Gods in the Global Village: The World's Religions in Sociological Perspective (Sociology for a New Century Series)

In an era plagued by religious conflict, the Third Edition of Gods in the Global Village directly responds to issues of social problems prevalent in the world today. Using an engaging, thought-provoking style, author Lester R. Kurtz focuses on the relationship among the major faith traditions that inform the thinking and ethical standards of most people in the emerging global social order.

This book focuses on a central aspect of that common crisis. A major assumption of this book is that all knowledge is shaped by the social context of the knower; therefore, both religious traditions and our studies of them are shaped by the context in which we construct them. The author argues that religious pluralism will be a necessary precondition of the global village for the foreseeable future. The question that faces us as a human community is not “Which religious tradition is true?” or even “Is any religious tradition true?” but rather “How can we enable the various religious and secular traditions to coexist peacefully on the planet?” The text supports the belief that the sociology of religion—itself a pluralistic discipline—can provide invaluable insight into the most pressing problems of our time.