This substantially revised and updated edition features maps, charts, and more than two hundred photographs, many in color. An international group of expert scholars sympathetically discuss the world's major religious traditions (including Buddhism, Baha'i, and Jainism) and new religious movements.

The accompanying CD-ROM not only contains the fully searchable text but also includes chapter summaries, key terms, key figures, discussion questions, a glossary, weblinks, and a guide to writing research papers on world religions.

The contributing editors include Diana L. Eck, Robert Kisala, Nicholas de Lange, Mikael Rothstein, Lamin O. Sanneh, Garry W. Trompf, and Linda Woodhead.