История религий Востока

История религий Востока

Vasilyev L.

History of Eastern Religions

4th enlarged ed.

Москва, 2015, 794 p.

The book describes the history of the origin of the religions of the East, shows their role in the development of the socio-economic and political structure of Eastern societies and their culture. Characterics of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions are given. This book is essentially updated and expanded edition, which included chapters on the religious beliefs of peoples that were not previously in it. This is now the history of almost all religions of the World, except for ancient Greece and Rome, and Western Christianity, the appearance of which divided the world into the East and West. The East is the concept that not geographical, but historical and cultural. From this it follows that Africa, America, Australia, and Oceania are fully included in the book. The author sought to create a coherent and consistent concept of the development of civilizations of the East, taken in the aspect of its religious traditions. The reader will learn from this book what religion means for the East and how it affects the way of life, the habitual stereotypes of behavior, the attitude to innovations, the relationships between people and the state in the ancient and modern East. The material is presented in a regional chronological order. The author tried first of all to reveal the global essence of the problem, that is, to show the reader not only religions, but also the regional civilizations that formed on their basis. And this in no small measure determined the destiny of the East. The book is meant for students, postgraduates, lecturers of the history and religious studies, as well as for all who are interested in the history of the East, issues of religion and its role in world culture.