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The text consists of eight chapters which, as the Introduction states, can be considered in three parts. The first is the creation of religions (The Cosmos, Deities, Development), the second for clerical characters (Symbols, Clerics, Divine Magic, Traditions) and the third Sample Religions. An irksome and unnecessary moment of the Introduction is the description of science as a type of religion and two pages later with cosmology describes as a set of beliefs (true for religious cosmology, not so for physical cosmology and perhaps partially true for metaphysical cosmology).
The Cosmos chapter suggests, obviously enough, to start with creation myths and recommends some alternatives; deus faber, sexual myths, by-products and "first victim" stories along with cosmological creation stories through the efforts of several entities and some common motifs (the cosmic egg, patterns and numbers) and fatalistic endings. The lengthy sidebar gives the Hopi Indian creation myth. Following this is defining the divine forces, such as nature, time, entropy, fate, karma and the abilities of divination and prophecy from these forces. Finally, the chapter deals with the creation of life and its purpose, the common fall from paradise motif, death and the transition and immortals. The sidebar at this point discusses the afterworld, reverants, "judgement day" and the journey of death with an example paragraph to the Greeks, the Celts and the Inca .
The second chapter, on Deities, begins with discussing different origins, before moving on to attributes (archetypes, extent of power (the various omni- types and limitations), physical form (humanoid, animal and abstract), domiciles, attitudes (benevolent/malevolent, meddlesome/indifferent, observant/oblivious, forthright/mysterious, codal/random) and their relationships with other deities (allies, enemies, shifts in the godly balance of powers). The first sidebar discusses GMing deities, and makes the obvious statement that active deities should be active, followed by some rather useless non-advice on creating deities as GURPS characters. The second sidebar gives a range of animal motifs with some good examples, and the third with the "food and drink" of the gods (e.g.,ambrosia, soma). The sidebar on apotheosis is obvious, and is followed by related sidebars on faded gods, the power of faith, and (undifferentiated) quests and geases. These are descriptive and contribute little to game-play. This is followed by SF deities and deities of horror, and finally the character interaction with deities; in their home, as avatars, as temple guardians and with divine messengers; this is quite good. The chapter concludes with a discussion on demigods as the semi-divine (either degenerated gods or ascended humans).
Following the Gods is the development of religion. This chapter, with comments on tenets of belief, scripture, religious hierarchy and recruitment, the relationship between church, state and the laws, roots, and the varied issues relating to the development of a religion over time. The first sidebar discusses the Knights Templar as an example of the conflict between Church and State, and is followed by sidebars (about four paragraphs) on the Druids, the Inquisition, the Reformation, Zoroastrianism, Messianic Religions, Death and Resurrection, Fanaticism, Prolesytising, Martyrs, Paragons, Monaticism and - oddly enough - returns to religious examples of Sikhism and Ancient Egypt. In all cases, both in the main text and the sidebars, the information provided tends strongly towards the descriptive, with the specific historical examples providing much better information than obvious statements (e.g., "People often wonder what happens when we die...")
Religions have symbols which, apparently, "are of utmost importance"; more so than theology? Divinity? Power? This stated, the chapter moves through, again in a totally descriptive fashion, various symbolic expressions in religion; appearance, acts, buildings, ceremonies and rituals, rites, prayer, sacrifice and dance, pilgrimages, holy times, and sacred items. The first sidebar is thirteen example historical symbols followed by design notes for new symbols. Notes are given for symbolic birthdays and twins (nothing on numerology), a few paragraphs on knots and feng shui, followed by symbolic scarification, blood, ashes, mistletoe and cakes. This is followed by a number of originally religious sayings embodied in common use and a lengthy description of common symbolic representations and their meaning.
The fifth chapter, on Clerics, is a mere ten pages and is one of the few examples where the text and the game system actually interact. Even in this case it is often descriptive and suggestive, with clerical character types listed. However significant space is dedicated to elaborating existing advantages, disadvantages, skills and so forth and providing new examples. New advantages (Blessed, Power Investiture, World Sight) tie in with the new clerical magic system of the sixth chapter, Divine Magic which runs for some twenty-five pages. Power to cast spells varies according to the sanctity of location, time or holiness of objects. Further elaboration is provided for Ceremonial Magic and a number of spells from GURPS Magic and a listing is provided for "Cleric-only" spells along notes on miracles and divine intervention and mostly descriptive sidebar information for various forms of Divination and Excommunication. Almost a dozen pages are dedicated to shamanism which discusses the worldview and spirit conflicts, shaman methods, accoutrements, epilepsy and charlatanry and finally a short lists of spells.
The seventh chapter is a short discussion on religious traditions. The text follows standard anthropological religious development, from animism to totemism/ancestor veneration, and to polytheism. For some indecipherable reason, it stops there, neglecting the entirety of monotheism which is pretty significant in religious life - not to mention spiritual forms of atheism. Following this are brief notes on religious traditions according to geographical location; African, Native American, South Asian, Melanesian, Polynesian and Australian Aboriginal. One may notice there are more than a few gaps.
The final chapter is six sample religions taking up almost thirty pages. The T'Si'Kami are a fairly stock naturalist bunch, not unlike Shinto traditions. The Flatliners are a group of 'net shamans perhaps not unlike the Rastafarians from Neuromancer. The Kalm are the religion of a sentient feline species but they don't "feel" particularly cat-like. The Disciples of Change are supposed to be a religious application of scientific reasoning, but apart from the psionic aspect there is little that is religious as such in their doctrine. The monotheistic Dhala comes across as the creation-destruction cycle of parts of the Hindu faith with a definite emphasis on the latter. The Gods of Bethany have a strong medieval-chivalric orientation. This is the only sample religion described in sufficient detail taking up some eleven pages.
Whilst others have given this a positive review in the past I cannot agree. From my hefty GURPS collection, this is perhaps one of the worst books in the extensive range from a line that usually produce extremely useful and interesting sourcebooks. The text suffers from numerous cases of "weasel words" (e.g., "many believe", "others believe", "some say", "a common motif" etc) in lieu of substance and is hardly an exciting read. Statements of fact are trivially true and the response to core questions contribute little. Only a handful of historical deities are mentioned and invariably these are in passing although some detailed examples are given, as mentioned in the review. Apart from the fifth and sixth chapter, there is is almost zero integration with descriptive passages and game system mechanics. On the positive side, some of the historical information is of passing interest and, if one is completely unfamiliar with the diversity in various religious practises, the descriptive paragraphs are of some use. Overall however it is fairly slim pickings and this is quite unexpected given the calibre of much of the other material in the GURPS line.
