Anthology of World Religions: Sacred Texts and Contemporary Perspectives

Great book, but I must express my deepest irritation. When advertising the book, at no point is it mentioned that one HAS to be lecturing or will prescribe the books in order to access the instructor material. I have bought four books from Oxford Publishing thinking that I'd be able to access the material easily.- An Anthology of World Religions- World Religions: Western Traditions- World Religions: Eastern Traditions- A Concise Introduction to World ReligionsI teach at a school , am involved in adult education and lecture occasionally at a College. And yet, I dont have access to the Instructor material because I haven't prescribed the book. If I had known this before, I would not have purchased these four books. There are others that are just as good that are far cheaper in price. The way the book is promoted on here is false and unethical.

I love it - it is so fascinating

I've used this to teach "World Religion" courses and it is...not great. Students repeatedly complained about mistakes in the text and I spent more time correcting things Vaughn claimed (or simply left out) than I did just teaching the class. EG:1.) It only lists a few indigenous traditions from the continental US, dismissing EVERY OTHER indigenous group from the Americas, including the Aztecs, Incas, Maya, Inuit, Navajo, Seminole, etc. etc. etc. It only lists a couple African indigenous traditions as well. And it ignores all other indigenous groups (Polynesian, Australian, New Guinean, etc.).2.) What is more, it classifies & defines indigenous religious practice as "magic." That is the only chapter in which "magic" is invoked. Let that sink in.3.) It presents a bas relief sculpture of a faravahar (a Persian symbol of good fortune & kingship) but claims it's a "statue of Ahura Mazda" (the god worshiped by Zoroastrians). At no point has any Zoroastrian associated the faravahar with the god, since Ahura Mazda is NOT DEPICTED by the Mazdayasni. The Atash (the sacred flame) is the only analogue of Ahura Mazda accepted within the religion, and then only as a symbol of the god's splendor.3) It lists Christian Science & Mormons as "new religious movements" alongside Wicca & the Baha'i in the concluding chapter. A VERY odd choice, since they are just variant forms of Christianity and both are older than, for example, the Jehovah's Witnesses who are just treated as another form of Christianity in the book. Likewise, it quotes almost verbatim (but without attribution) an incorrect comment from the Scientology-expose "Going Clear" when describing (erroneously) Mormon beliefs.4) It completely omits the topic of Taqiyya/Kitman/Muruna/Tawriya from its discussion of Islam, and then claims that no "real" Muslim considers Jihad to refer to anything other than the internal spiritual battle for self-control.5) Finally, it's worth noting that Vaughn comes across as so anti-Christian that my ardent Atheist students were offended by his anti-Christian bias! Students who had taken every opportunity to rip into Christianity as a farce and a falsehood felt Vaughn went too far. Again, let that sink in.I cannot recommend using this book in an academic setting, except possibly as a way of demonstrating the bias & laziness which scholars often allow to creep into their work.