The world hasn't really shrunk -- it just feels like it. Not all people of different cultures and religious beliefs live halfway around the globe. Some of them live halfway down the block. Encounters with these neighboring faiths, whether in the guise of fellow students at school or college or coworkers at the office, challenge our familiar worlds and make us think more about our own faith.

Winfried Corduan offers a helpful introduction to major religions of the world, including Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, African and Native American traditional religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Bahai, Chinese popular religion and the Japanese synthesis.

Unlike many other textbooks, his survey emphasizes not just formal religious teachings but how each religion is practiced in daily life. Moving beyond mere description, Corduan, as a professing Christian believer, also gives specific suggestions for how Christians can avoid giving unnecessary offense to adherents of these neighboring faiths while learning to engage them in constructive dialogue.

Neighboring Faiths is well suited to use in a variety of contexts. It is designed primarily as an introductory textbook on world religions for use with undergraduates and includes more than 80 photographs, charts and maps, as well as clearly defined learning objectives, term paper suggestions and useful bibliographies.

Sections in each chapter on "So You Meet a..." and "What You Might Say to a..." enhance the usefulness of the book for church-based adult study groups and for any Christians who wish not only to understand their neighbors better but to witness to them more effectively.

The result is a book that should prove useful notjust to students but to all Christians who would like to understand other world religions better.