 12 major belief systems, this book had its uses. However the author’s sweeping generalisations and occasional inaccuracies relating to Christianity in particular left me slightly mistrustful of some of the finer details outlined in other systems. I’d find this kind of comparative study more useful if the individual sections had been written by knowledgeable people professing those beliefs.

[Kristen Thomason]

I LOVE TO LEARNNNNN!!!! I LOVE TO LEARRRRRNNN ABOUT NEW THINGS!!!!!!!!!! A good base level guides to major world religions. Each was displayed without judgement or favoritism, just a lovely way to delve into things.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating introduction to 12 of the major religions of the world - introduction being the key word. This is by no means a comprehensive study of any religion, but does give the reader a small "taste" of each of these religions in terms of core beliefs, deities and other personalities, and texts followed. Despite being a bit boringly textbook at times, the tremendous amount of information provided made it well worth the time it took to read.

Personal sidenote: this book provided the translation of "shruti" 😊

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this book last night, while eating my last Caffeine before Lent 2019 (mint chocolate chip ice cream). I found it to be a very good book, and full of very good information.

After an introductory section on Why We Believe, the author gives us, in Part One: Ancient Foundations, the religions of Ancient Egypt, the religions ofAncient Greece and Rome, and the religions of the Ancient Nordic Region. Part Two: The Twelve, explains the twelve Religions covered in the book, by order of how many worshipers each religion has; each section has a timeline of the religion, a section on Quick Facts, the history of the founding of the religion, major figures in the religion, Major Tenets, Major Texts, Liturgical / Ceremonial Practices, Divisions within the religion, and Into the Future. In order, the author thus covers Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, Judaism, Confucianism, Bahá'í, Shinto, Jainism, and Zorastrianism. 

I found this book to be quite even handed and informative, and very much enjoyed reading it. 

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and easy to read and understand. I especially liked how similarities between beliefs were pointed out.

[Em The Great · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read better primers on religion. Also this one had a surprising number of mistakes.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
I've highly enjoyed this book. Really useful to get acquainted with other cultures through the major religions in the world

[Jerry Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be simply informative on various world religions of the past and of today. It seems to be written from a secular or maybe I should say a neutral point of view. I liked that it included some of the ancient world religions of Egypt, Rome, Greece and the Nordic religions. It also included some of the smaller world religions like Jainism and Zoroastrianism.

Under each religion the author gave a history, major people, beliefs of the religion, their worship practices, major holy days, important scriptures and other books, impact and the future of the religion.

I have two complaints about the book.
1) It included Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witness under the Christianity section. These should have been in a stand alone section. Even though they were started by people who left the Christian Church and they borrowed some teachings from Christianity they are far removed from Orthodox Christian teaching. I would compare them to Buddhism coming out of Hinduism. They both have some things in common but are distinct religions.

2) My second complaint has to do with the Kindle Version. The paging in this book was not consistent. A page number would sometimes go for a couple of Kindle screens and then other times go for 4 or 5. Then other time it would skip pages all together. This made it hard for me to gauge how much to read each day in setting reading goals. Most Kindle books will go for 2 or 3 and do not skip pages.

[David Titcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

If looking for a book to help you understand different religions, and really think in today's climate its something we all need to do, this book is ideal.

It is set out in separate section so easy to read a section a day, etc. It is well written so someone with no understanding of any religion or beliefs would easily follow. A book of different religions that does not go to deep so you become bored, loose track or get totally lost! Although written by an American pastor, it isn't to bias towards his faith or beliefs. It's a look into each faith and a little about what they believe, accept and in a way, what they have problems/difficulties with!

I would highly recommended this book so you can have a better understanding and accept that its only the fanatical, that have lost their way who become terrorist.

[Crystal Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although raised Baptist Christian, I consider myself a spiritual person rather than religious. With that said I am very intrigued with the diversity in culture and religion and have been looking for a book like 12 Major World Religions. Giving an open-minded and neutral approach, it clearly lays out the history, beliefs and traditions of our most popular world religions. I found it very fascinating to compare the similarities and differences as well as better understanding concepts such as jihad and how it's evolved. One of my favorite sections is part one which covers ancient Egyptian Greek and Nordic beliefs now considered mythology and I thought it a nice prequel to the 12. I also enjoyed the explinations of symbols and timelines the wonderfully illustrate each faith. Overall a great reference.
I received this for free to gladly review.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and finished it feeling like I was much better informed than before I started it. It was mostly dry knowledge after the forward section, but that's kind of what I was looking for.

I see a lot of other reviews on here criticizing the author's take on Christianity. I don't want to throw stones, but there's a reason there's so many denominations. Over all, I felt pretty confident while reading this that the book was written in good faith with an aim towards informing and not influencing.

[Brittnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, and easy read. I highly recommend to anyone wanting to begin their further understanding of world religions. It is a brief overview of the more noteworthy/prevalent religions, and therefore doesn’t speculate at nuance or origin of beliefs and practices. This guide provides an unbiased and very objective details in each chapter, with a uniform structure throughout, and well-written summaries at the end of each to circle back on everything preceding.

[Pierre Parent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to these 12 religions. It provides a historical overview of each religion, including major religious figures and the religion's place in the world. It touches upon the main tenets of each religion, ceremonies, and celebrations. The presentation of each religion is balanced, with a short discussion of the positive and negative impacts on history and a shorter section on how the religion might fair in the future.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book perfectly serves its purpose: to provide a brief introduction and overview of each of the world's largest religions. This is done in a unbiased and fair manner. As someone who knows a decent amount about the tenets of major religions, I was still able to learn a lot and gather some insight into what religions I would like to read more on next.

[James R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boyett does a really balanced, fair job of presenting all of the religions he includes in this work. This is a great resource for teachers or students desiring a fairly comprehensive survey of the world's religions. Honestly, other than secularism and the related "non-religious" populations of the (mostly) Northern Hemisphere, the reader will get a great map of faiths around the world.

[Bruce Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best resource

Tried to read this but couldn't get past the glaring discrepancies in the chapter on Christianity. I felt I couldn't trust the facts in the other chapters. Sorry.

[Morgan R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over all i feel like this book was extremely helpful and informative. For me some one who knew little about other religions i found it a great way to start to figure things out. Not a perfect retelling of those religions im sure but simplified into terms easy for some one to understand.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to better understand the religious background of my patients. It was quite educational and covered multiple different denominations and sects of different religions which helped me a lot! Some of the information seemed to be a little subjective.

[Levi Stuckey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Reference work

As the headline reads, this is a good book to have on your shelf to quickly reference the major religions of the world. If you gotta go deeper, follow the bibliography.

[Jose Sandino B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Información parcializada!

Las referencias son tendenciosas e incompletas. Por lo tanto hay errores e informaciones subjetivas. Es una pérdida de tiempo leerlo. Investiguen al autor y la s referencias y bibliografía y ahí se darán cuenta.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a subject I wasn’t familiar with going into the book. I learned a lot about the different religions in an easy to read format. Would recommend to anybody who wants to learn more about the different religions in the world.

[Laramie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book an interesting overview of the 12 major religions and definitely learned a few things, but I wish it had gone into more detail on their beliefs and controversies, including the discrepancies in how many religions treat women.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I was looking for--a clear, well-structured overview of the most prevalent religions of the world. It just occurred to me that I really didn't know the differences between most of them. I didn't need to do a super deep dive, so this was what I was looking for.

[Alberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lot of religions that I never heard of

[Rebecca Ramsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed at little more

I needed more of a narrative. This was kind of like world religions for dummies. Informative but only scratching the surface.

[Ivy Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very concise, and informational. If you're looking for a basic overview of different religions, this is a good place to start.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book. A good overview of the 12 main religions of the world. Definitely recommend!

[Rohan Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book detailing the world’s great religions.

[Teresa McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 Major Religions

This book was very informative of the different religions discussed. Several I had never heard of before. I found the information very specific and helpful.

[Alex Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good overview of some of the major religions of the world. Ha to read this for world religions class. It will deepen interest in other religions hopefully.