This volume presents a comprehensive survey of the origins, developments, beliefs and distribution of the world's religions. Full-colour maps, pictures and a comprehensive and accessible text combine to form a global overview of human faith and a key to understanding its role in the modern world. In the 21st century religion retains its power to move: from the devotion felt for religious leaders such as the Pope and the Dalai Lama, to the more sinister role faith plays at the heart of many of today's conflicts, in the Middle East to India, in Kosovo and Chechenia. Yet the evolution and history, the beliefs and practices of today's world faiths are often poorly understood. The book's coverage ranges from faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism to cover issues such as secularism, less well-known belief systems such as Pacific Cargo Cults and includes a section on religion in the ancient world.

The "Times" World Religions

Martin Palmer

Times Books

In 1907, explorers discovered a vast treasure trove of ancient scrolls, silk paintings, and artifacts dating from the 5th to 11th centuries A.D. in a long-sealed cave in a remote region of China. Among them, written in Chinese, were scrolls that recounted a history of Jesus' life and teachings in beautiful Taoist concepts and imagery that were unknown in the West. These writings told a story of Christianity that was by turns unique and disturbing, hopeful and uplifting. The best way to describe them is collectively, with a term they themselves use: The Jesus Sutras. The origins of Christianity seem rooted in Western civilization, but amazingly, an ancient, largely unknown branch of Christian belief evolved in the East. Eminent theologian and Chinese scholar Martin Palmer provides the first popular history and translation of the sect's long-lost scriptures--all of them more than a thousand years old and comparable in significance to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Gathered, deciphered, and interpreted by a team of expert linguists and scholars, these sacred texts present an inspiring use of Jesus' teachings and life within Eastern practices and meditations--and provide an extraordinary window into an intriguing, profoundly gentler, more spiritual Christianity than existed in Europe or Asia at the time, or, indeed, even today. Palmer has devoted more than a decade to seeking the extant writings and other evidence of this lost religion. His search was triggered by an encounter with an immense, mysterious carved (stele) stone from the 8th century that resides in a Chinese museum collection called the Forest of Stones. The Chinese text on this stone commemorates the founding of a "religion of light" in China by a great Western teacher and features a unique cross that merges Taoist symbolism with the Christian cross. The scrolls, the stone, and a strange map of the area around a hallowed temple (where Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching before disappearing forever) gave Palmer enough information to rediscover one of the earliest Christian monasteries. At the site was an 8th century pagoda still intact, and within it, in 1998, Palmer and his team found more evidence, including statues, underground passageways, and artifacts, that helped them uncover and recreate the era and rituals of the Taoist Christians. The Taoist Christians, who wrote the Jesus Sutras recognized equality of the sexes, preached against slavery, and practiced nonviolence toward all forms of life. In particular, this tradition offered its followers a more hopeful vision of life on earth and after death than the dominant Eastern religions, teaching that Jesus had broken the wheel of karma and its consequent punishing, endless reincarnations. Vividly re-creating the turbulence of a distant age that is remarkably evocative of our own times, Palmer reveals an extraordinary evolution of spiritual thought that spans centuries. A thrilling modern quest that is also an ancient religious odyssey, The Jesus Sutras shares a revolutionary discovery with profound historical implications--imparting timeless messages and lessons for men and women of all backgrounds and faiths.

The Jesus Sutras: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Wellspring/Ballantine

The Atlas of Religion

Joanne O'Brien

University of California Press

Here at last is a comprehensive, fully illustrated, accurate yet easy-to-read account of the high days and holidays of the Buddhist, Chinese, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh religions. In the first section of Faiths and Festivals Martin Palmer tells the dramatic stories behind 23 major festivals and then examines how and when these festivities are celebrated today. The rites of passage section follows and looks at birth, initiation, marriage and death ceremonies and beliefs in the seven faiths. The book is extensively illustrated with large photographs from a wide variety of sources. Children and teachers can use it for reference, for classroom work, for ideas for assembly, or just for browsing.

Faiths and Festivals

Ward, Lock

Written in conjunction with the Sacred Land Project, this book looks at the history and development of gardens and their relevance to religious beliefs. It looks at the Christian tradition and its garden themes, as well as the Taoist Yin and Yang garden, and Zen aspects from Japan.

Sacred Gardens: Inspirational and Practical Ideas for Creating Peaceful and Tranquil Spaces

Arts & Photography

Architecture

Piatkus

Sacred Britain: A Guide to the Sacred Sites and Pilgrim Routes of England, Scotland and Wales

A guide to the sacred places of Britain. Britain has thousands of sacred sites, from ancient stone circles and tombs to holy shrines, wells, sacred cities and trees. Pilgrim routes have criss-crossed the land for centuries; some are still the focus of pilgrimage.

History

Nigel Palmer

Europe

Piatkus Books

Genesis or Nemesis: Belief, Meaning and Ecology (Compass of mind)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Dryad Press

Argues that the face, body shape, posture, and hands reveal hidden facts about one's personality, character, and destiny

Lines of Destiny: How to Read Faces and Hands the Chinese Way

Self-Help

Kwok, Man-Ho

Personal Transformation

Shambhala

The Elements of Taoism

Religion & Spirituality

Other Eastern Religions & Sacred Texts

Harper Collins, UK

Learn the basics about this ancient religion which has shaped China for over five thousand years.

The Elements of Taoism (Elements of Series)

Element Books Ltd.

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Books by Martin Palmer