This in-depth survey of active religions, fully updated to include modern developments and the most recent scholarship, now features chapters on twenty-first-century America, Britain, Canada, and Australia. Ranging across the globe, contributors explain the sources and history of today's religious systems, from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam, to regional groups in Africa, China, and Japan.

"The book shows how rapid social change gives rise to novel religious interpretations and how new religious movements, in turn, try to influence the process of change. This analysis is illustrated by studies of the advanced societies of North America and Europe, of Japan during the first phase of industrialization, and of countries and regions in the developing world. New religious movements are revealed as a normal aspect of social life and as critical...