Some religions in Vietnam

07/31/2013

Religion is a form of social consciousness which was born and developed  thousand years ago. In the process of its existence and development, religion has deeply and comprehensively impacted on all  aspects of the social life such as  political institutions, culture, ethics, lifestyle, philosophical views, customs, tradition….. In Việt Nam, religion is an important issue related  to the national policy. Vietnamese State and Party are always interested in religion.

As other many countries, Việt Nam has many great religions in the world  such as Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Baha'I Faith, Islam. Some native religions were raised in Vietnam such as  Cao đài Religion, Pure Land Buddhism Home – Practice Association, Hòa Hảo Buddhism, Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương, Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa .  Each religion has  rich contents on its history, ideology, philosophy, morality, culture ....The deep understanding of religions in the world as well as in Vietnam can help us to form right religious policy. For religious organizations, the understanding of religions can help them to consolidate and  develop their own religions with humanity, solidarity and friendship. The understanding of religions is necessary in current social context , especially in the promotion of human values, superiority of religions for the peaceful life  and social development.

That is  reason why  Việt Nam Government Committee for Religious Affairs supplements and reprints the book “ Some Religions in Vietnam”' written by Dr.. Nguyễn Thanh Xuân. This book was reprinted 9 times. Many readers like and make their suggestions to this book. In order to meet requirements of readers, Dr Nguyen Thanh Xuan supplements new religions and legal documents regarding religions to his book “ Some Religions in Vietnam” in this reprint. The legal documents regarding religions in Việt Nam  are dealt with in this book are: Ordinance on Belief and Religion (2004),  Government Decree 92/2012/NĐ-CP on guidance for  Implementation of the Ordinance on Belief and Religion, Instruction 01/2005/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on some tasks regarding Protestantism, Instruction 1940/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on  Religion – related housing and land
When writing  the book " Some Religions in Vietnam," Nguyen Thanh Xuan has made  referred  and studied many books on religions in  Vietnamese and foreign languages. The writer helps readers,  managers, officials  dealing with  religious  affairs , especially religious dignitaries and believers to understand more and more  religions in Việt Nam  as well as in the world.
This book consists of some parts. Each part mentions the birth, process of development, dogmas,   rites, organizational system and relation of each religion.  Nguyen Than Xuan is not only a researcher but also a manager, he provides readers  with  the list of original and related materials, reference books of nearly 80 publications in both Vietnamese and foreign languages. This list is ​​at the end of the book. This list  helps readers to look up relevant contents more conveniently and quickly.
 The book  “Some Religions in Vietnam” is a scientific work with valuable information. With a simple and clear style of writing, the author helps readers to see  vivid  religious picture in Việt Nam. This book is value for researchers, scholars, administrators, religious dignitaries and believers and all  people who are interested in religions
The book “ Some Religions in Việt Nam” is  published by Religion Publishing house in  the First quarter 2013. We would like to introduce this book  to the readers.

Yen Son