Terian, Abraham

English

Andrews University

66 SEMINARY STUDIES evangelism-mission, and social action, but also as people who strive to make their distinctive contribution in theology as well. Of course, Johnston is quick to argue that the contribution of the "riffraff' can be made quite readily under the broader family rubric of "evangelical." Welcome to the debate! While all of the chapters are theologically stimulating and historically informative and insightful, some of the more important contributions come from Paul Bassett ("The Theological Identity of the North American Holiness Movement") and C. John Weborg ("Pietism: Theology in Service of Living Toward God"). Originating out of powerful soteriological and ethical perspectives, their critiques of Calvinistic Neoevangelicalism's preoccupation with princeton-oriented issues such as the "inerrancy" of Scripture are must reading for all admirers of Warfield and others who would "battle for the Bible." The editors have issued an invitation to the reader "to join a larger discussion that seems in no imminent danger of resolution"-to "understand the variety of American evangelicalism" (4). This reviewer urges a hearty and affirmative response from the reader. Andrews University WOODROW HIDDEN Eliade, Mircea and Ioan P. Couliano, with Hillary S. Wiesner. The Eliade Guide to World Religions: The Authoritative Compendium of the 33 Major Religious Traditions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991. xii + 301 pp. Hardcover, $22.95. The Eliade Guide to World Religions is one of two recent references on religion published by Harper Collins and bearing the name of M. Eliade, the late pioneer in the systematic study of the history of world religions (d. 1986). The other work, Essential Sacred Writings from around the World (1991), is a paperback reprint of Primitives to Zen: A Thematic Sourcebook of the Histo y of Religions (1967). The volume presently under review contains excerpts of religious texts and oral accounts of religious experience from non-Western traditions, areas in which Eliade has particularly distin- guished himself. The title here reviewed may be seen as the culmination of the primary author's lifework on world religions-unless, of course, later editors and other publishers make further profitable use of his name and work. The Eliade Guide begins with a short introduction, entitled "Religion as System," by Eliade's successor at the University of Chicago, the late I. P. Couliano (murdered there in 1991 while working on other remnants of works left by Eliade), and clarifies the author's voluminous phenome- nological method in the study of religion. BOOK REVIEWS 67 The volume draws heavily upon Eliade's previous works, especially his three-volume Histo y of Religious Ideas (1978-85) and the sixteen-volume Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion (1986) of which he was the general editor. In an anonymous "Note to Readers," perhaps by the publisher, the volume is introduced in encyclopedic terms as consisting of two parts: a "Macro-Dictionary" and a "Micro-Dictionary"-though the contents bear no such megadesignations-"following the model of the Encycloplia Britannica" (ix). Part I of The Eliade Guide consists of brief surveys of 33 religions, alphabetically arranged, from African religions to Zoroastrianism and including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shamanism, Shinto, and Taoism, which are more like short chapters on each of the religions considered. Apart from the treatment of widespread religions, the Guide is particularly good in its treatment of lesser-known religions such as Australian and Oceanic religions; North, Central, and South American religions; and Slavic and Baltic religions. The religions of the past are also covered: prehistoric, Egyptian, Canaanite, Greek, Roman, etc. Unfortu- nately, the bibliographies provided at the end of each chapter are not exhaustive; in fact, they are insufficient in most instances and appear to have been the result of a hasty afterthought. The annotated index which comprises Part I1 or the "Micro- Dictionary" is also quite disappointing. Not all key religious figures, spiritual themes, and sacred books are annotated. For example: while the Bhagavad-Gita is annotated, the Qur'an, the Rig-Veda, and the Pop01 Vuh are not. There are no entries for the "Book of the Dead," the "Homeric Hymns," and a few others. Moreover, most of the annotation is common- place. Especially noticeable are those readily available in Christian and Jewish encyclopedias and dictionaries. In fact, Part I1 is a failed attempt to break away from an ordinary index, and the designation "Micro- Dictionary" seems but an inflated advertisement, as is also the designation "Macro-Dictionary" for Part I. The Eliade Guide is more an introduction to world religions, alphabetically arranged, than a veritable reference to world religions. It could be used as an excellent textbook for beginners, with reading assignments given following a geographical rearrangement of the 33 chapters. The academic community would have been better served had the volume been marketed as a textbook and, better still, had the two volumes mentioned above been combined into one-with excerpts of religious texts from the other volume, Essential Sacred Writings, complementing the information provided in The Elide Guide. Andrews University ABRAHAM TERIAN 

The Eliade Guide to World Religions [review] / Mircea Eliade, Ioan P. Couliano, with Hillary S. Wiesner.

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2085&amp;context=auss

The Eliade Guide to World Religions [review] / Mircea Eliade, Ioan P. Couliano, with Hillary S. Wiesner.

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