Background To The Long Search
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Good.
At the heart of human civilisation lies an eternal question: what do we believe, and why? Background to The Long Search by Ninian Smart serves as the definitive companion to the landmark BBC television series of the same name, guiding readers through the world's major religious traditions with scholarly precision and genuine curiosity. Smart, one of the twentieth century's foremost scholars of comparative religion, presents a sweeping survey of humanity's spiritual landscape — from the ancient traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism to the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — illuminating the rituals, doctrines, and world-views that have shaped billions of lives across millennia. Smart's approach is never reductive; he argues that understanding religion requires entering its own frame of reference, a method he calls structured empathy. His prose is clear and authoritative, making complex theological and philosophical ideas accessible without sacrificing depth. As both a scholarly text and a cultural document of the 1970s, Background to The Long Search captures a pivotal moment when Western audiences were first encountering world religions on a mass scale — and leaves the reader wondering which tradition, if any, holds the answer to the search that unites us all.
Author: Ninian Smart
Format: Hardback
Genre: Religion
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Good.
At the heart of human civilisation lies an eternal question: what do we believe, and why? Background to The Long Search by Ninian Smart serves as the definitive companion to the landmark BBC television series of the same name, guiding readers through the world's major religious traditions with scholarly precision and genuine curiosity. Smart, one of the twentieth century's foremost scholars of comparative religion, presents a sweeping survey of humanity's spiritual landscape — from the ancient traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism to the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — illuminating the rituals, doctrines, and world-views that have shaped billions of lives across millennia. Smart's approach is never reductive; he argues that understanding religion requires entering its own frame of reference, a method he calls structured empathy. His prose is clear and authoritative, making complex theological and philosophical ideas accessible without sacrificing depth. As both a scholarly text and a cultural document of the 1970s, Background to The Long Search captures a pivotal moment when Western audiences were first encountering world religions on a mass scale — and leaves the reader wondering which tradition, if any, holds the answer to the search that unites us all.