Cycles of Faith : The Development of the World's Religions

Can the histories of the great religious traditions help us to predict their futures? Are broad common patterns discernable within the developments of Hinduism, Chinese religion, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam? This text makes the case that the five largest world religions all move through the stages of apostolic, imperial, devotional, reformation and folk religion. It is a completely revised edition of Ellwood's 1988 book The History and Future of Faith and should provide a useful theoretical framework to many classes in religious studies.