First encyclopedia of religions in Canada release
Tyndale Seminary is pleased to announce the release of Volume 2 of Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions, 9th Edition, the first published encyclopedia of religions in Canada. The 9th Edition celebrates the work of Dr. John Gordon Melton, the main author and general editor, and Dr. James Beverley, Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics at Tyndale Seminary, who was the senior editor of the Canadian material in the second volume.
In the 1,720 pages, the two volumes provide data on 2,363 active religious groups in North America, including 314 in Canada. The second volume has over 40 contributors, including Dr. Karim Karim, Professor of Communication and Journalism, Carleton University [Islam]; Dr. Jack Lightstone, President, Brock University [Judaism]; and Father Terence Fay, Professor of History of Religion, Toronto School of Theology [Roman Catholicism]. Other contributors include Jerry Kozoriz, Toronto Teaching Center, Church Universal and Triumphant and Halsey Peat, Communications director, Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada. “Professor Beverley and I looked for scholars, either within or outside a religious outlook, who could write with objectivity and fairness about specific groups and larger religious families,” says Dr. Melton.
“The Melton Encyclopedia of American Religions, 9th Edition, Volume 2 is the most comprehensive and detailed work ever done on religion in Canada,” says Dr. Beverley. “It was an honour to edit the second volume as Gordon and I have been working together on religious groups in Canada for over two decades. We are grateful to scholars at Tyndale who wrote various essays, including Dr. Victor Shepherd on Methodism and Dr. James Pedlar on the Holiness tradition, and appreciate the work of many other scholars from around the globe.”
The chapters each cover a religious group and include an introductory essay, entries on each specific group, geographical and statistical information, along with timelines. The groups fall into 24 large religious families including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Western Esotericism, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc.
Author Dr. Melton is the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies in Religion. As a scholar he has specialized in Religion and New Religious movements for over 40 years. He has also authored over 50 books, including almanacs, handbooks and encyclopedias on world religions and new religious movements.
The book release will be held at Tyndale Seminary on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, at 12:30 p.m. in the Seminary Lounge. ***REVISED: The book launch will be postponed to a later date. Please stay tuned for further details.