Roger A. Bullard

(Full disclosure, my father is the author.)

I grew up in the First Baptist Church of Wilson, NC. I have lived elsewhere for about 20 years. The portions of the book that covered my youth were like going home again. The vast portion that covered the church history before I came along was fascinating. The very concept of what a church is has changed dramatically in 150 years. I suspect that anyone interested in Baptist history, or even general history would particularly enjoy the first ¾ of show more the book, even if they have no connection to this particular church. Those sections covering the last 40 years were written with it mind that the readers would be part of the book, and the tone is different, with less attractive historical moments passed over more gently. show less

originally aka Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions Source: LOC

This concise, authoritative compendium of information on the world's living religions brings together the work of 161 scholars from major religious traditions and related fields. Over 1600 cross-referenced beliefs, and current status of the world's living religions: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Sufism, Taoism, and the many other religions of the world. This information-packed, illustrated show more volume, complete with maps and charts, provides: comprehensive articles on the historical development and status of the worlds living religions; doctrines, sects, movements, significant personalities, sacred writings, religious practices, and holy sites, with key creeds, prayers, and mantras given in full; a detailed examination of religions that have spread to new geographical regions in articles such as Christianity in Africa, while other topics better studied across traditions have separate entries, such as Mysticism and Sacrifice; over 150 black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, line drawings, and charts.
Source: Amazon show less

one of my favorite reference books.

Logos Library