Comparative Religion For Dummies

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the author takes a complicated subject and made it fun to read, while still imparting so much information. Humor is often the greatest teacher.

I am a teacher of adult Sunday School at a Disciples of Christ Church. I was given the challenge of presenting a lesson on religious tolerance with the primary emphasis of better understanding Islam. I bought this book to read in preparation of my lesson. I found it very helpful! I even donated the book to the church's library when I was finished. It is not perfect, but helpful for those wanting to learn more about the similarities and contrasts of the three Abrahamic faiths.

This is a great introduction to the history of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It covers the origins of each religion, as well as the basic tenets and sacred texts of each. As in the other "Dummies" books, the text is easy to follow and very readable (though I would disagree with the reviewer who stated it was "for little kids").This book is written from a historical perspective by religious scholars, and is fairly even-handed (it doesn't support one of these religions over the others), which I appreciated. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a simple place to start in learning about the Abrahamic religions and increasing their level of religious literacy.

It is helpful to be able to compare the beliefs of others - to your own and to each other. This book was very helpful.

I like the Dummies series. Usually they get to the point and do not get lost in a bunch of detals. However, this particular book was not a study of comparative religions. It was a study of Christianity, Islam and the Jewish religion. There are many other religions. A reader could do better. Plus, I found too many details that clouded what I wanted to know.

Good introduction to major religions. There are really no prerequisites so anyone interested in the topic should be able to read this book.

A little rougher than I would have liked but it arrived fast. (Described as good, I would have said fair. ) still happy with my purchase.

pretty much as expected. easy read. good outline of the three religions. should have gone into more detail behind the historic conflicts between the three - it blew past the Holocast and crusades in just a few sentences

Very good and clear....even this Muslim likes it hihihi

The title says it all, it is a true comparison, well done easy to read and assimilate. There are a lot of similarities between these religions, but human beings have often decided that differences should be the focus for agressive behaviors.

Great book off business, pleasure or study. Nice quality paper and print size. Well worth the money. Buy it now

Great book.For beginners trying to understand west religions and for religious people who are trying to understand the past and the basis of their religion.Very good information, easy to read.

Admittedly this is a book for dummies trying to cover a significant amount of complex theology but it really is lightweight and littered with errors. Reading it from a Christian perspective trying to understand how the three Abrahamic faiths fit together, I got the sense that the authors never really understood the New Testament and its relationship with the Old. Specifically it failed to explain covenant theology and Jesus' claim to be establishing a new covenant between God and mankind (as opposed to God and the Jews). This is critical to understanding the essentially antagonistic relationship between Christianity and Judaism. It also rather uncritically seems to accept the idea that Paul (who was not the author of Hebrews as claimed here) turned Jesus into a Messianic figure rather than Jesus claiming and acting as the Messiah (forgiving sins). I read this to learn more about Islam but I got the sense that again the authors' knowledge was sketchy. Whilst the 5 pillars were covered, there was little critical analysis of how they were employed in practice. The difference betweenthe hijab and niqab is increasingly politically important (the hijab can be worn in court, the niqab can't) but the book mixes them up. Overall it appears to be written with an underlying thesis that the 3 Abrahamic faiths are all derived out of the same Mesopotamian myths and all added their own flavours but essentially all believe the same things about there being one God, sin, judgement and life after death. The essential problem with this analysis, such as it is, is that it doesn't appreciate that the differences (be it a chosen people, redemption through the death and resurrection of God's son, or the unique revelation of Allah to the prophet) mean that those similarities are rendered largely irrelevant by the core beliefs of each faith. If you're coming to the subject with little understanding of the faiths, it's okay but its conclusions are questionable. If you want something more critical and properly researched, look elsewhere.