何十億人もの人が何らかの宗教を信仰し、その信念に方向付けた振る舞いをしています。宗教は生き方の規範を提供する一方で、自己と他者を分ける根拠ともなり、そこで生じる境界線が対立を招く側面も否定できません。古代の宗教的行動の起こりから今日の世界的な動向まで、宗教が人間社会にもたらす圧倒的で普遍的な力について熟考します。人類史そのものといえるほど長い宗教の歴史と、今日帯びている複雑な役割について公平な視点から描き出す、簡明な入門書です。
    

• Traces the history of religion from the stone age to the computer age
• Addresses diverse perspectives on what religion is and what role it plays in society
• Written by a leading authority on the historical study of religion, who served as the president of the American Academy of Religion
• Discusses the largest global traditions -- Christianity, Islam, Judaism -- as well as indigenous religions and other lesser known faiths that play a role in the contemporary world
• Provides an informative overview of the global presence of religion in modern-day life, including its role in both intensifying and addressing contemporary political and environmental problems.

 
Religion plays a central role in human experience. Billions of people around the world practice a faith and act in accordance with it. Religion shapes how they enter the world and how they leave it - how they eat, dress, marry, and raise their children. It shapes their assumptions about who they are and who they want to be. Religion also identifies insiders and outsiders, who has power and who doesn't. It sanctifies injustice and combats it. It draws national borders. It affects law, economy, and government. It destroys and restores the environment. It starts wars and ends them. Whether you notice it or not, religion plays a role in how billions conduct their lives. We are called, then, to understand this important factor in human life today.
  
Beginning with the first signs of religion among ancient humans and concluding with a look at modern citizens and global trends, leading scholar Thomas Tweed examines this powerful and enduring force in human society. Tweed deftly documents religion as it exists around the world, addressing its role in both intensifying and alleviating contemporary political and environmental problems, from armed conflict to climate change. Religion: A Very Short Introduction offers a concise non-partisan overview of religion's long history and its complicated role in the world today.