World Religions in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic (Introductions in Seven Sentences)

Understanding the beliefs and practices of other faiths is essential not just to the task of interreligious dialogue, but also to grasping one’s own faith.

In this brief volume in IVP Academic’s Introductions in Seven Sentences, philosopher Douglas Groothuis creatively uses a single sentence representing each of several world religions as a way to open readers to their depth and complexity, including:

• Atheism: “God Is Dead.”
• Judaism: “I Am Who I Am.”
• Hinduism: “You Are That.”
• Buddhism: “Life Is Suffering.”
• Daoism: “The Dao That Can Be Spoken Is Not the Eternal Dao.”
• Christianity: “Before Abraham Was, I Am.”
• Islam: “There Is One God, and Mohammad Is His Prophet.”

With a sympathetic but not uncritical approach, Groothuis welcomes readers to a vital and global conversation.

The accessible primers in the Introductions in Seven Sentences collection act as brief introductions to an academic field, with simple organization: seven key sentences that give readers a birds-eye view of an entire discipline.