Who's Who of Religions

It might be said that religions do not exist apart from the people who practice them. In historical, as opposed to theological, terms religions are what people have made them. This detailed and informative dictionary brings together for the first time the biographies of leading men and women of religions both ancient and modern who have had a significant impact on religion, among them founders, prophets, teachers, mystics, reformers, missionaries, holy men, saints, miracle workers, theologians and political leaders. The wide range of entries includes major figures from Moses, Plato, Lao Tzu and Olaf the Holy, patron saint of Norway, to Gadhi, Sun Myung Moon, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Each religion is also given a broad perspective. Budhism for example, is considered in Tibet, China and Japan as well as South Asia, lslam is not merely restricted to the Middle East but appears also in its African and Asian contexts. While the entries on Christianity are concerned not only with the western world, but also with the eastern Orthodox churches, and Christians in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific islands.