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Comparative Religion cover art

Comparative Religion

By: Charles Kimball, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Charles Kimball
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Summary

Get a solid working knowledge of the spiritual beliefs that unite and divide us - as well as the perspective from the other side of these divisions. These 24 lectures offer you an opportunity to gain a solid grasp of the key ideas of religion itself - the issues that repeatedly surface when you look at any faith's beliefs, practices, and organization. Using five major religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism - as illustrations of how religions can address the same core issues in parallel and different ways, Professor Kimball leads you on an exploration of religion's complex and multidimensional nature. It's an exploration that can strengthen the interpersonal understanding that underlies your daily relationships, enhance your perception of events in a diverse world, and deepen your appreciation of your own beliefs and the traditions followed by others.

Using the basics of these five major religions as a starting point - and explaining those basics so that no prior knowledge is needed - Professor Kimball plunges deeply into each to reveal and clarify the essential structural components shared by all faiths. Among the aspects of faith you compare and contrast are creation myths and sacred stories, concepts of the divine, sacred texts and spaces, and religion's ultimate goals - the reasons its adherents give them such importance.

After completing these lectures, you'll be able to "see with a native eye", as Professor Kimball puts it, when you wonder why followers of a given religion believe or act as they do.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2008 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2008 The Great Courses

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Repetitive and slow

Mr Kimball's delivery is a little monotone. Usually I can live with that if what the speaker is saying is interesting. However, the lengthy intros at the top of each lecture mean that you don't get to the meat of each topic until at least five minutes in. Also it didn't give me the insights into comparative religion that I thought it would. I'm no expert but it felt a little basic for me even. This could just be a personal thing, judging by the rest of the reviews people like it. For me though it was far too slow and I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know. I became so frustrated that I quit after seven lectures.

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A great overview

Kimball succeeds in emphasising the unifying characteristics between world religions, whilst at the same time drawing insights from their differences.

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