World Religions All-in-One For Dummies

This All-in-One book collects the expertise of a team of best-­selling For Dummies authors, including Rev. John Trigilio Jr., Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, Richard Wagner, ­Amrutur V. Srinivasan, Jana Riess, Warren Malcolm Clark, Ted Falcon, and David Blatner.

• Introduction 1Prelude: In the Beginning: Religion Basics 5Book 1: Hinduism 31Chapter 1: A Quick Overview of Hinduism. 33Chapter 2: Hinduism’s Core Beliefs and Values 47Chapter 3: Major Hindu Denominations 61Chapter 4: Worshipping at Home, at a Temple, and on Holydays and Festivals 73Chapter 5: Hindu Gods and Goddesses 99Book 2: Taoism 119Chapter 1: An Introduction to Taoism 121Chapter 2: What Is the Tao, and What Does It Mean to Follow It? 147Chapter 3: Doing Everything by Doing Nothing 167Chapter 4: Remembering to Keep Forgetting 183Chapter 5: Cosmic Renewal and Other Rituals 197Book 3: Buddhism 211Chapter 1: Entering the World of Buddhism 213Chapter 2: Surveying the Life and Teachings of the Historical Buddha 235Chapter 3: Turning to Buddhism 257Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of a Buddhist Practitioner 273Chapter 5: What Is Enlightenment, Anyway? 293Book 4: Judaism 307Chapter 1: Finding Out Who’s a Jew and Why 309Chapter 2: Judaism’s Deep Roots in History 321Chapter 3: Finding God in Everything 341Chapter 4: A Path of Blessing: Judaism as a Daily Practice 367Chapter 5: A Never-Ending Torah: The Unfolding of a Tradition 383Book 5: Christianity 395Chapter 1: God, Jesus, and the Origins of Christianity 397Chapter 2: Christian Beliefs and Practices 419Chapter 3: Making Sense of Worship 443Chapter 4: What It Means to Be Catholic 461Chapter 5: Back to Basics: The Protestant Church 475Book 6: Islam 491Chapter 1: Approaching Islam 493Chapter 2: The Birth of Islam: The Prophet Submits to Allah 515Chapter 3: What Muslims Believe 529Chapter 4: Submission of the Faithful 557Chapter 5: Observing Other Religious Rituals and Customs 585Book 7: Mormonism 599Chapter 1: A New World Religion 601Chapter 2: The Mormon Plan of Salvation 631Chapter 3: Welcome to the Meetinghouse and Headquarters! 651Chapter 4: Sacred, Not Secret: Inside Mormon Temples 669Chapter 5: The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Other Scriptures 687Index 707