Historians of religion have examined at length the Protestant Revolution and the widespread effects of "priestcraft" rhetoric that grew out of it, but J. Barton Scott, in "Spiritual Despots", reveals an unexamined piece of that story: how Protestant...

That is full. This is full. From the full comes the full. Remove the full from the full and what remains? The full. This first line of the Isha Upanishad, one of the most powerful ancient books of faith, is so profound that Mahatma Gandhi famously...

"The Mahabharata" tells a story of such violence and tragedy that many people in India refuse to keep the full text in their homes, fearing that if they do, they will invite a disastrous fate upon their house. Covering everything from creation to des...

In this third installment of his comprehensive history of "India's religion" and reappraisal of Hindu identity, Professor Jyotirmaya Sharma offers an engaging portrait of Swami Vivekananda and his relationship with his guru, the legendary Ramakrishna...

To many outside India, Hinduism is envisioned as the foundation of an ideal, all-embracing society. Yet this is far from the truth. Though historically the practice of Hinduism does promote the idea of an inclusive and tolerant way of life, in the pa...

A century that began with modernism sweeping across Europe is ending with a remarkable resurgence of religious beliefs and practices throughout the world. Wherever one looks today, from headlines about political turmoil in the Middle East to pop musi...