Four Great Religions

[A]n attempt is made to distinguish the essential from the non-essential in each religion... For every religion in the course of time suffers from accretions due to ignorance not to wisdom, to blindness not to vision. -from the Foreword Anne Besant was one of the most popular and beloved voices of the theosophical movement of the early 20th century, and here she turns that occult philosophy, which sought to find the underlying universal truths in all religions, on religion itself. This series of lectures, published in book form in 1906, was intended to help members of each religion recognize the beauty and truth in the faiths not his own. On Hinduism's "complete presentment of spiritual truth," Zoroastrianism's "perfect practical purity," the secret of the Buddha, and the spirit of Jesus' teachings, she is passionate and enlightening in demonstrating the primal essence that unifies them all. British social reformer and writer ANNIE BESANT (1847-1933) was an early public advocate of birth control and women's health care, as well as an active proponent of theosophy. Among her books are The Ancient Wisdom (1897), Death and After (1901), and Occult Chemistry (1919).