The World}}}s Parliament of Religions The East/West Encounter, Chicago, 1893 [Paperback]

Conceived as a magnificent display of the major religions of the world, the 1893 Parliament sought to unite all religion against irreligion. A singular moment in the creation of a more pluralistic religious culture in America, it introduced many Americans to Eastern religions and meditative practices such as yoga. Some in the Christian community saw the gathering as a sign of the approaching fulfillment of the missionarys hope to evangelize the world, while others saw a divided Christendom under threat from the religions of the East. Richard Hughes Seager explores this fascinating event in all its complexities and, in a new preface, summarizes recent research and reflects on religious pluralism in an age of religious extremism.

[This] engrossingly written book . . . convincingly shows that the [1893] parliament marked a point of religious and cultural change in North America. . . . This book is clearly the classic work on the 1893 Parliament of Religionsone you will want to keep on your bookshelf.

Foreword by Catherine L. Albanese and Stephen J. Stein
Acknowledgments
Preface to the Paperback Reissue
Introduction
I. A Millennial City
1. The Columbian Myth of America
2. The Midway Plaisance and the Magic of the White City
II. An Ingathering of Nations and Tribes
3. Chicagos Pentecost
4. On Mars Hill
5. A Rapt Gaze into the Millennium
III. Further and Fractious Missions
6. Acts of Apostles
7. Beyond the White City
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index

[Though] it did have its mythic dimensions, [the Parliament] was also a flesh-and-blood occasion that influenced the course of religion in several countries. Richard Seager has done an excellent job of sorting out the myths and the realities and showing why an understanding of both is essential to a proper assessment of the Parliament.As a glimpse of the complex problems of cultural and religious pluralism that have spawned wars and political conflict, Seagl#(