Religions of the World: Seminal Work on Religion Published in the U.S.

If you are a scholar of religions, chances are that you were eagerly awaiting the publication of the 4-volume encyclopedia Religions of the World edited by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002). If you couldn’t care less about religion, and your preferred field is – say – horror comics or Harry Potter (it may be football, but in this case chances that you happen into this particular Web site are not high), you should admit that religion is, after all, an important part of human life. and you need in your library at least one reference book about this neglected topic (neglected by you, that is). This is, in fact, the one book you need. Accept no substitutes and make no mistakes. There may be other reference books on religion telling you more extensively about Greek-Roman religion or different Egyptian gods. But, if you want to know how religion looks like in the 21st century, there is simply no alternative. The encyclopedia includes 1,200 entries by more than 200 authors (with CESNUR well represented and acknowledged as an important contributor), not only about denominations and groups (including quite small and obscure movements), but also about each individual country of the world, Greenland and Tuvalu not excluded. Almost all entries are acceptable (more than we would say for most other encyclopedias), most are excellent, and a significant number are both outstanding and the best contribution so far to the (normally obscure) topic. Scholars are specialized in finding small mistakes in reference works such as this one: there are some, here and there, but if you are able to locate them you are such a first rate international scholar of religions that you wouldn’t need our clues. So, don’t hesitate, take our suggestion and order the set as a matter of urgency. The price ($385) is high but not outrageous, especially when compared to the many works of lesser merit, which sell for more.