The Complete Idiots Guide To Religion Analysis

Brandon Toropov and Luke Buckles’s “The Complete Idiots Guide to World Religions” gives a non-biased education in its portrayal of religion because the authors provide historical context that goes hand-in-hand with Micheal Molloy’s “World Religions” and also the material presented in RELS289i lectures. Toropov and Buckles provide historical context for the majority of religions without showing ulterior motive. The results of reading this book gives a reader an informative understanding about world religions without attempting to convert the reader. The religions are presented in equal weight without a ranking system or suggestions of any kind that one religion is better than another. In Toropov’s and Buckles’s “The Complete Idiots Guide to World Religions” and Dr. Grossman’s RELS289i course, there are a lot of similarities. Both the book and the course go into detail about Indigenous religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity. Toropov and Buckles explains indigenous religions as non-scriptural nature religions and they addressed how easy it can be to misunderstand and generalize indigenous religions by stating “Traditional beliefs are often misunderstood by those who want to connect them to familiar outsider practices” (Toropov & Buckles, 273.) Similarly, Dr. Grossman brings to light “the dangers of generalization” and the “assumption that all local traditions are alike” (RELS289i powerpoint, 09/06/2017) Toropov & Buckles share a lot of beliefs with Dr. Grossman with respect to indigenous religions and combating their stereotypes with proper education. Furthermore, another interesting example that is mentioned by both Toropov & Buckles and Dr. Grossman is the Native American traditional belief of the Wakan Tanka. Dr. Grossman shares J.R. Walker’s interpretation of the Wakan Tanka as “all of the waken beings because they are all as if one” (RELS289i powerpoint, 09/06/2017.) Toropov and Buckles mention the Wakan Tanka as “the sum of all spiritual entities.” Lastly, another significant similarity between “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Religion” and RELS289i is the shared concept of shamanism. In Micheal Molloy;s “Experiencing the World’s Religions”, he explains a shaman “as an intermediary between the visible, ordinary world and the spirit world” (Molloy, 56.) Alike, Toropov and Buckles define shamanism as “a religious celebrant who is considered to possess more than human powers’’ (Toropov & Buckles, 267.) Toropov and Buckles give an outstanding job elucidating indigenous and nature religions without any persuasion or showing any favoritism. A significant component to “The Complete Idiots Guide to Religion” is the “Breaking down Barriers” section to each of the major religions. …show more content…
In these sections, Toropov and Buckles debunk common myths and educate the reader on the truths of the religion that are often misunderstood. For example, in Part 5 of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Religion”, Toropov and Buckles explain how Hindus are often labeled “Idol Worshippers”; however, this is erroneous and is an insult to a Hinduism practitioner because, though, they do have objects of religions significance, the objects are “not an idol but a divine reminder of God” (Toropov & Buckles, 176.) This “Breaking Down Barriers” section is an excellent piece to each part of the book because it educates the reader in a non-biased system. Ingeniously, the authors explain common misconceptions of major religions and simply explain the origins and reasoning behind the myth then non-persuasively inform the reader the truth to the myth. Like Dr. Grossman, the reasoning behind the book is not to convert anyone to a specific religion or disparage any religion by any means. Both Dr. Grossman and Toropov & Buckles go into detail about the origins, ideas, changes, and experience of Hinduism. These topics are only for educational purposes and do not talk about any persuasive topics like the benefits of hinduism, comparing hinduism to other religions, or why Hinduism would be a good fit for the reader. …show more content…
Jesus, Jesus’s 12 Disciples, and Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament in the Christian Holy Bible were all Jews. In “The Complete Idiots Guide to World Religions”, Toropov and Buckles clarify that the Christian faith is not unanimous and have a wide variety of beliefs about their faith (Toropov & Buckles, 103.) In other words, if one follower of the Christian faith believes one thing about doctrine, scriptural interpretation, history, etc. does not signify that another follower of the Christian faith believes in the same