Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World

Do you sometimes feel completely ignorant when trying to understand other religions? Worse, do you feel like your only answers are the knee-jerk ones that you have learned along the way, and feel completely useless when you are trying to befriend someone of another faith?

James A. Beverley has written an incredibly helpful resource — Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions, a Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World.

In this book, you will not only find an overview of other religions, but you will find details that help you "walk a mile in their shoes."

This is not just your basic book on world religions. Written from a Christian perspective, it takes the time to walk inside of other religions to understand them.

For example, the section on Buddhism begins with an overview of the religion and then describes or provides the following:

• The Pali Canon, the sacred text for the Theravada
• An overview of the life of Gautama, the historical Buddha
• A chronology of Buddhism from 410 B.C. to present day
• An explanation of the different types of Buddhism
• An explanation of and a lengthy interview with the Dalai Lama including:
• How Buddhism views other religions
• How Buddhism views Jesus
• An overview of Buddhist leaders and organizations

At the end of each section is a Christian response. The response is logical and provides an analysis of the religion and its faults.

My favorite parts are the sidebars and Internet sources featured throughout. These give both readability and depth.

Whether you are trying to understand your neighbor, or need to garner a depth of knowledge in order to walk effectively with the teens in your church who are walking with people from multiple ideologies, this book will help.

I walk with a couple teens, and the one thing I know for sure — easy answers turn them off. When I told them about this book, they rolled their eyes — just another "Christian response" is what they were thinking. Then I showed them this book with its personal interviews, extensive Internet resources, and logical explanations. These uninterested teens became engaged. "This is a resource I can use!" one of them said.

The depth of research and fair approach makes this a resource that even the most skeptical teen (and engaged pastor) can use to research and understand those around them and have real conversations.

--Reviewed by Kim Martinez