Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World’s Religions” Essay

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

This response paper aims to explore and discuss Christianity readings: The World’s Religions by Huston Smith and Mary Pat Fischer Living Religions: Western Traditions. Although the two works have a different scope of content – one encompasses the religions of the entire world concerning contemporary values, and the other focuses on western traditions – both of them dedicate significant parts to the study and analysis of Christianity in the modern world.

In his book The World’s Religions, Huston Smith looks at the traditions of Christianity in the context of the contemporary world, its principles, and values. Although the description of Christianity is selective, it is performed in a very comprehensive and eloquent manner focusing on the points relevant and important in the world of nowadays.

The author contemplates the principles, prospects, and contributions into the history of the world’s largest faith. His interpretation of the shared faith in Christianity before it separated into Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Churches is considered to be a very advanced and modern interpretation of this period of Christianity.

Not all of the statements made by Smith, however, could be regarded as a progressive point of view. His work implies that the future of Christianity – and any religion – is dependent upon taming the science and controlling its progress (Cousineau, 2003).

Additionally, Smith also acts as an opponent of the evangelical churches for their interpretation of the Bible and involvement in politics.

Finally, his religious views combine both liberal attitude to the Bible and other religions and quite an orthodox opinion that Jesus Christ was “fully God and fully man”.

In her book “Living Religions: Western Traditions”, Mary Pat Fisher also devotes a substantial part to the aspects of Christianity, its origins, central teaching, and practices in the context of the Western world. These issues are discussed concerning common experiences of human existence: love, evil, compassion, wisdom, death, etc.

The work is based on the understanding of the doctrines of the largest religions of the world, including Christianity. Additionally, Mary Pat Fisher focuses on how the religions and their doctrines intertwine in contemporary Western society, and how they were influenced by the non-religious world, pop culture, and scientific progress.

The author highlights that although the general belief is that the popularity of Christian religion is now decreasing, the future of today’s Western society still depends and in many ways is predetermined by the development and progress of the Christian religion.

Overall, both authors are faithful Christian believers and their beliefs find their reflection in their works. Although both concentrate on a variety of religions other than Christianity, it is the highlight of both works, although the work of Huston Smith concentrates on general concepts of the doctrine and the history of Christianity, while Mary Pat Fisher focused her research on the peculiarities of the Western traditions and religious developments.

References

Cousineau, Phil, ed. The Way Things Are: Conversations with Huston Smith on the Spiritual Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003.

Wilson, Brian. Christianity. London: Routledge, 1999.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2021, September 23). Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/christianity-readings-living-religions-western-traditions-and-the-worlds-religions/

Work Cited

"Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”." IvyPanda, 23 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/christianity-readings-living-religions-western-traditions-and-the-worlds-religions/.

References

IvyPanda. (2021) 'Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”'. 23 September.

References

IvyPanda. 2021. "Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”." September 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/christianity-readings-living-religions-western-traditions-and-the-worlds-religions/.

1. IvyPanda. "Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”." September 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/christianity-readings-living-religions-western-traditions-and-the-worlds-religions/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Christianity Readings: “Living Religions: Western Traditions” and “The World's Religions”." September 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/christianity-readings-living-religions-western-traditions-and-the-worlds-religions/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1