conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a book titled Introduction To World Religions about System, CD-ROM, Pentium with the genre: New, Used & Rental Textbooks, Humanities.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: System requirements for CD-ROM Computer / Processor: Pentium 133 MHz (Pentium 300 MHz processor recommended); CD-ROM drive. Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98 or laterwill run on Windows 98 / 98SE / Me / NT 4.0 (SP6a) / 2000 / XP. Memory:Windows 98 / Me / NT: 64 MB;Windows 2000 / XP: 64 MB (128 MB recommended). Hard Drive Space: 60 MB minimum. Monitor Resolution: 800 x 600 or larger.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: System requirements for CD-ROM Computer / Processor: Pentium 133 MHz (Pentium 300 MHz processor recommended); CD-ROM drive. Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98 or laterwill run on Windows 98 / 98SE / Me / NT 4.0 (SP6a) / 2000 / XP. Memory:Windows 98 / Me / NT: 64 MB;Windows 2000 / XP: 64 MB (128 MB recommended). Hard Drive Space: 60 MB minimum.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a book about Professor, Religion, Lancaster with the genre: New, Used & Rental Textbooks, Humanities?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'Introduction to World Religions'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first two paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Introduction To World Religions
  Read in totality, a number of important themes emerge that can be illustrated by highlighting scenes from the creation narrative. Both texts describe gods residing in the high plain of heaven above an illformed watery mass. A pair of deities, Izanagi (male) and Izanami (female), are instructed by their divine elders to create a land below, which they do by stirring a heavenly jeweled spear in the briny liquid. Islands form and the pair descend, erecting a heavenly pillar and a spacious palace. Through the process of procreation, these two beget other islands and gods. Eventually, Izanami is severely burned and dies giving birth to the god of fire. Izanagi makes a valiant attempt to save her from the underworld of the dead, but he is too late because she has already consumed food in the polluted realm. He flees to the earthly surface whereupon he quickly purifies himself in the sacred ocean. In the process, he creates another generation of gods. Cleansing his left eye, for example, he creates the critically important sun goddess Amaterasu. Washing his right eye produces the moon god Tsukiyomi. From his nostrils comes the god of wind, Susano-o, and so forth. Amaterasu's descendants eventually give birth to the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu.
  To speak of Shinto as an autonomous tradition with a community of followers who self-identify as "Shintoists" raises immediate issues and should compel us to reflect on presuppositions that may inform the very questions we ask of other religious people. Just as relatively few Chinese, with the exception of religious specialists or members of exclusive sects, would have traditionally identified themselves as "Daoist," "Confucian," or even "Buddhist," so also few Japanese identify themselves exclusively with Shinto or Buddhism, the predominant religious traditions of Japan, or even with Confucianism or Daoism, two traditions that also contributed to the religious ethos of Japan at different times in history. At various times in their lives, most Japanese participate in all of these traditions in one way or another.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me four more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Saints also are expected to observe and obey all of God's commandments, as defined by the scriptures, such as the biblical Ten Commandments; pray frequently to God for guidance and direction; study the scriptures; observe the Sabbath day (Sunday) and keep it holy; sustain the prophet and priesthood of the church; live the law of tithing (defined as 10 percent of annual income as well as other offerings); engage in fasting and prayer once a month; honor and obey the laws of the state; and observe the "Word of Wisdom." The Word of Wisdom generally urges prudence, thankfulness, and moderation in all things (Doctrine and Covenants 89). It advises eating grain, herbs, vegetables, and fruit, eating meat only sparingly, and avoiding strong drinks. As this scripture is understood today, the use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs is prohibited. The Saints also are expected to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous, and are expected to do good to everyone.
  Observant Latter-day Saints, but no one else, are permitted access to the temple—the most sacred "House of the Lord"—for performing special salvation ordinances. The basic temple rite is the "endowment," whereby the Saints reenact the basic covenant with God and receive God's blessings, including the promise of eternal life. They also receive and thereafter wear a special undergarment symbolizing their covenant with God. The ritual of "baptism for the dead" enables the Saints to serve as proxies for the baptism of their ancestors and relatives who lived before or who did not receive the fullness of the restored gospel. In addition to being married for time only, male and female couples can have their relationships "sealed" eternally in the temple and their children sealed eternally to them, thereby creating eternal family relationships extending back to Adam and Eve. Last, a priesthood member and his spouse may enter into a special covenant with God whereby they receive the promise of reigning as a king and priest or queen and priestess with God (along with other godlike beings) in the celestial world. The practice of plural marriage—technically polygyny, a form of polygamy—was abandoned and prohibited in 1890 out of deference to the laws of the United States. Monogamy, exclusively defined as marriage between a man and a woman, is the only form of marriage sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, although some other organizations of this religion continue the practice of patriarchal marriage. The LDS Church also prohibits the practice of homosexuality, all sexual relationship outside of marriage, and sexual relationship with anyone but a marriage partner.
  Families are defined as the basic social unit of the Latter Day Saint religion. Fathers are responsible for spiritually directing the family unit and economically providing for it, while mothers have primary responsibility for the welfare of the home and children. Families are encouraged to be mutually supporting, to work and worship together, and to reserve at least one evening a week exclusively for their activities. They also are encouraged to put aside a year's supply of food and other necessities in the event of an emergency. Males are eligible for ordination to the priesthood and other special callings by prophetic revelation—and most are called by age to successive ranks of the hierarchal priesthood. Females also are expected to perform special duties and callings, including the possibility of serving as fulltime missionaries. The Latter-day Saint community is organized further by congregations, known as "wards," and collections of wards forming "stakes" of the larger tent of Zion, with the Latter-day Saint church representing the kingdom of God on earth.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Add another sentence about Joseph, Smith, Latter-day, founding, introduced, having, based.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Saints also are expected to observe and obey all of God's commandments, as defined by the scriptures, such as the biblical Ten Commandments; pray frequently to God for guidance and direction; study the scriptures; observe the Sabbath day (Sunday) and keep it holy; sustain the prophet and priesthood of the church; live the law of tithing (defined as 10 percent of annual income as well as other offerings); engage in fasting and prayer once a month; honor and obey the laws of the state; and observe the "Word of Wisdom. " The Word of Wisdom generally urges prudence, thankfulness, and moderation in all things (Doctrine and Covenants 89). It advises eating grain, herbs, vegetables, and fruit, eating meat only sparingly, and avoiding strong drinks. As this scripture is understood today, the use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs is prohibited. The Saints also are expected to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous, and are expected to do good to everyone. 
  Observant Latter-day Saints, but no one else, are permitted access to the temple—the most sacred "House of the Lord"—for performing special salvation ordinances. The basic temple rite is the "endowment," whereby the Saints reenact the basic covenant with God and receive God's blessings, including the promise of eternal life. They also receive and thereafter wear a special undergarment symbolizing their covenant with God. The ritual of "baptism for the dead" enables the Saints to serve as proxies for the baptism of their ancestors and relatives who lived before or who did not receive the fullness of the restored gospel. In addition to being married for time only, male and female couples can have their relationships "sealed" eternally in the temple and their children sealed eternally to them, thereby creating eternal family relationships extending back to Adam and Eve. Last, a priesthood member and his spouse may enter into a special covenant with God whereby they receive the promise of reigning as a king and priest or queen and priestess with God (along with other godlike beings) in the celestial world. 
  Joseph Smith, the founding prophet, introduced the Latter-day Saints to the Old Testament practice of patriarchal marriage, the possibility of a man's having more than one wife, based on a revelation from God (Doctrine and Covenants 132). The practice of plural marriage—technically polygyny, a form of polygamy—was abandoned and prohibited in 1890 out of deference to the laws of the United States. Monogamy, exclusively defined as marriage between a man and a woman, is the only form of marriage sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, although some other organizations of this religion continue the practice of patriarchal marriage. The LDS Church also prohibits the practice of homosexuality, all sexual relationship outside of marriage, and sexual relationship with anyone but a marriage partner. 
  Families are defined as the basic social unit of the Latter Day Saint religion. Fathers are responsible for spiritually directing the family unit and economically providing for it, while mothers have primary responsibility for the welfare of the home and children. Families are encouraged to be mutually supporting, to work and worship together, and to reserve at least one evening a week exclusively for their activities. They also are encouraged to put aside a year's supply of food and other necessities in the event of an emergency. Males are eligible for ordination to the priesthood and other special callings by prophetic revelation—and most are called by age to successive ranks of the hierarchal priesthood. Females also are expected to perform special duties and callings, including the possibility of serving as fulltime missionaries. The Latter-day Saint community is organized further by congregations, known as "wards," and collections of wards forming "stakes" of the larger tent of Zion, with the Latter-day Saint church representing the kingdom of God on earth.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last three paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism, and Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced Theology, at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
  Jacob Olupona is Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of African Religious Traditions, Chair of Committee on African Studies, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  Kristin Scheible is Assistant Professor of Religion at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.