Religion in 5 Minutes

by Aaron W. Hughes, Russell T McCutcheon (Editor)

Religion in Five Minutes provides an accessible and lively introduction to the questions about religion and religious behaviour that interest most of us, whether or not we personally identify with - or practice - a religion. Suitable for beginning students and the general reader, the book offers more than 60 brief essays on a wide range of fascinating questions about religion and its study, such How did religion start? What religion is the oldest? Who are the Nones? Why do women seem to play lesser roles in many religions? What's the difference between a religion and a cult? Is Europe less religious than North America? Is Buddhism a philosophy? How do we study religions of groups who no longer exist? Each essay is written by a leading authority and offers succinct, insightful answers along with suggestions for further reading, making the book an ideal starting point for classroom use or personal browsing.

336 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2017

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of 3-4 page essays on a varieties of questions commonly asked about religion, religions, and the study religion/s. Clearly written scholarly responses to common questions non-scholars and students regularly ask. Includes further readings, and lists connections between essays.

Useful for teachers of intro & survey classes like "Introduction to Religious Studies, "World Religions," or "Comparative Religions." The short essays could be used as in class-readings to spark discussion or could be used as intro readings linked to more challenging reading assignments.

I highly recommend that teachers of religion / religious studies at the high school & lower division college levels have a look through this book before preparing for the next term. There's a lot of useful stuff to compliment your courses!

[Anna C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a series of essays answering questions related to "religion." It was a very interesting read and I appreciate the bite-size pieces of the study of religion. However, the positionality of the students who asked the questions and the academics who answered them, can be quite evident through insensitive wording and meaning in this book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this whole book for school lmao so idk if it counts. some of it was just common sense but other parts were very educational. each chapter took abt 5 min to read (hence the title) which was great