Isms: Understanding Religion

Following Isms: Understanding Art and Isms: Understanding Architecture comes a handy visual guide that offers synopses of the religions of the world and highlights their artistic and architectural manifestations. This one-stop resource to understanding human spiritual belief is organized into familiar groupings (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.), each of which is then further broken down into individual sects, denominations, or branches-in short, the "isms." Each ism gets a two-page spread that distills the basic tenets of the creed, identifies how it differs from other religions, highlights important historical figures (from popes to prophets and political or cultural notables) associated with the ism. In any culture, religion has always inspired art, architecture, and design. Each religion featured here is illustrated by the outstanding aesthetic achievements for which it is known, and it concludes with a helpful timeline that puts all the religions included into chronological context.

Ronald Allen Greaves is chair of religious studies and theology at Britain's University of Chester. His previous books include Key Terms in Christianity, Key Terms in Judaism, Aspects of Islam, and The Continuum Glossary of Religious Studies. Theodore Gabriel is emeritus lecturer in theology & religious studies at the University of Gloucestershire and author of Islam & the West.