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1
To my students
8
Brief Contents
1. Chapter 1 Introduction: Why Religion Matters 3
2. PART I RELIGIONS OF RELEASE: INDIA 26
1. Chapter 2 Hinduism: The Way of Devotion 29
2. Chapter 3 Buddhism: The Way of Awakening 79
3. Chapter 4 Sikhism: The Way of the Guru 129
3. PART II RELIGIONS OF REPAIR: MIDDLE EAST 170
1. Chapter 5 Judaism: The Way of Exile and Return 173
2. Chapter 6 Christianity: The Way of Salvation 225
3. Chapter 7 Islam: The Way of Submission 293
4. PART III RELIGIONS OF REVERSION: CHINA AND NORTH
AMERICA 340
1. Chapter 8 Confucianism: The Way of Ritual Propriety
343
2. Chapter 9 Daoism: The Way of Flourishing 391
3. Chapter 10 Navajo Religion: The Way of Beauty 441
5. Part IV REJECTING RELIGION 491
1. Chapter 11 Atheism: The Way of No Way 493
9
Contents
1. Preface xix
2. About the Author xxvii
3. 1 Introduction: Why Religion Matters 3
1. Religion Matters 6
2. Two Ways to Talk about Religion 7
3. The Problem of Essentialism 9
4. The Necessity of Generalization 11
5. What Is Religion All About? 14
6. Religions Are Not One 17
7. A Four-Part Model of the World’s Religions: Problem,
Solution, Techniques, Exemplars 19
8. Format of this Book 21
9. The Power of Questions 24
4. PART I Religions of Release: India 26
1. 2 Hinduism: The Way of Devotion 29
1. Our Story 32
1. Lingam of Light 32
2. Hinduism in Today’s World 32
3. Hinduism: A Genealogy35
4. Hinduism 101 36
1. Hindu Gods and Goddesses 38
2. Ways of Being Hindu 40
5. Material Hinduism Amarnath Ice Lingam 41
6. Hindu History 42
1. Indus Valley Civilization 42
2. Vedic Religion: Proto-Hinduism as a Way of
Action 43
7. Chronology of Hinduism44
8. Hinduism by the Numbers Four Vedic Gods 46
1. The Classical Tradition: Hinduism as a Way of
Wisdom 47
2. The Epics 50
3. The Bhakti Tradition: Hinduism as a Way of
Devotion 54
9. Profiles in Hinduism Kabir 59
1. Tantra 59
10
2. Hinduism in the Modern World 60
10. Hinduism in the United States 63
1. Missionaries and Gurus 63
11. Profiles in Hinduism Indra Nooyi 66
12. Lived Hinduism 68
1. Puja 68
2. Festivals 69
3. Pilgrimage 71
13. Birth and Death72
14. Contemporary Controversy: Hindu Nationalism 73
2. 3 Buddhism: The Way of Awakening 79
1. Our Story 83
1. The Great Departure 83
2. Buddhism in Today’s World 86
3. Buddhism 101 88
1. Four Noble Truths 89
4. Buddhism: A Genealogy90
5. Buddhism History 91
1. Mainstream Buddhism: The Way of Wisdom 91
6. Chronology of Buddhism96
1. Mahayana Buddhism 97
7. Buddhism by the Numbers Two Buddhist Schools
103
1. Tibetan Buddhism 106
2. Buddhism in the Modern World 109
8. Profiles in Buddhism B. R. Ambedkar 111
9. Buddhism in the United States 112
10. Material Buddhism Manzanar Monument 114
11. Lived Buddhism 117
1. Meditation 117
2. Visualization 120
3. Chanting 121
4. Devotion and Pilgrimage 121
12. Birth and Death122
13. Profiles in Buddhism Aung San Suu Kyi 124
1. Festivals 124
14. Contemporary Controversy: Buddhism and Violence
125
3. 4 Sikhism: The Way of the Guru 129
1. Our Story 132
11
1. Guru Nanak’s Vision 132
2. Sikhism in Today’s World 136
3. Sikhism 101 139
1. God and Guru 143
4. Sikh History 144
5. Sikhism: A Genealogy 145
1. Living Gurus 146
6. Sikhism by the Numbers The Ten Gurus 146
1. A Second Founder: The Tenth Guru 147
2. The Sikh Raj and the Sikh Renaissance 149
7. Chronology of Sikhism150
1. Indian Independence and Khalistan 154
8. Profiles in Sikhism Manmohan Singh 156
9. Sikhism in the United States 156
10. Material Sikhism The Turban 159
11. Lived Sikhism 160
12. Profiles in Sikhism Mata Khivi 162
1. Nam Simran 162
13. Birth and Death164
1. Service 164
2. Holy Days 165
14. Contemporary Controversy: Women and Sikhism
166
5. PART II Religions of Repair: Middle East 170
1. 5 Judaism: The Way of Exile and Return 173
1. Material Judaism The Kippah 175
2. Judaism by the Numbers Ten Commandments 176
3. Our Story 178
1. Exile and Return 178
4. Judaism in Today’s World 180
5. Judaism 101 183
1. God 185
2. Torah 186
3. Israel 188
6. Jewish History 189
1. From Israelite Religion to Second Temple
Judaism to Rabbinic Judaism 189
2. Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and Pharisees
191
7. Chronology of Judaism192
12
1. The Talmud 194
2. The Convivencia and Medieval Jewish Thought
195
8. Judaism: A Genealogy195
9. Judaism by the Numbers Thirteen Principles by
Maimonides 197
1. Jewish Mysticism and the Kabbalah 198
2. Judaism as Joy: Hasidism 200
3. Modern Judaism and Jewish
Denominationalism 202
10. Profiles in Judaism Samson Raphael Hirsch 203
1. Zionism and the Holocaust 203
11. Judaism in the United States 206
1. Reform Judaism 207
2. Orthodox Judaism 209
3. Varieties of Orthodox Experience 210
12. Judaism by the Numbers Three Jewish Movements
211
1. Conservative Judaism 212
2. Reconstructionist Judaism 212
13. Profiles in Judaism Ruth Bader Ginsberg 212
1. Humanistic Judaism 212
2. Jewish Renewal 214
14. Lived Judaism 215
1. The Sabbath and Other Holy Days 215
2. 613 Commandments 217
15. Birth and Death218
1. Keeping Kosher 218
2. Arguing for the Sake of God 219
16. Contemporary Controversy: Women in Judaism 221
2. 6 Christianity: The Way of Salvation 225
1. Our Story 228
1. Sin and Salvation 228
2. Christianity in Today’s World 229
3. Christianity 101 232
4. Christian History 235
1. Paul 235
5. Christianity: A Genealogy237
1. Constantine 238
6. Chronology of Christianity238
13
1. Councils, Creeds, Canons, and Clergy 240
7. Profiles in Christianity Augustine of Hippo 243
1. Eastern Orthodoxy and the Great Schism 244
2. Mystics and Philosophers 248
3. The Protestant Reformation 249
4. John Calvin and the Second Reformation 253
5. Legacy of Calvin 254
6. Henry VIII and the Church of England 254
7. Radical Reformers 255
8. The Reformation and Its Reformations 256
9. Catholic Counter-Reformation 257
10. Wars of Religion and Religious Freedom 259
11. Modern (and Anti-Modern) Christianities 259
8. Christianity in the United States 260
1. Deists, Unitarians, and Other Skeptics 261
2. The Evangelical Century 263
3. Mormonism and Other Communitarian
Experiments 266
4. Liberal Protestantism 267
5. Roman Catholicism’s Americanist Controversy
270
6. Fundamentalism 271
7. Of Monkeys and Modernists 272
8. Neo-Orthodoxy 273
9. Theologies of Liberation and the Religious Right
274
10. The Pentecostal Age 276
9. Profiles in Christianity Aimee Semple McPherson
278
1. The Pentecostal Boom 279
10. Lived Christianity 281
11. Christianity by the Numbers The Seven Sacraments
282
1. Prayer, Saints, and Icons 282
2. Holy Days 284
12. Material Christianity The Ground Zero Cross 285
13. Birth and Death286
14. Contemporary Controversy: The Browning of
Christianity 286
3. 7 Islam: The Way of Submission 293
14
1. Our Story 298
1. Adam and Abraham in Mecca 298
2. Islam in Today’s World 299
3. Islam 101 302
1. God 304
2. Muhammad 304
3. Quran 305
4. Islamic History 307
1. Muhammad and Proto-Islam 307
5. Chronology of Islam308
1. The Sunni/Shia Split 311
6. Islam by the Numbers Four “Rightly Guided” Caliphs
313
1. Classical Islam 314
7. Islam by the Numbers Four Sunni Legal Schools
316
8. Profiles in Islam Rumi 319
1. Islamic and European Empires 319
9. Islam: A Genealogy322
1. Islam in the Modern World 323
10. Islam in the United States 326
11. Profiles in Islam Muhammad Ali 328
1. Iranian Revolution and 9/11 328
12. Lived Islam 331
1. Jihad 332
13. Material Islam Mihrab 333
14. Birth and Death334
1. Holy Days 335
2. Veneration of Saints 335
15. Contemporary Controversy: Women and Islam 336
6. PART III Religions of Reversion: China and North America
340
1. 8 Confucianism: The Way of Ritual Propriety 343
1. Our Story 347
1. Culture Heroes and Sage-Kings 347
2. Confucianism in Today’s World 351
3. Confucianism 101 354
4. Confucianism: A Genealogy357
5. Confucian History 357
1. The Life of Confucius 358
15
2. What Confucius Taught 359
6. Chronology of Confucianism360
1. Mohists and Legalists 364
7. Confucianism by the Numbers The Five Classics
364
1. Mencius, Xunzi, and Classical Confucianism
365
2. State Confucianism 367
3. Neo-Confucianism 369
4. Zhu Xi’s “Principle” and Wang Yangming’s
“Heart-Mind” 371
8. Confucianism by the Numbers The Four Books 373
1. Anti-Confucianism and the Cultural Revolution
375
2. Contemporary Confucian Revival 377
3. New Confucianism 379
9. Profiles in Confucianism Yu Dan 380
10. Confucianism in the United States 381
11. Lived Confucianism 383
1. Holidays 383
2. Ancestor Veneration 383
12. Material Confucianism Home Shrine 384
13. Contemporary Controversy: Is Confucianism a
Religion? 385
14. Birth and Death386
2. 9 Daoism: The Way of Flourishing 391
1. Our Story 395
1. One, Two, Three, Ten Thousand 396
2. Daoism in Today’s World 398
3. Daoism by the Numbers Two Daoist Schools 400
4. Daoism 101 401
1. The Dao 404
5. Daoism: A Genealogy405
6. Profiles in Daoism Lu Dongbin 406
1. The Gods 406
7. Daoist History 407
1. Laozi and the Daodejing 408
8. Chronology of Daoism408
1. Zhuangzi 411
16
2. Organized Daoism and the Celestial Masters
412
9. Daoism by the Numbers Nine Practices of the
Celestial Masters and Twenty-Seven Precepts of the
Celestial Masters 414
1. Other Organized Daoisms 415
2. Daoism versus Buddhism 417
3. The Way of Complete Perfection and Modern
Daoism 418
10. Profiles in Daoism Sun Buer 420
1. The Ming, the Qing, and Dragon Gate Daoism
421
11. Material Daoism The Robe of the Dao 423
1. Daoism after Empire 424
12. Daoism in the United States 426
1. Adherents and Sympathizers 427
2. But Is It Daoism? 431
13. Lived Daoism 432
1. Meditation 432
2. Internal Alchemy 433
3. “Nourishing Life” 434
4. Offerings 434
14. Birth and Death436
1. Holidays and Festivals 436
15. Contemporary Controversy: Falun Gong 436
3. 10 Navajo Religion: The Way of Beauty 441
1. Navajo Religion by the Numbers Four Sacred
Mountains 442
2. Profiles in Navajo Religion Klee Benally 446
3. Our Story 447
1. The Emergence 447
2. The Second World 449
3. The Third World 449
4. The Fourth World 451
5. The Fifth World 452
4. Navajo Religion in Today’s World 453
5. Navajo Religion 101 455
6. Navajo: A Genealogy457
1. Hocho and Hozho 458
2. Ceremonies and Holy People 459
17
7. Navajo Religious History 462
1. Precontact Navajo History 462
2. The Pueblo Revolt 462
3. The Long Walk and the Navajo Nation Treaty
465
4. The Native American Church 468
8. Lived Religion in Navajoland 472
1. Ceremonies 472
9. Material Navajo Religion The Hogan 474
1. The Blessingway 475
10. Profiles in Navajo Religion Frank and Rose Mitchell
476
1. Other Traditional Ceremonies 477
2. Sand Paintings 477
11. Birth and Death478
1. Medicine Bundles 478
2. Native American Church Meetings 479
3. Christian Worship Services 480
12. Contemporary Controversy: Navajo Religion and the
Law 482
1. Oregon v. Smith 482
2. The Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service 483
7. PART IV Rejecting Religion 491
1. 11 Atheism: The Way of No Way 493
1. Our Story 495
1. The Big Bang 496
2. Atheism in Today’s World 498
3. Atheism and Agnosticism: A Genealogy501
4. Atheism 101 501
5. Atheism by the Numbers Seven Types of Atheism
504
6. Atheist History 505
1. Non-theism in Ancient India 505
7. Chronology of Atheism506
1. Non-theism in Ancient China 508
2. Non-theism in Ancient Greece and Rome 509
8. Profiles in Atheism Xenophanes 510
1. The Middle Ages, Renaissance, and
Reformation 511
2. The Enlightenment 513
18
3. The Modern Western Pantheon 516
4. Organized Atheism 519
9. Atheism in the United States 520
1. Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson 521
2. African American and Women Freethinkers 522
3. The Golden Age of Freethought 525
4. From the “Monkey Trial” to Madalyn O’Hair 526
5. New Atheists 527
10. Material Atheism “Good without God” Advertising
528
11. Profiles in Atheism Jennifer Hecht 530
1. Out of the Closet 530
12. Contemporary Controversy: But Is It a Religion? 531
13. Birth and Death532
8. Endnotes E-1
9. Credits C-1
10. Index I-1
19
Preface
The public understanding of religion has never been more
necessary. In the United States, Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible
are regularly invoked by members of both political parties on
public policy questions from abortion to immigration to economic
inequality. Elsewhere in the world, religious symbols, ideas,
leaders, and institutions play similarly central roles in politics,
economics, and society. Unfortunately, Americans know almost
nothing about their own religious traditions and even less about
those of others. In the 2010 U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey by
the Pew Research Center, just over half of respondents knew that
the Quran was the holy book of Islam, and just under half were
able to correctly identify the Dalai Lama as a Buddhist. In a 2019
follow-up survey, American adults again fared poorly, with an
average score of well under 50 percent, or just 14 correct answers
out of 32 very basic questions about the world’s religions.
20
Students will also have an opportunity to enter into conversations
with the living and the dead about some of the greatest stories
ever told and some of the greatest questions ever asked. These
conversations can bear fruit in the world of work—in businesses
where empathetic understanding of other cultures is crucial to
success, and in medicine where a patient’s health (or life) may
hang on knowing whether a patient is taking medication during the
Muslim fast of Ramadan. More important, these conversations
offer students opportunities to acquire skills and sensibilities that
will shape the sorts of human beings they are in the process of
becoming.
A CREATION STORY
This book was not my idea. It began in the mind’s eye of Roby
Harrington, director of W. W. Norton’s College Department, who, a
decade ago, was trying to move Norton into religious studies
publishing. Roby had signed on Jack Miles as general editor of
The Norton Anthology of World Religions, and was eager to
produce a textbook that might accompany it on their list. Norton
history editor Steve Forman was familiar with my book Religious
Literacy (2007) and with my primer on the world’s religions, God Is
Not One (2010). He suggested me as a possible author. When
Roby approached my agent, Sandy Dijkstra, about writing the
textbook, I declined. I just couldn’t imagine taking it on. However,
over a series of conversations, Roby won me over. I came to see
Religion Matters as a natural next step in a career I had
increasingly devoted to promoting religious literacy. I also came to
conceive of the book as a team effort, with a dozen or more
talented professionals at Norton working to bring my words alive
in print and online and to put it in the hands of instructors at
community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and private and public
universities. Writing can be a solitary exercise, and I grew more
and more excited about being part of such a talented and
dedicated team. I was also excited about working for an
employee-owned publisher with such a long and distinguished
track record of commitment to the humanities.
21
GOALS AND THEMES
In God Is Not One, I argued against efforts to collapse the world’s
religions into one solitary “perennial” religion. In Religion Matters, I
again emphasize the differences over the similarities among the
world’s religions. But here I focus on a shared human activity:
storytelling.
As I tell these stories, I hope students will come to see the world’s
religions not as belief systems but as vast libraries of stories and
the questions they ask (and attempt to answer).
Over the course of the book, a few key themes emerge. One is
difference and diversity. The world’s religions are not different
paths up the same mountain. Their practitioners differ
fundamentally from one another in their beliefs and practices—
and in how they understand and respond to the human
predicament. But the world’s religions are also internally diverse,
with Sunni and Shia Muslims and Protestant and Catholic
Christians disagreeing in many cases nearly as profoundly as
Confucians and Daoists do. This difference and diversity is also
on display in many classrooms, including my own, where it is not
at all unusual for me to welcome into a single lecture course
twenty Hindus; ten Buddhists; ten Muslims; a few Jains; and many
Christians, Jews, and nonbelievers.
22
Another theme of Religion Matters is change over time and from
place to place. Although I do hazard generalizations about each of
the religious traditions I cover, I am acutely aware of the ways that
all religious traditions are historically and geographically
constructed. Revelations notwithstanding, they typically come into
being gradually rather than in a single flash of insight. And then
they change, often dramatically, over time. They splinter. They
shuffle their sacred books and rituals. They replace one set of
religious professionals with another. And they refuse to stand still.
As practitioners move—as immigrants or refugees or captives or
missionaries or colonizers or pilgrims—they adapt their religious
traditions to new places and peoples. Today, the Hinduism of Bali
is very different from the Hinduism of New Delhi or Boston. Even
the young Hindus who take my courses differ, profoundly in many
cases, over what their gods and goddesses want them to do and
to think.
23
ORGANIZATION
Religion Matters includes ten chapters organized in four parts.
Part I (Chapters 2–4) explores the Religions of Release of India:
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. These religious traditions have
wrestled for centuries with the problem of rebirth and redeath and
the suffering that accompanies each. Rather than seeking to
repair the world or to revert back to a golden age, Hindus,
Buddhists, and Sikhs have sought release from the world through
various forms of spiritual liberation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
24
As I said, I was drawn to this project by the extraordinary talents
of the college book division at Norton, and I have been grateful
throughout for their intelligence, creativity, hard work, and team
spirit. Steve Forman, my initial editor, was a sage and steady
collaborator during the first few years of this project. Roby
Harrington took over those editorial duties as we worked during
the last few years to bring the project to print. In addition to
running an efficient meeting (something few academic
departments have yet perfected), Roby brought the perfect
combination of urgency and calm to the project.
Associate editor Gerra Goff juggled not only the manuscript but
also the photographs, art, and maps. She brought the whole
package together, syncing text and images, and keeping the team
on schedule along the way. Beth Ammerman was our invaluable
developmental editor and my first point of contact on the writing.
She juggled as many as a half dozen outside reviews per chapter
and worked hard to integrate their comments and criticisms into
various drafts. I couldn’t have done the revisions without her.
Carly Fraser Doria was our very talented media editor who, in
addition to her expertise in audio, video, and the Web, brought an
upbeat spirit to all the challenges we faced. I thoroughly enjoyed
working with her to tape author videos on Boston University’s
campus, and I continue to be amazed by Norton’s adaptive
quizzing tool, InQuizitive.
25
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