Religion for dummies

522 Pages·2002·11.05 MB·English

®
Religion For Dummies

by Rabbi Marc Gellman &
Monsignor Thomas Hartman
Religion For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2002 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under
Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either
the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through
payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-
4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the
Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street,
Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at
http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies
Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies
Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United
States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley
Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in
Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in
this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: While the
publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they
make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or
completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No
warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales
materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for
your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate.
Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any
other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain
technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the
U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-
4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some
content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2001012345
ISBN: 978-0-7645-5264-9
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9
1B/TR/RR/QY/IN
About the Authors
Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman write a nationally
syndicated newspaper column on faith and values and host their own cable
television program, The God Squad. They appear regularly as religion
consultants for many television and radio programs, including the syndicated
radio show, Imus in the Morning. Their children’s book, How Do You Spell
God? was made into an animated children’s special for HBO and won the
Peabody Award. They also have written Where Does God Live?, Lost and
Found: A Kid’s Book for Living through Loss, and Bad Stuff in the News. At
the foundation of their literary and media efforts is the central fact that Rabbi
Gellman is a working rabbi and Monsignor Hartman a working priest.
Rabbi Marc Gellman: Rabbi Gellman has written two volumes of modern
Bible interpretations (midrashim) for children: Does God Have a Big Toe?
and God’s Mailbox. He also has written Always Wear Clean Underwear: And
other ways your parents say “I love you,” and And God Cried, Too: A Kid’s
Book of Healing and Hope. Rabbi Gellman is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth
Torah in Melville, New York. He is also a past president of the New York
Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Gellman holds an earned doctorate in Philosophy
from Northwestern University. He is married to Betty Schulson and has two
children, Mara and Max.
Monsignor Thomas Hartman: Monsignor Hartman’s books include The
Matter of Life and Death: Surviving Loss and Finding Hope and Just a
Moment: Life Matters with Father Tom. Monsignor Hartman directs the
diocesan television station, Telecare, for the Diocese of Rockville Centre on
Long Island, New York, and celebrates Mass at Holy Trinity High School
and St. Vincent de Paul Church. Monsignor Hartman holds an earned
Doctorate of Ministry degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley,
California.
Dedication
We thought about dedicating this book to Don Imus, who definitely believed
from the beginning that we were dumb enough to write it.
We thought about dedicating this book to all our friends who have not seen
much of us during the past year and have had to endure our quoting from
obscure Taoist sources at dinner parties.
Finally, we decided to dedicate this book to the teachers of religion
everywhere on earth. Each day, they awaken to teach that life is more than
getting and fighting. Each day, they try to awaken in us the better angels of
our nature. Each day, they try to make the world better than it was yesterday
according to a vision of the truth that will never die.
Authors’ Acknowledgments
No matter how much we knew — and we didn’t know nearly enough — there
was no way for us to truly understand the deep meaning of every faith on
planet Earth. Therefore, we truly and deeply thank all those whose wise
contributions helped turn our minds and hearts to new understandings of
ancient and modern faiths and whose editorial advice kept this book under
1,000 pages. We thank Tracy Barr; and also thank Fay Shapiro, Tracy
Boggier, Kathleen Nebenhaus, Michelle Hacker, Patricia Yuu Pan, Michael
Kelly, Marla Selvidge, William Young, Jamsheed Choksy, Kristin Cocks,
Christine Beck, Diane Steele, Joyce Pepple, and Kevin Thornton.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our
Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the
following:
Publisher’s Acknowledgment Tracy Barr, Consultant
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier
Editor: Mike Kelly
Senior Copy Editor: Patricia Yuu Pan
Editorial Supervisor: Michelle Hacker
Technical Editors: Marla J. Selvidge, Ph.D., Central Missouri State
University William Young, Westminster College Jamsheed K. Choksy,
Indiana University
Cover Photos: © ADAM SMITH/Getty Images © Corbis © PictureQuest
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Nancee Reeves
Layout and Graphics: Scott M. Bristol, Joyce Haughey, Barry Offringa,
Jacque Schneider, Betty Schulte, Mary J. Virgin
Proofreaders: Laura Albert, John Greenough, Andy Hollandbeck, Aptara
Indexer: Aptara
Special Help: Christine Beck
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Brice Gosnell, Publishing Director, Travel
Suzanne Jannetta, Editorial Director, Travel
Publishing for Technology Dummies
Andy Cummings, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Executive Director of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services