This work argues that there is a universal message that can be found in the study of religions. It offers a comprehensive examination of religions and their meaning, bound by the hope and affirmation that in some way they are universally connected. It affirms a universalism by wisdom, which contends that a moral and spiritual wisdom can be found in many of the world's religions.

The Making Sense series comprises four concise, readable guides to research and writing for use by students at all levels of undergraduate study. Designed especially for students in the social sciences, this book outlines the general principles of style, grammar, and usage, while covering such issues as how to conduct sociological research, how to write reports, and how to document sources. This fourth edition of the book has new material on evaluating Internet sources and avoiding plagiarism, as well as new and updated examples.

"An indispensable guide for students in any area of religious studies, the third edition of Making Sense in Religious Studies offers up-to-date, detailed information on: writing essays, book reports, and book reviews; writing chapter summaries and article reviews; reading religious texts; learning languages; conducting research and evaluating academic sources; using electronic journal databases and online library resources; taking advantage of new technologies to enhance learning and research; using student writing centres; documenting sources with the latest CMS, MLA, and APA guidelines; avoiding plagiarism; eliminating problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage; delivering oral presentations and using graphic presentation software; studying for tests and exams; understanding the diverse subjects, methods, and approaches that shape religious studies."-- Publisher's description.

Teaching Undergraduate Research in Religious Studies offers an introduction to the philosophy and practice of Undergraduate Research in Religious Studies and takes up several significant ongoing questions related to it. For those new to Undergraduate Research, it provides an overview of fundamental issues and pedagogical questions and practical models for application in the classroom. For seasoned mentors, the book acts as a dialogue partner on emerging issues and offers insight into pertinent questions in the field based on experience of recognized experts.

Is Christian faith the only or best route to relationship with God? New relationships, shared common action and dialogue between people whose experiences differ are changing the way Christian theologians are thinking about religious pluralism. No longer objects of ridicule or condemnation, world religions are genuine vehicles of spiritual vision, capable of transforming human hearts and minds. It has taken Christian theology many years to come to this point and there is no going back. Alan Race is an outstanding expert in the interreligious field and has, throughout his career and ministry, built up a high reputation for understanding and dialogue between faith communities. Here, he deals with the use of Scripture, inclusivism and exclusivism, pluralism and particularism, mission and dialogue. The next phase of Christian thought, he argues, will be shaped by new appreciation and insight stemming from the fact that Christianity is one religion among many.

Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism fundamentally rethinks the nature of the transgressive theories and practices of the Buddhist Tantric traditions, challenging the notion that the Tantras were “marginal” or primitive and situating them instead—both ideologically and institutionally—within larger trends in mainstream Buddhist and Indian culture. Critically surveying prior scholarship, Wedemeyer exposes the fallacies of attributing Tantric transgression to either the passions of lusty monks, primitive tribal rites, or slavish imitation of Saiva traditions. Through comparative analysis of modern historical narratives—that depict Tantrism as a degenerate form of Buddhism, a primal religious undercurrent, or medieval ritualism—he likewise demonstrates these to be stock patterns in the European historical imagination. Through close analysis of primary sources, Wedemeyer reveals the lived world of Tantric Buddhism as largely continuous with the Indian religious mainstream and deploys contemporary methods of semiotic and structural analysis to make sense of its seemingly repellent and immoral injunctions. Innovative, semiological readings of the influential Guhyasamaja Tantra underscore the text’s overriding concern with purity, pollution, and transcendent insight—issues shared by all Indic religions—and a large-scale, quantitative study of Tantric literature shows its radical antinomianism to be a highly managed ritual observance restricted to a sacerdotal elite. These insights into Tantric scripture and ritual clarify the continuities between South Asian Tantrism and broader currents in Indian religion, illustrating how thoroughly these “radical” communities were integrated into the intellectual, institutional, and social structures of South Asian Buddhism.

“Kristin Swenson offers a confident, well-paced, well-informed, and accessible guide to Bible basics and biblical literacy.” — Walter Brueggemann, author of An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible Bible Babel, from author and religious studies professor Kristin Swenson, is a lively, humorous, and very readable introduction to the Bible—what’s in it, where it comes from, and how it is used in our culture today. If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of the Christian fish symbol; the history of the Good Book; how the Bible weighs in on contemporary political issues; or even the biblical source of pop-culture references in WALL-E or Battlestar Galatica, then this is the book for you. Readers of A. J. Jacobs’s Year of Living Biblically and David Plotz’s Good Book will enjoy Bible Babel, a perfect primer for anyone interested in the Bible—secular and believing alike.