Items25The creator’s order
  1. 1Lived Religion (2008)Lived Religion (2008)Published Jan 1, 2008Meredith McGuire describes a Catholic schoolteacher whose home altar brings together the Virgin of Guadalupe, Frida Kahlo, votive candles, and healing crystals. Start here for a way to notice the choices a person makes at home and in the neighborhood that a survey about attendance might miss.0
  2. 2The Varieties of Religious Experience (1817)The Varieties of Religious Experience (1817) 7.1/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 1817William James makes room for experiences that can sit uneasily in the same account of religion. His lectures put the religious optimism of healthy-minded believers beside accounts of melancholy and the need for deliverance. The examples are a good place to start if you want to see why a single…0
  3. 3A little history of religion (2016)A little history of religion (2016) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2016Richard Holloway moves quickly between traditions and gives enough history to see how they acquired different institutions and divisions. Keep it nearby when you need to place a figure or movement before going deeper. The very short chapters are useful for orientation, and you can follow up on the…0
  4. 4God Is Not One (2010)God Is Not One (2010) 6.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2010Stephen Prothero compares the problems different traditions take to be central and the practices they offer in response. The book gives an interested newcomer a way to hear why a shared word can have different weight in two settings. Its categories work best as questions to bring to more specific…0
  5. 5Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes (2013)Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes (2013)Published Jan 1, 2013Nancy Tatom Ammerman listens as Americans describe what feels spiritual at dinner, at work, or at the doctor’s office. Their stories include people with strong ties to a congregation and people with no affiliation. Read it for the way ordinary exchanges with others can give otherwise private…0
  6. 6A new religious America (2001)A new religious America (2001)Published Jan 1, 2001Diana L. Eck traces changes in American religious life through the communities that built mosques, temples, and other places of worship. It is a useful history of how traditions take shape in a neighborhood. The book's moment of publication also makes it a way to see what kinds of religious…0
  7. 7The Hajj (1994)The Hajj (1994)Published Jan 1, 1994F. E. Peters follows the pilgrimage to Mecca through historical accounts by pilgrims and other observers. The changing conditions of the journey give you a way to see the labor and uncertainty behind a practice observed over many centuries. Begin here if you want the pilgrimage’s history and voices…0
  8. 8A History of Islam in 21 WomenA History of Islam in 21 WomenHossein Kamaly uses short biographies to bring women into the foreground of a history of Islam. The recurring shift from one place and century to another keeps the choices of a particular woman visible. Pick this up when you know the familiar outline and want to learn whose lives can redirect it.0
  9. 9The Sabbath, its meaning for modern man (1977)The Sabbath, its meaning for modern man (1977)Published Jan 1, 1977Abraham Joshua Heschel describes the Sabbath as a way of making time holy. His argument gives you a language for what can happen when a weekly rhythm interrupts work and acquisition. Read it as a Jewish theologian's account of why the day matters, with the observance itself kept in view.0
  10. 10Living a Jewish Life (1996)Living a Jewish Life (1996)Published Jan 1, 1996In this revised guide, Anita Diamant, with contributor Howard Cooper, explains Jewish holidays, home customs, and milestones with an eye to how people actually begin observing them. The choices families make matter here. This is a good companion to a more theological book if you want to know what…0