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"Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (3 Volume Set)" by Phyllis Jestice

The theme of this work "is that most effective intermediary between heaven and earth: the holy human being who has a foot in both realms." More than 1,000 of the 1,183 entries are biographical sketches of men and women from a variety of religious traditions, including African religions, Amerindian religions, Bahaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shinto, and Sikhism. There are also survey articles that address aspects of holy people across religious traditions. For example, Attributes of holy people discusses special marks or signs various traditions have regarded as proof of an individual's holiness, while Intermediaries shows the place of the holy person as mediator between the divine and the rest of humankind. Other entries describe activities or lifestyles commonly associated with holy people (e.g., Meditation and holy people, Hermits). Still others treat the intersection of holy people with such topics as aesthetics, gender, politics, suffering, and violence. While it may be no surprise to find entries for various Christian saints or the current Dalai Lama, entries for Nelson Mandela and the last Romanovs demonstrate how different cultures approach holiness in different ways.

The alphabetically arranged entries were written by a team of international scholars, are signed, and conclude with see references and suggestions for further reading. The set contains some black-and-white illustrations.

The editor admits that the coverage of holy people among various religious traditions is uneven, explaining this in more detail in her preface. In the end, "what this encyclopedia offers is very much a sampler pack of holy folk from around the world," an admission that may well be instructive to libraries considering purchasing the work. Large academic or research libraries with rich reference collections in biography and religion will not find too much new here. Libraries lacking such resources and in need of biographical information in this area may find this sampler filling in many a gap.

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