Religions in a changing world

Writers were instructed to include some historical facts concerning the founding of the religion with which they were dealing, a statement of the way in which the teachings of that religion fall short of Christianity, and some advice on winning adherents of that religion to Christ. Also, to give the work current significance, observations were to be made concerning the effect of such forces as nationalism and communism on the religion under discussion. It is this placing of world religions in their political context that prompted the title Religions in a Changing World. Advice was given concerning the length of the chapters, but no absolute limits were set. More space was assigned to the chapters on Japan and China because they were to describe the total religious picture of those lands. Such a procedure was thought to be much more realistic than devoting separate chapters to Buddhism, Taoism Confucianism, and the like. Perhaps the reader will feel that an undue amount of space has been given to the lesser religions of India, but a greater abbreviation of those studies would have resulted in a sacrefice of clarity.