THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD RELIGIONS

This impressive volume on the world’s religions attempts to be simple, interesting, and “not partial to the point of view of one religious tradition or another.” Beginning with the entry Aaron, the brother of Moses, and ending with Zoroastrianism, a religion begun in Iran by the prophet Zarathustra, this encyclopedia aptly presents religions in two ways: from the “outside” (history, teachings, practices, and organization) and “inside” (the feelings of the believers, the way they look at the world, and “the things that are actually important in their religious lives”). Ellwood and Alles’s thorough approach to their vast subject answers the questions that teenagers have about religion. A helpful topical outline follows; it groups the entries according to main headings: “Buddhism,” “Christianity,” “Confucianism,” “Hinduism,” “Judaism,” etc., making even more accessible this informative and comprehensive reference work. (b&w charts, maps, photographs, index, not seen, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 13- 15)