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
