Religion, Thomas A. Tweed
Religion, Thomas A. Tweed
List: $12.99 | Sale: $9.10
Club: $6.49

Religion
A Very Short Introduction

Author: Thomas A. Tweed

Narrator: Al Kessel

Unabridged: 4 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/05/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, Religion, History


Synopsis

Religion plays a central role in human experience. Billions of people around the world practice a faith and act in accordance with it. Religion shapes how they enter the world and how they leave it—how they eat, dress, marry, and raise their children. It shapes their assumptions about who they are and who they want to be. Religion also identifies insiders and outsiders, who has power and who doesn't. It sanctifies injustice and combats it. It draws national borders. It affects law, economy, and government. It destroys and restores the environment. It starts wars and ends them. Whether you notice it or not, religion plays a role in how billions conduct their lives. We are called, then, to understand this important factor in human life today.

Beginning with the first signs of religion among ancient humans and concluding with a look at modern citizens and global trends, leading scholar Thomas Tweed examines this powerful and enduring force in human society. Tweed deftly documents religion as it exists around the world, addressing its role in both intensifying and alleviating contemporary political and environmental problems, from armed conflict to climate change. Religion: A Very Short Introduction offers a concise non-partisan overview of religion's long history and its complicated role in the world today.

About Thomas A. Tweed

Thomas A. Tweed is Harold and Martha Welch professor of American Studies and professor of history, University of Notre Dame. He was formerly President of the American Academy of Religion. He is the author of several books, including Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion and Religion: A Very Short Introduction.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Josiah

It was ok. Tweed gives a brief overview of the major religions out there, and because it is a very short introduction there is a lot that falls through the cracks. I think this works well as a historical primer to the world's religions, but not much more than that. Don't look for any depth reading o......more

Goodreads review by Jeff

Mostly really boring. Thomas Tweed spends spends the first chapter offering (too many) various definitions of religion offered by scholars. Tweed's offers his own definition of religion, which is way too convoluted to be useful. The middle chapters are esoteric sociolagical factoids about the world'......more

Goodreads review by Bryce

When it says, "A Very Short Introduction", it means it. I shouldn't fault a book for doing exactly what it says it's going to do, but here we are. I'd still recommend it to anyone looking for "A Very Short Introduction", but with the warning that that is exactly what they'll get. Also, I was hoping......more