In this sweeping narrative that takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role today, and why science,...

Undoing the familiar notion of the Middle Ages as a period of religious persecution and intellectual stagnation, Menocal brings us a portrait of a medieval culture where literature, science, and tolerance flourished for 500 years. The story begins as a young prince in exile--the last heir to an Islamic dynasty--founds a new kingdom on the Iberian peninsula: al-Andalus. Combining the best of what Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures had to offer,...

The author, a young American Muslim of Indian background, juxtaposes his college years as an angry young radical with a description of how he came to see the possibilities of religious pluralism and founded the Interfaith Youth Core.

The final Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, is tasked with overseeing the transition of British India to independence, but meets with conflict as different sides clash in the face of monumental change.

Traces how three American women of different faiths worked together to understand one another while identifying the connections between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, during which they openly discussed the issues that divided them.

In this sweeping history, Ilan Stavans, one of today's preeminent essayists, cultural critics, and translators, explores the way humans have evolved in their conception of the divine, from an animistic view defined by spirituality to Greek myths and the Aztec pantheon, onward to the development on monotheism as a powerful religion in the Middle East that was crystallized in the biblical narrative. He meditates on what type of divine presences coexist...

MOST OF US HAVE LIMITED SPIRITUAL VISION - and don't even know it! • With two trillion galaxies in an expanding universe, how could it be that only the Christians are "saved?" • Traditional religious symbols are losing power in a changing world (Most people don't even know they are supposed to be symbols) • Our rational minds keep wanting to question but conventional religious leaders tell us to just "trust" them (or trust scripture, or tradition) •...

Argues that the increased prejudice against Muslims in post-9/11 America damages the country's historically strong core of pluralism, and describes how interfaith work can help restore the pluralistic bond among all Americans.

No country, no culture, no person today is untouched by what happens in the rest of the world. Technological innovation, environmental degradation, economic gain & loss, nuclear weapons, instant communication have all created unprecedented familiarity among the world's many cultures. While previous conflicts over religious differences may have been significant and regrettable, they did not threaten the very survival of humanity--now, a single spark...