Princeton Readings in Religion and Violence

This groundbreaking anthology provides the most comprehensive overview for understanding the fascinating relationship between religion and violence - historically, culturally, and in the contemporary world. Bringing together writings from scholarly and religious traditions, it is the first volume to unite primary sources - justifications for violence from religious texts, theologians, and activists - with invaluable essays by authoritative scholars. The first half of the collection includes original source materials justifying violence from various religious perspectives: Hindu, Chinese, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist. Showing that religious violence is found in every tradition, these sources include ancient texts and scriptures along with thoughtful essays from theologians wrestling with such issues as military protection and pacifism.