Joseph M. Kitagawa is Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago Divinity School and of the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations there: he is also a former Dean of the Divinity School.
Kitagawa is a respected name in the history of religion, especially Japanese religion. The 18 chapters of this book have all appeared previously as articles or lectures and are here arranged in a chronological and developmental sequence that moves from prehistory to a discussion of present attitudes towards religion. The appendix offers a very reasoned statement on the current presence of Buddhism in America. Though the articles have not been reedited or the bibliographical references updated, for which the preface apologizes, this is not a serious drawback. An excellent, cohesive disquisition on a subject not simple for the Westerner to grasp. It is not a popularization, nor is it an exercise in abstruse scholarship. For the serious reader. Donald J. Pearce, Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, Lib.
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