Understanding World Religions...~ A Book Review

For the month or so, I've spent a little of each day reading "Understand World Religions in 15 minutes a day" by Garry R. Morgan

Synopsis:
 What religions are represented in your neighborhood, your workplace, and your children's school? Things seem to be changing every day, and it can be hard to keep up.  You may know a little about some of these religions. Others are new to you. You'd like to learn about them and how they differ from your beliefs, but who has time to do all the research?

In Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day, cross-cultural expert and professor Garry Morgan explains the key beliefs, histories, and practices of more than twenty religions, including the familiar--Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism--and some of the lesser known--Baha'i, Sikhism, and New Age religions. Broken into forty short readings, each chapter is engaging and easy to understand. In just minutes a day you'll soon have a better understanding of the world's beliefs.

 My Review:
Reading this book the way it was meant to be read means it took me about a month to get it finished.  In less than 15 minutes a day, I was able to get an overview of 40+ world religions.  I'm not a huge fan of reading non-fiction books, so the authors concept and writing style are right up my alley.  While not a exhaustive account of all religions, he gives a brief and detailed overview to the worlds largest and most influential belief systems.  The information and history that he provides is fantastic to give you an idea of what each religion believes and how it began.  What I really liked is that he provides enough details (dates, names, country origin, etc.) to offer a great jumping off point if you want to become versed in a certain religion.

I learned a lot about religion and faith by reading this book.  There were so many things I didn't know, and I was intrigued by how many of the religions I've never even heard of, yet they greatly influence modern society.  I felt the authors writing style is easy to understand, and I am looking forward to reading more of his books.  These types of overview books are great for busy Moms like me that want to learn more about advanced subjects, but lack the time or drive to do the research.  I'm an evangelical Christian, but I feel that he wrote about each religion in a very respectful and neutral way so that anyone of any faith will feel comfortable reading it.
    
 In exchange for my honest review, I received a copy of the book from Bethany House.