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Religious Literacy
- Narrated by: Stephen Prothero
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
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Publisher's summary
What's Your Religious Literacy IQ? Quick - can you:
- Name the four Gospels?
- Name a sacred text of Hinduism?
- Name the holy book of Islam?
- Name the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament?
- List the Ten Commandments?
- List the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?
"We have a major civics education problem today," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic", religion ought to become the fourth "R" of American education, he says.
Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," says Prothero, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this audio has to tell."
Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.
Critic reviews
"This book is a must-read not only for educators, clergy and government officials, but for all adults in a culture where, as Prothero puts it, 'faith without understanding is the standard' and 'religious ignorance is bliss'." (Publishers Weekly)
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- By: David Nirenberg
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
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Great Book: Terrible Narrator
- By LB on 12-29-16
By: David Nirenberg
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Turning Points
- Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
- By: Mark A. Noll
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this popular introduction to church history, now in its third edition, Mark Noll isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience. Students in academic settings and church adult education contexts will benefit from this one-semester survey of Christian history.
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Excellent, Brief Snippet’s
- By ejb on 01-06-23
By: Mark A. Noll
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Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition
- By: Bruce Shelley, Marshall Shelley
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Bruce Shelley's classic history of the church brings the story of global Christianity into the 21st century. Like a skilled screenwriter, Shelley begins each chapter with three elements: characters, setting, plot. Taking you from the early centuries of the church up through the modern era he tells a story of actual people, in a particular situation, taking action or being acted upon, provides a window into the circumstances and historical context, and from there develops the story of a major period or theme of Christian history.
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Exceptionally clear, exceptionally helpful.
- By Daw on 10-04-22
By: Bruce Shelley, and others
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Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
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An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
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The Old Religion in a New World
- The History of North American Christianity
- By: Mark A. Noll
- Narrated by: Trevor Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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One of our foremost historians of religion here chronicles the arrival of Christianity in the New World, tracing the turning points in the development of the immigrant church that have led to today's distinctly American faith. Taking a unique approach to this fascinating subject, Noll focuses on what was new about organized Christian religion on the American continent by comparison with European Christianity.
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Fascinating!
- By Margaret on 08-24-19
By: Mark A. Noll
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Thy Kingdom Come
- An Evangelical's Lament
- By: Randall Balmer
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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For much of American history, evangelicalism was aligned with progressive political causes: nineteenth-century evangelicals fought for the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, and public education. But contemporary conservative activists have defaulted on this majestic legacy, embracing instead an agenda virtually indistinguishable from the Republican Party platform.
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Historical Reality
- By Cliff J on 08-10-07
By: Randall Balmer
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Freethinkers
- A History of American Secularism
- By: Susan Jacoby
- Narrated by: Rich Miller
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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At a time when the separation of church and state is under attack as never before, Freethinkers offers a powerful defense of the secularist heritage that gave Americans the first government in the world founded not on the authority of religion but on the bedrock of human reason. In impassioned, elegant prose, celebrated author Susan Jacoby traces more than 200 years of secularist activism, beginning with the fierce debate over the omission of God from the Constitution.
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Essential history of free thought in America
- By Clark Savage on 11-27-17
By: Susan Jacoby
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Protestants
- The Faith That Made the Modern World
- By: Alec Ryrie
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In this dazzling global history that charts five centuries of innovation and change, Alec Ryrie makes the case that Protestants made the modern world. Protestants introduces us to the men and women who defined and redefined this quarrelsome faith. Some turned to their newly accessible bibles to justify bold acts of political opposition, others to support a new understanding of who they were and what they could and should do. Above all, they were willing to fight for their beliefs.
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A secular history protestantism.
- By SakuraHB on 07-19-17
By: Alec Ryrie
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Whose Bible Is It?
- A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages
- By: Jaroslav Pelikan
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences, Jaroslav Pelikan is Professor Emeritus of history at Yale University and past president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This examination of the history of the Bible reflects half a century of study and research by the author. In Whose Bible Is It?, Pelikan traces the transformation of the Bible from its earliest oral traditions to its modern forms.
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Too Verbose Not Enough "Big Picture" Bible History
- By Stephen on 07-05-11
By: Jaroslav Pelikan
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Genesis 1-25: Audio Lectures
- Lessons on History, Meaning, and Application
- By: Tremper Longman III
- Narrated by: Tremper Longman III
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
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Genesis 1-25: Audio Lectures features top Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman III teaching through the book of Genesis. Based on Longman's Genesis commentary in The Story of God Bible Commentary series, these lessons offer a clear and compelling introduction to the entire book of Genesis, guiding listeners in creatively and faithfully living out its message in their own contexts. Longman's story-centric approach is ideal for formal and informal students alike and for everyone who wants to better understand Genesis in today's world.
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A History of Judaism
- By: Martin Goodman
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 23 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia. A History of Judaism provides the first truly comprehensive look in one volume at how this great religion came to be, how it has evolved from one age to the next, and how its various strains, sects, and traditions have related to each other.
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Not easy to follow.
- By Eric on 03-12-19
By: Martin Goodman
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Hitler's Religion
- The Twisted Beliefs That Drove the Third Reich
- By: Richard Weikart
- Narrated by: Ian Fisher
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Weikart reveals the startling and fascinating truth about the most hated man of the 20th century: Adolf Hitler was a pantheist who believed nature was God. In Hitler's Religion, Weikart explains how the laws of nature became Hitler's only moral guide - how he became convinced he would serve God by annihilating supposedly "inferior" human beings and promoting the welfare and reproduction of the allegedly superior Aryansin accordance with racist forms of Darwinism prevalent at the time.
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Hitler's Religion - (Subtile is ridiculous)
- By M. Johnson on 07-16-18
By: Richard Weikart
What listeners say about Religious Literacy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Vincent
- 02-07-13
Enjoyed the the audio book
I really enjoyed the audio book and realized how ignorant I am on my own Christian faith and the other faiths in the world
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Overall
- Stanley
- 12-03-07
Worth your(our) while
As a number of reviewers have noted, this book is heavily biased toward Christianity. The author's intention is clearly laid out, however. It's a book about us (American citizens) and how we've lost any real understanding of the degree to which Christianity has become part of our culture, our politics, our mythology, etc. It isn't a Christian tract.
The US-centric focus of the book is set squarely in the context of a larger plea for religious literacy in the broadest sense, and the author provides (in the dictionary-like section others have mentioned) a wonderful springboard to the search each of us should make to understand how religion has infused most cultures.
Don't be put off by reviewers carping about not being spoon-fed a religious literacy education. This book grounds you in what's necessary to understand political dialog in the US and can, if well used, start you/us/me on a path to a more respectable cross-religion literacy.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Brad
- 02-13-09
Good
I like learning many views on this subject.
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Overall
- Kaeli
- 03-02-08
What's your God-Q?
Despite being one of the most religious countries in the world, Americans know pitifully nothing about their religions. Not only do they not understand the tennents that they base their faith on, Americans don't know enough about other religions to understand world politics, enough about Christianity to understand political statements, our own history, or literary allusions (the entire time, I kept thinking about my college roommate who had to ask me (a Pagan) who Job is). He emphisizes, rightly, that the Supreme Court has, time and time again, reminded teachers that, while they cannot promote or preach religion, they are allowed to teach it.
While I agree completely with Prothero's dismaying statements about the woeful lack of understanding of the various religions out there, I don't view his solution as practical. Having a full year of religion education (one semester of the Bible, one semester of world religions) would be great, except for the fact that he glosses over the lack of time, funding, or ability to teach it properly. If religion is taught in classrooms, I am not afraid that all teachers will suddenly start prosletysing to students. I am afraid that all the interest and intrigue will be yanked out of religious study the same way it has been squeezed from the study of history in high schools (see Lies My Teacher Told Me)-or literature, or math, or evolution, or any other topic that is so facinating and important that gets the guts ripped out or gets taught to the lowest intellegence level in the classroom.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Lance
- 04-09-07
Worthwhile but
Author's basic motivation for writing the book is flawed and his view of religion in this country is deeply flawed. Nonetheless, as an overview of religions in this country I found this to be valuable.
Learning is not the filling of a pail its the lighting of a fire - forget who wrote that but the author essentially advocates for filling the pail of all American students with a bunch of religious factoids. Ultimately the deeper conflicts and differences in practice and theory between religions is the thing most likely to light a fire, even post 911. The notion that our secular public schools are a forum for such debates is laughable. Why adding another item to the already brimful of nonsense pails of kids who by worldwide standards can barely read or write, well... just another northeastern blowhard academic.
Author seems to have all the dots but can't connect them. Science, history, and bad acts of religious institutions have eroded the influence of historically "legitimate" religions. The literature, the institutions, all have been underattack for years but yet we Americans can put reason aside and worship at the altar of faith in one Abrahamic God. Yet this knucklehead would have you believe that these people's faith is somehow less legitimate because they don't know their religions institutional factoids. Many of these factoids have been discredited but this gentleman would like to fill your child's head with this dribble. The faithful Americans he disdains as religiously illiterate are compared to the Europeans who don't believe but whose heads are filled with religious factoids. One can only imagine he hopes to see these zealous Americans be converted into secular Europeans. No such luck, the faithful Americans have got it right. Despite the evidence of science, history, and track record of religious institutional failures, not one has refuted the existance of the one Abrahamic God, but it takes faith not factoids.
Good book nonetheless.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- 00doc
- 04-13-08
Unfairly criticised
The people who are blasting this book for not being a primer on religion are being unfair for two reasons: 1) That is not what the book is - the author says so right up front and the publisher's notes say so as well. It is not their fault if some did not read their comments or chose to ignore them. 2) The last part of the book is a primer, although I would not purchase it for this purpose.
The book is divided into three parts. In the first he makes the case that Americans, while being devout, are also ignorant. It seems that they chose to enthusiastically follow the Bible without actually bothering to read it. He then goes into why it is not only bad religion but also bad civics. His argument is clear and convincing although somewhat repetitive.
The second section is a brief history of religion, mostly in the US, and how the clashes of the competing interests lead a formerly Bible reading people into religious ignorance. His argument is again convincing but this time not quite as clear. His conclusion that much of the ignorance has been caused by the religious leadership(s) is surprising but well supported. Again, he would have benefitted from more editorial over-sight.
The last section is a glossary of religious terms which was a useful review of some basic concepts even for someone who, at least according to his pre and post test, is already fairly religiously literate (but not at all devout - which would support his thesis).
It is an interesting read for people who want to learn ABOUT religion in the U.S. and how it has evolved (or devolved) overtime that should have been better editted. People who are looking for a spiritual guide or a Bible review should look elsewhere.
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18 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Robert
- 04-04-07
Sorry Charlie
I have to say after listening to this audio book left me wanting more. If you want to learn more about religion, do not get this book. The author knows his stuff but keeps the good points to himself.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Thomas
- 04-21-07
Waste of Time
After reading this book, you will know very little about the world's religions. The author repeats his case over and over about how ignorant Americans are about other religions with the implication that he is brilliant by comparison. It reminds of the useless graduate student discussions from college that resulted in very little actual learning and certainly no action to improve things. Bottom line, do not buy this book. It is a waste of time and money.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- B. Dunlap
- 04-21-07
disappointing
The basic premise of the book is good enough: Religion has a significant impact on our culture and so to effectively participate individuals should have a functional understanding of religion.
It takes well over 2/3 of the book to say that.
He leaves little time to explore religions. When he gets down to his core religious literacy facts (or as another reviewer puts it so well “factoids”) they are presented in alphabetic order. So one gets little if any of overview of a religion in context of itself let alone other religions.
I think the two prior reviews make outstanding points: Author seems to have all the dots but can't connect them. If you want to learn more about religion, do not get this book.
After the authors appearance on the Daily Show, my daughter and I were excited to read and discuss this book. I found it sufficiently disappointing that I could not recommend she spend the time to listening to it. I can’t recommend anyone else do so either.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Stephen
- 05-05-07
Save your download credits
This book will do very little, if anything to improve your religious literacy. It may, however, inspire you to pray for a quick end to the book.
As was the case with the previous reviewer, I saw the author on 'The Daily Show' and I was anxious to get the book to help improve my religous knowledge. I was somewhat surprised to learn from the show that American ambassadors are not required to have any training on the major religions of countries with which they interface. The author made a great argument for improving religous literacy on a broad scale.
Unfortunately, the book is not focused on enlightening readers about world religions, but is instead devoted primarily to proving how little Americans know about them. I don't think that there are many who would disagree with him on that point. The subject certainly could have been adressed as effectively in a pamphlet as in a book.
Mabye he'll next write a book on urban traffic congestion that spends the first two-thirds of the book explaining how there are too many cars and too few roads.
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11 people found this helpful