found this old textbook at a library sale and, scanning the table of contents, I thought there would be at least a few chapters worth skimming, To my surprise, the entire book is engaging and outstanding, I'm not a religious studies scholar, but the state of modern man described decades ago in this book still holds today, The book doesn't feel dated at all,
Raschke et. al. provide an eloquent and literate introduction to the history and philosophy of religion, They discuss what religion is, past academic approaches to it, and whether or not it has any significance or objective meaning at all, The text includes some of the most captivating discussions of the major world religions I've read anywhere it outdoes even Huston Smith's fine introduction, as well as Joseph Campbell's lengthy discourse in the Masks of God series, and it provides a clear picture of the crisis of value in the modern world and how we got here, while speculating where things might be heading.
One of the greatest features of the book is the extensive bibliography after each section, I now have dozens of additional books to investigate for further reference,
A glaring omission in the book is the religion of Islam and its Sufi mystic tradition,
Yet overall, this is an impressive, condensed intellectual history of civilization in its own right, covering the development of religion, the enlightenment, and the rupturing of certainty
in the modern and postmodern world.
There's a lot of ground covered in this short work, and it's all done with great intelligence, care, and enthusiasm, Bravo!.