This anthology of scriptures offers selections that vary in length from a few paragraphs to 10 pages, accompanied by brief introductions that discuss the nature and scope of scripture within each religion as well as the history of each scripture presented. Scriptures of The West contains sacred writings of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Baha'i faith, and indigenous religions of the West; a companion text, Scriptures of The East, contains sacred writings of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and indigenous religions of the East.

New to This Edition

• Added selections: The Judaism section includes new selections from the Talmud and on statements of faith. The Christianity section offers new selections on early Church fathers, Protestant statements of faith, and recent sectarian movements. The section on Islam includes new selections from the Hadith and statements of faith.
• New chapter: A new chapter 14 discusses the indigenous religions of the West.

Features

• Recent public-domain translations are used, with sensitivity to competing translations. Several translations have been commissioned especially for this text.
• The selections are drawn from scriptures of religions that are practiced today and have a wide sphere of influence, focusing on texts that discuss the lives and teachings of religious founders and present central doctrines.
• A high priority was placed on including material that supports the interests of women, presents women in positions of leadership, or was written by women.