The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith
The World’s Religions was an amazing read. I was looking for a book that would explain the major religions from a historical point of view and summarize their beliefs. What I got was both less and more. This isn’t a book crammed with facts, like how many Hindus there are in the world or where you’ll find the biggest Buddha, but it’s an amazing book. It tells you about the beliefs on which the religions where founded and grown and it does this in such a way that you realize they’re all really nice religions. They were all founded on excellent principles and, if followed ideally, would probably result in excellent people.
The book also tells you about the ways in which these religions have been corrupted since they were first founded. Some of them have become almost the antithesis of what their creators intended.
This isn’t a new book but it’s been around so long for a reason. I strongly recommend it as an introduction to the big religions and also as a source of inspiration. You’ll find yourself wishing that the original versions were still in practice.