Many Mansions: A Christian's Encounter with Other Faiths

Cox, professor at Harvard Divinity School and a prolific author ( Religion in the Secular City , etc.), here delineates his travels and explorations of how Jesus is perceived by adherents to Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faiths, as well as to the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations. His encounters with people in Russia stimulated his interest in their various concepts of Jesus, expressed by both Christians and Jews. The most provocative and illuminating of Cox's sojourns was in Israel, which gave him fresh thoughts about Judaism and Christianity. His experiences during the quest, he notes, prompted him to retract several of his previous beliefs. This is a valuable book, although, at times, it presumes knowledge that the general reader might lack. (Nov.)