Preface1. IntroductionGlobalization: World Religions in Everyone''s HometownWhy Study World Religions?Our TaskUnderstanding Religious Experience and Its Formative ElementsThe SacredMyth, Scripture, and BeliefsRitualCommunity and MoralityReligious Leaders/ExpertsThe Great Religious Stories of the WorldThe Myths of NatureChina and the Myths of HarmonyIndia and the Myths of LiberationThe Middle East and the Myths of HistoryReligious Diversity and Historical Change: The Structure of this BookHistorical Overview: From Premodern to PostmodernThe Modern/Postmodern Transition: Colonialism, the Socialist Challenge, and the End of ModernityPostmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldConclusion: We Are All Heretics in the Postmodern Situation2. Indigenous ReligionsOrigins of Homo religiosus: PrehistoryReligion''s Origins Among Hunter-GatherersFertility, Childbirth, and SurvivalReligion in Prehistory: The Secret of Early Cave RitualsIndigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and AfterlifeTotemism: Australian Aboriginal ReligionShamans: "Technicians of the Sacred"Bear Sacrifice: A Widespread Arctic and Pacific Rim TraditionShamans Who "Repair the World"Indigenous Religions TodayThe Cataclysms of ColonialismShamanism in Modern Asia: Division of Labor Within the World ReligionsGlobal Neo-Shamanism: Expropriation by "White Shamans"3. The Many Stories of Judaism: Sacred and SecularEncounter with Modernity: Modern Judaisms and the Challenge of Ultra-OrthodoxyThe Conflict over Public Life: Religion and Politics in the State of IsraelPremodern Judaism: The Formative Era (2000 BCE-500 CE)The Biblical Roots of JudaismThe Historical Roots of DiversityExodus and Exile: Story, History, and ModernityFrom Torah to TalmudPremodern Judaism: The Classical Era (500 CE-1729 CE)The Premodern Rabbinic World: God, Torah, and IsraelThe Medieval Journey of JudaismTwo Great Medieval Scholars: Rashi and MaimonidesKabbalah--Jewish MysticismHasidismJudaism and Modernity (1729-1967)The Emergence of Modern Religious Forms of JudaismThe Emergence of Secular Forms of JudaismJudaism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World (1967- )Challenges to Jewish Faith After the HolocaustChallenges to Jewish Existence After the Holocaust4. Christian Diversity and the Road to ModernityEncounter with Modernity: The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy (1859-)The Protestant Confrontation with ModernityThe Catholic Confrontation with ModernityThe Nineteenth-Century Historical and Social-Scientific RevolutionPremodern Christianity: The Formative Era (31-451 CE)The New Testament and the Life of JesusApocalypse: The Book of RevelationChristianity''s Emergence from JudaismThe Fall of the TempleThe Origins of Christian Anti-Jewish SentimentJesus as Son of GodConstantinianism: The Marriage of Christianity and EmpireAugustine, Architect of Western ChristianityPremodern Christianity: The Classical Era (451-1517 CE)The Medieval Worldview: Sacraments and FestivalsThe Two Cities RevisitedThe Promise and Threat of Christian MysticismChristianity, Judaism, Islam: Crusades and InquisitionChristianity and Modernity (1517-1962)The Emergence of ModernityMillennialism: History as ProgressThe Via Moderna and Devotio ModernaDevotio Moderna and the Protestant ReformationCalvin and the Protestant EthicOther Reform MovementsReligious Diversity: Church and State in War and PeaceEnlightenment Rationalism and Christian PietismNineteenth-Century Romanticism and ExistentialismFrom the Holocaust to Hiroshima: The Global Collapse of the Modern Myth of History as ProgressChristianity and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World (1962-)From Colonial to Postcolonial ChristianityLatin AmericaAfricaAsiaNorth America - The United StatesConclusion: The Challenge of Religious Pluralism5. Islam: The Many Faces of the Muslim ExperienceEncounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Western ColonialismThe Islamic ResurgenceIslam in the WestPremodern Islam: The Formative EraMuhammad''s Early LifeAfter the HijraThe Message of the QuranA Golden Age of Expansion, Conquest, and CreativityDiversity, Diversion, and DissentThe Origins of the Sunni and Shiah SplitPremodern Islam: The Classical EraLaw and Mysticism: The Outer and Inner Paths to GodThe Five Pillars of IslamWomen and Muslim Family LawThe Interior Path of Love: Islamic MysticismIslam and the StateIslam and the West (Christendom): The CrusadesPremodern Revivalist MovementsIslam and ModernityIslamic ModernismModern Revivalist (Fundamentalist) MovementsRadical IslamIslam and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldThe Impact of the Islamic ResurgenceIslam in Modern State and SocietyThe Failure of Modernity and the Islamic RevivalThe Religious Worldview of Contemporary Islamic ActivismFrom the Periphery to Mainstream Politics and SocietyThe Road to 9/11Globalization and Hijacking of JihadJihad as Armed StruggleSuicide Bombing: War of the FatwasPost 9/11: Impact and ResponseIslam and the Arab Awakening: Between Authoritarianism and PluralismQuestions for Postmodern Times: Issues of Authority and InterpretationIslam in the WestThe Transformation of the "Nation of Islam"Islam: Postmodern ChallengesIslamization of the LawWomen and MinoritiesIslamic Reform6. Globalization: From New to New Age ReligionsEncounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Global Diversity to the "Purity" of TraditionNew ReligionsOld Religions and New Religions in the History of ReligionsThe New Age and New Age ReligionsPostmodernism and the New AgeThe New Age - Modern or Postmodern?The Age of Apocalypse or the Age of Aquarius?Wicca and the Resurgence of Goddess WorshipJ. Z.

Knight and the Ramtha School of EnlightenmentTheosophy, Christian Science, and the Unity School of ChristianityScientologyThe Baha''i Global Religious VisionEast Goes West: Zen in AmericaWest Goes East: The Aum Shinrikyo MovementConclusion: The Postmodern Challenge-Can There Be a Global Ethic in a World of Religious Diversity?Beyond Atheism: The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism"Passing Over": A Postmodern Spiritual Adventure That Responds to the Challenge of GlobalizationTolstoy, Jesus, and "Saint Buddha": An Ancient Tale with a Thousand FacesThe Children of Gandhi: An Experiment in Postmodern Global EthicsThe Future of Religion in an Age of GlobalizationGlossaryArt CreditsIndex.