The message and the book

"Most people alive today (more than three-quarters of the world's population) belong to one of the great religious traditions. These faiths are built on the foundation-stones of their sacred texts, to which their adherents go for spiritual inspiration and moral guidance. But what are these texts and what do they mean? In 'The Message and the Book', John Bowker explores the content and core principles of the key texts of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Parsi, Vedic, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Chinese, Korean and Japanese religious traditions. From the Jewish Torah to the Christian gospels, and from the Hadith of Islam to the Sikh 'Adi Granth', 'The Message and the Book' will help believers and unbelievers alike to understand why these sacred writings matter so much to so many people: the Bible remains the bestselling book worldwide, and other texts from the past are hugely influential in the present--for example, the 'Analects' of Confucius in Asia and the Quran for Muslims. 'The Message and the Book' is an accessible, scholarly and informative guide to the sacred literature of the faiths of the world. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the influence of religious texts both in the past and in the world of today"--Publisher's description, p. [2] of dust jacket.