For more than twenty-five years this study guide has introduced readers to the origins and teachings of the major non-Christian faiths.

In this fourth edition the contents of the book been entirely revised with many of the chapters completely rewritten. The bibliographies for each religion have been updated to include the best f primary and secondary sources.

Written by Christian authors whose firm grasp of recent scholarship is informed by extended personal contacts with the religions they discuss, the essays here are meant to offer a concise, factual account. Particular attention is paid to the historical developments that have resulted from contacts between various religious traditions.

Though the authors of the individual chapters have not attempted a detailed "Christian response" to what they would consider the false teaching and aberrant practices of these various religions, the editor does address, in the brief compass of the final chapter, the ever-controversial issue of the Christian approach to comparative religion.