Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know

By: Mark Berkson, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Mark Berkson

According to polls conducted by Gallup and the Pew Research Forum on Religion & Public Life, the majority of Americans fail basic tests about religion, including tests on their own faith. This is troublesome because religious literacy is about so much more than naming deities or knowing the stories of ancient history. For many of us, religion is a way to examine and understand ourselves.

Moreover, religious literacy – the knowledge of basic teachings, symbols, practices, founders, institutions, and values of the world's religious traditions - can shed new light on the world around us and knock down the boundaries between us, making us better neighbors and better citizens. These 24 enlightening lectures offer you the chance to experience the breadth and depth of the world's religions from all angles – historical, theological, and cultural. They take you on a tour of the world and its religious cultures. From India to East Asia to the Middle East to the United States, your journey with Professor Berkson introduces you to the beliefs and practices of other traditions and provides you with new insights into your own.

The course approaches each religion from an "imaginative insider's perspective." What does the world look like from the perspective of someone within each tradition? What does this person value and care about? What are the everyday scriptures, rituals, traditions, and holidays like?

Along the way, you'll discover certain features that are common to many religions – concepts of divinity, scripture, rituals, and explanations of good and evil - and you'll find new ways to attain greater self-understanding.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

A fantastic summary of World Religions.

This was well worth the time to listen to. the narrator was awesome and impressive with his annunciation of different languages. This is something everyone should listen too.

I do wish that there was a chapter on Pagan religions. Even a minor one. But it was still a great overall feel for all the major religions you would encounter in the news.

Fantastic

I actually cannot think of a criticism or a way that these lectures could have been improved. They were engaging and accessible without being overly-simplistic. The lecturer was obviously knowledgeable and his presentation was even-handed, unbiased and insightful.

Highly, highly recommended.

Like a College Course

This Audible course is very similar to a world religion course I took in college (but without all the readings, projects, or tests). The professor, Mark Berkson, is an excellent teacher.

Major topics covered in this course include Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism, Shamanism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, and the Bahá'í Faith.

I also enjoyed the first two lectures, “Religion: It’s meaning and Importance” and “Facets of Religion: Divinity and Devotion”, and last two, “Religion and Law in America” and “Religion Today: Trends, Challenges, and Hope”, as bookends to the other lectures. These additional chapters take what you learned (or are about to learn) and put them into context.

Personally, I wish religion was taught more in public schools (in the form of secular study-- not proselytizing). It would definitely demystify some of the hocus pocus people learn about religion when they ask a question about a religious topic and are told, “WE DoN’T TaLk AbOUt ReLIGioN HeRE, mY CHiLd. IT iS FoRbIDDeN.” Add a dash of radicalism from the news and no wonder people think it’s spooky!

Breadth and Depth of Knowledge with good humor too

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It's very fast and necessarily cursory, but well taught and very insightful.

Who was your favorite character and why?

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Which scene was your favorite?

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What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Professor Berkson sheds great light on Hinduism, showing that polytheism strives to make monotheism reachable and sensed by the masses.

Any additional comments?

NO

Touching and seeing the elephant!

I liked a lot!
Good perspective of most religions in the world. Respecting all the difference s that leads us to the same idea!

Thank you!