Description: An inside view of how the scriptures of world religions illuminate the lives and experience of their devotees. Endorsements: ""An excellent introduction to how members of major religious traditions experience scripture. The essays are informative, stimulating and engaging, introducing the reader to the variety of ways in which scriptures shape human life."" --Leo D. Lefebure, Fordham University ""A splendid collection of provocative and insightful essays on the significance of scripture, comparatively viewed as spoken and written sacred text for the followers of six major religious traditions."" --John Borelli, Interreligious Relations, National Conference of Catholic Bishops ""At a time when the deluge of hollow words coursing along the information superhighway threatens to drown us in distracting trivia, it is literally a Godsend to encounter a volume emphasizing the spiritual power of oral and written Scripture in world religions. What the six commentators on different faith traditions brilliantly document is the transformative capacity of sacred words and sounds attentively listened to or read."" --Joseph Prabhu, California State University ""This volume of essays sketches the role of authoritative scriptures in a number of religious traditions and insightfully shows how they become embodied in the lives of their practitioners."" --John P. Keenan, Middlebury College About the Contributor(s): Harold Coward is professor of history and director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. His previous books include Sacred Word and Sacred Text, Hindu-Christian Dialogue, and Life After Death in World Religions.