Rex Lentz

An Abridged History of World Religions Rex Lentz

Having reached the age of eighty-two years I felt compelled to leave my children and grandchildren a broad, if brief, understanding of the world religions as I see them. I am not a theological analyst but I can approach the subject of religion historically. Yesterday's heretic may have a philosophy that could be a main line church today. As archaeologists dig, scholars study and historians search, it reveals an ever-changing religious structure. The distrust and even hatred between churches that caused so many wars may be easing but has not ended, perhaps it never will. Understanding through knowledge and love is the only answer. It is most important then to first look at the history of religion and gain knowledge as to why, when, and how we created such diversity and distrust. The answer is described in the pages of history. I am not suggesting I can do this better than the fifty books on religion that are on my bookshelves. Rather, my goal is brevity, to tell the story in two hundred pages. This will give a taste and flavor of the subject and may hopefully help to understand a neighbor's religion, develop tolerance and foster pluralism. May God give me the strength, courage and wisdom to produce an intelligent manuscript, in a brief understanding way.