Sacred Wordsis a clear and comprehensive guided introduction to the writings and teachings of the world's major religions. It provides the perfect teaching tool for a global comparative study of the written and oral sources of the world's religions, their systems of belief, and their histories.Dedicating a chapter to each religious tradition, the text methodically describes each religious system within the same set of theological features, inviting students to explore areas of comparison and contrast. Providing this starting point for a clear, comparative understanding of the world's religions, the text also details the history and cultural background of each religion and the religious sources on which they are based using the same set of categories as it guides students to selections of original sources for students to explore.Sacred Wordsprovides an overview of the central teachings contained in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Qur'an, the Upanishads, the Buddhist Pali Canon, the Confucian Five Classics, the Dao-de-jing, and other classic texts that have shaped the courses of Western and Eastern Civilizations.Importantly,Sacred Wordsalso introduces students to non-written, oral sources of religious systems of indigenous Americans, Africans, and the peoples of Oceana.Sacred Wordsis approachable and flexible; its unique, adaptable organization makes it the best way for students to experience for themselves the ancient "blueprints" for each of the major world religions.

After completing degrees from Dallas Baptist College (BS, 1972), Emory University (MA, 1974), and George Washington University (PhD, 1979), Terry D. Bilhartz taught one year at Mount Saint Mary’s College and then joined the History faculty at Sam Houston State University. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1984, to Associate Professor in 1989, to Professor in 1995, and became chair of the department in 2003. Bilhartz teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in World Religions, American Religious History, Historiography, and American History. Bilhartz is the author of numerous articles in the fields of history, religion, and psychology. His monograph Urban Religion and the Second Great Awakening (1986) was selected by Choice as one of the outstanding academic books of 1986. Other books include Francis Asbury's America: An Album of Early American Methodism (1984), Images of Texas in the Nation (1991), and the popular American history source book now in its fifth edition, Constructing the American Past (Longman, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004).

Introduction

Part 1: The Great Religions of the West

Chapter 1: Judaism

Setting

Mesopotamia: The Land between the Rivers

Egypt: The Gift of the Nile

The Peoples and Religions of the Levant

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

The Patriarchs and the Sojourn into Egypt

Exodus and the Conquest

The Period of the Judges

The United and Divided Kingdoms

The Exile and Return

The Second Commonwealth

Scriptures

Subdivisions

Sectarian Divisions in the Middle Period

The Branches of Modern Judaism

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 2: Christianity

Setting

The Inter-Testament Period: The Hasmonean Century, 165-63 BCE

The Era of Roman Domination

The Period of Herod's Dictatorship

The Rule of Herod's Successors

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Scriptures

The Writing of the Gospels and Acts

The Epistles and the Apocalypse

The Canonization of the New Testament

From Manuscript to Publication

Subdivisions

The Emergence of Christian Dogma

Roman Catholic Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox Tradition

The Dynamics and Divisions of Protestantism

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 3: Islam

Setting

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Abraham and his Sons

Islamic Stories of Jesus

Muhammad's Ancestry, Birth, and Childhood

Muhammad's Early Prophetic Career

The Medina Years

Muhammad's Return to Mecca

Scriptures

The Miracle of the Quran

From Revelation to Text

Quranic Content and Controversy

Other Sources of Islamic Teachings

Subdivisions

Succession and the Seeds of Disunity

Islamic Orthodoxy -- The Path of the Sunni

Shi'ite Muslims

Shi'ite sub-sects: The Twelvers and the Seveners

The Sufi Tradition

Sacred Observances and Practices

The Pillars of Islam

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Part 2: The Great Religions of the East

Chapter 4: Hinduism

Setting

The Land of India

The Peoples of India

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Getting What You Want

The Four Goals

The Four Castes

The Four Stages

Getting What You Deserve

Realizing the Godhead Within

The Four Paths to Moksha

Scriptures

Vedic Religion

The Four Vedas and the Brahmanas

The Aranyakas and the Upanishads

SMRTI: The Sacred Tradition

The Great Epics

Subdivisions

Nyaya and Vaisheshika: Schools of Logic and Physics

Samkhya and Yoga: Schools of Psychology and Metaphysics

Mimamsa and Vedanta: Schools of Vedic and Upanishadic Theology

Hindu Gods, Sects, and Cults

The Heterodox System

Reform Movements within Modern Hinduism

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 5: Buddhism

Setting

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Gautama's Birth, Childhood, and Youth

The Legend of the Four Passing Sights

The Unfulfilled Quest

Discovering the Truth of the Middle Way

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

The Master Teacher and his Disciples

The Buddha's Final Days and Death

Scriptures

The Origins and Divisions of The Three Baskets

Later Additions to the Sacred Canon

The Mahayana Scriptures

The Tantras and the Third Sacred Canon

Subdivisions

Asoka and the Spread of Early Buddhism

The Three Vehicles of Buddhism

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 6: Chinese Religions

Setting

The Land and Peoples of China

Early Chinese History and Religion

Yin-Yang and the Ten Thousand Things

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Part A: Confucian Stories and Beliefs

The Life and Legend of Confucius

Basic Confucian Teachings

The Religious Dimensions of Confucian Thought

From Confucius to Confucianism

Part B: Daoist Stories and Beliefs

The Other Way: The Rise of Daoism

The Legend and Philosophy of Lao-zi

The Pursuit of Immortality

The Establishment of Daoism as an Organized Religion

Scriptures

Part A: Confucian Classics

The Confucian Canon

The New Scriptural Tradition of Neo-Confucianism

Part B: Daoist Scriptures

The Canon of Philosophical Daoism

The Sacred Books of Religious Daoism

The Three Caverns and the Four Supplements

Subdivisions

Part A: Confucian Subdivisions

Confucianism through the Ages

The Rise of Neo-Confucian Schools

Part B: Daoist Subdivisions

The Daoist Sects of Medieval and Early Modern China

Southern School Daoism

Northern School Daoism

Chinese Religions in the Twentieth Century

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Part 3: Indigenous Oral Traditions of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania

Chapter 7: Native American Religions

Setting

From Hunter-Gatherers to Cultivators

Cultural Developments North of Mexico

The Anasazi of the Southwest

The Mound Builders of the East

The Range of Cultural Diversity

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Native American Cosmologies: Sacred Places in Sacred Time

The Metaphysics of Nature: Sacred Beliefs

Repairing Broken Cycles: Sacred Actions, Numbers, and Objects

Scriptures (Sacred Oral Traditions)

The Sanctity of Spoken Words

Rules of Speech and the Art of Story-Telling

The Evolution of Native American Spiritualities

Impace of Contact: 1500 1700 CE

Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Adaptations

Twentieth Century Religious Developments

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 8: Traditional African Religions

Setting

The Peoples of Africa

Influences of Land and Climate

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Traditional African Ontology

African Concepts of Time

Life and Death in African Cultures

The Spirits and the Lower Deities

Communicating with the Spirit World

Witchcraft and Evil Magic

Scriptures (Traditional African Oral Traditions)

The Ongoing History of Religions in Africa

The Partitioning and Re-Opening of Africa

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Chapter 9: Traditional Religions of Oceania

Setting

Sacred Stories and Beliefs

Place Over Time: Dreamtime and Totemism

Mana and Tapu in Religions of the Pacific

Differentiating Religious Motifs: Melanesia versus Polynesia and Micronesia

Scriptures (Sacred Oral Traditions)

The Ongoing Religious History of Oceania

Religious Consequences of Colonization

Cargo-Cult Religions

Sacred Observances and Practices

Sources

1. Beginnings: God, Time, and the Universe

2. Humanity: The Problem of Good and Evil

3. Sacred Stories: Divine Messengers, Prophets, and Priests

4. Divine Law: Justice, Reward, and Punishment

5. Gender: Women and Men in Society

6. Daily Living: Health, Etiquette, and Holy Days

7. The Human Quest: Paths to Salvation and Enlightenment

8. The Religious Life: Worship and Righteousness

9. Endings: Death, Judgment, and the Afterlife

Index