Chapters 2-9 open with an Overview. All chapters end with a Conclusion.PrefaceCHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTIONUnderstanding World Religions in Global PerspectiveWhy Study World Religions?Our TaskUnderstanding Religious Experience and Its Formative ElementsThe SacredMyth, Scripture, and BeliefsRitualCommunity and MoralityReligious Leaders/ExpertsThe Great Religious Stories of the WorldMyths 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, Socialism, and the End of ModernityPostmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldConclusion: We Are All Heretics in the Postmodern SituationCHAPTER 2. 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"* Case Studies in Indigenous Religious Practices TodayBear Sacrifice: A Widespread Arctic and Pacific Rim TraditionShamans Who Repair the WorldIndigenous Religions TodayThe Cataclysms of ColonialismShamanism in Modern Asia: Division of Labor Within the World ReligionsGlobal Neo-Shamanism: Expropriation by "White Shamans"CHAPTER 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 CE)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 HolocaustCHAPTER 4. CHRISTIAN DIVERSITY AND THE ROAD TO MODERNITYOverview: The Beliefs of ChristiansEncounter with Modernity: The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy (1859-)The Protestant Confrontation with ModernityThe Catholic Confrontation with ModernityPremodern 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 Christianity* The Eastern Orthodox ChurchesPremodern 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 Early Roots 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 ChristianityConclusion: The Challenge of Religious PluralismCHAPTER 5. 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-Shiah SplitPremodern Islam: The Classical EraLaw and Mysticism: The Exterior and Interior 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 Islamic Revivalist 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 Response* European Muslims* A Common Word Between Us and YouIslam and the Arab Awakening: Between Authoritarianism and PluralismQuestions for Postmodern Times: Issues of Authority and InterpretationIslam in the WestIslam: Postmodern ChallengesIslamization of the LawWomen and MinoritiesIslamic ReformCHAPTER 6.

HINDUISM, JAINISM, AND SIKHISM: SOUTH ASIAN RELIGIONSDefining Hinduism: Unity, Diversity, LocalitiesEncounter with Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular StatePremodern Hinduism: The Formative EraThe Aryans and Religion in the Vedic EraVedic ReligionKarma, Yoga, and the Quest for LiberationYogaPremodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE-900 CE)Early Heterodox Indic Religions: Jainism and BuddhismJainism: The Tradition of Spiritual ConquerorsThe Reality of Karma and CasteThe Four Stages and Four Aims of LifeEpics and the Development of Classical HinduismMainstream Hinduism and the Rise of Devotion to the Great DeitiesPremodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era (900 CE-1500 CE)The Formation of Major Hindu Schools of ThoughtThe Early Islamic Era: Delhi Sultanate (1192-1525)Religion in the Mughal Era (1526-1707)* The Rise of SikhismHinduism and ModernityHinduism Under British ColonialismChallenges and Responses to ColonialismThe Work of Gandhi: Hindu Elements in Indian NationalismHinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldThe Persistence of Traditional Religious UnderstandingsContemporary Hindu PracticesHindu and Sikh Festival PracticePilgrimage FestivalsSikh FestivalsThe Religious Institutions of Contemporary HinduismChanges and Continuities: Examples of Postcolonial HinduismThe Connection of Religion with Philanthropy and Social ReformReligious Nationalism: Secular India and its DiscontentsA Growing Global TraditionCHAPTER 7. BUDDHISM: PATHS TOWARD NIRVANAEncounter with Modernity: Socially "Engaged Buddhism"Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era (600 BCE-100 CE)The Buddha: Context and BiographyBuddhism as the Path to NirvanaThe First Community and Its DevelopmentHow Buddhism Became a World ReligionSangha and Monastery: The Institutional Vehicles of Buddhism''s ExpansionPremodern Buddhism: The Classical Era (100-800 CE)The Pan-Asian Expansion of BuddhismThe Core DoctrinesThe Classical Ideal: Buddhist CivilizationThe Mahayana: Philosophies and East Asian Monastic SchoolsPremodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion (400-1500 CE)South AsiaChinaSoutheast AsiaJapanThe Himalayan RegionBuddhism and ModernityEarly Modern Buddhist Polities: Monastics, Householders, KingsBuddhist MonasticismBuddhism Under Colonialism (1500-1960)Challenges from Colonialism, Communism, and Modern Critics (1800-Present)The Buddhist Twentieth-Century Revival Gains StrengthBuddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldSouth AsiaTheravada Buddhism Today in Southeast AsiaTooth Relics and Anti-Muslim Riots in MyanmarThree Contemporary Faces of Thai BuddhismEast AsiaBuddhism Today in Diaspora and in AsiaBuddhism''s Affinity for ModernizationThe Sangha: Adaptive Reformism?State Buddhism and the Poison of Ethnic PassionCHAPTER 8. EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: CONFUCIANISM, DAOISM, SHINTO, BUDDHISMEncounter with Modernity: The Fall and Return of ConfucianismThe Postcolonial Challenge of ConfucianismEast Asian Religions in the Formative Era (1500 BCE-617 CE)Earliest History: Shang (1766-1122 BCE)Development of the Multiple Traditions in Post-Han ChinaReligion Under the Early Japanese Imperial State: Buddhism and ShintoEast Asian Religions in the Classical Era (645-1800 CE)Classical Imperial China (645-1271 CE)The Development of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in Korea and JapanEast Asian Religions in the Late Classical Era (1400-1800)East Asian Religions in the Early Modern EraDisruptive European IntrusionsTraumatic Transitions of the Modern EraThe Appearance of New Religious Movements and ReligionsEast Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial WorldContinuities and Transformations in the East Asian ReligionsThe Religious Institutions: Monasteries, Temples, ShrinesThe Return of Religion to China: Case StudiesJapan''s Creative Diversity: Old Traditions and NewKorea''s Strong Confucian Tradition Accommodates DiversityConclusion: Have We Entered a Third Confucian Age?CHAPTER 9. 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 AgeTheosophy, Christian Science, and the Unity School of ChristianityScientologyThe Baha''i Global Religious VisionConclusion: 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.