This is NOT a modernized King James Version of the Christian Old Testament - its the Hebrew Bible paraphrased. However, its is a great resource for Christains and Jews alike and very readible!

This version of the Old Testament is the most readable ever. It is a slightly modernized King James version, so all the quotes and slogans are instantly recognizable. It is also edited with most lists and social customs relegated to the appendix, emphasizing core moral principles. Leviticus in this book is a clear-cut unambiguous position-statement. You can be in no doubt what Judeao-Christianity is all about after reading it. Should be on every bookshelf that contains a Bible.

Joseph Gaer's "What the Great Religions Believe" is one of the best entry-level books to getting a wide perspective on the world's largest and most dominant relgions including Hinduism, Bhuddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Zen Bhuddhism and others.

I easily place Joseph Gaer in the same category as Jospeh Campbell. They're both captivating authors.

It's hard to believe that one can absorb many of the most important understandings of so many different religions in one 186 page paperback novel.

How does he do it?

He writes a chapter out of faith and separates it in to a few sections that include the following:
- A reasonable and straight-forward encapsulation of the faith's most important tenets, beliefs, and/or dogma in the form of easy-to-read stories that followers of the religions themselves prize and making lists where it helps of the religion's beliefs to make it easy to compare and contrast..
- Actual samples from the religion's literature including proverbs, poems, psalms, stories, and other forms of written and oral wisdom.

In addition, Mr. Gaer includes introduction, which defines what religion is and sets boundaries for how religion is discussed in this book as well as a final chapter with statistics on the various faiths and how they affect our world.

I bought this book back in the early 1980's and I still treasure it and use it as a reference. I've received many many compliments over the years from Muslims, Sikhs, and members of other religions because I was able to go home and read 30 minutes of Jospeh Gaer and pick up enough of an understanding of their religion that they were impressed.

With the 9-11 terrorist bombing still in my thoughts, I went to this book to refresh my knowledge of Islam before going to speak with a local Imam. He was tremendously surprised at the knowledge I started with.

BOTTOM LINE:

- Easy read

- Great timeless knowledge

- Inexpensive paperback that can easily be found used

- Wonderful entetaining stories and anecdotes from different religions

- Unbiased writing

- The author had no agenda other than to learn

Read this book, learn about other religions and cultures, and ENJOY!

Originally published in 1929, this book is surprisingly "modern" in its appraoch to world religions. It is certianly not brilliantly academic, but it attempts to take a broad view of religions from all over the world in all time periods. It tells stories about all of the major religions, without being critical of beliefs or giving too much credence to stories which require faith. Of interest to the casual scholar of religion, or someone who wants a different perspective on their or another faith.