Atheists and Theists alike - share A Common Heritage of World Literature. This thread has been created in order to facilitate a rich cross-fertilisation of information and ideas between us. Feel free to add Kid's stuff, Fun stuff, as well as your Favourite 'Serious' stuff. The printed page always holds a * message * for someone, somewhere - no matter what it says.
I'll start us off with four books from: 'Oxford World's Classics' series:-
THE BIBLE THE QU'RAN THE BHAGAVAD GITA THE GOLDEN BOUGH
Two major Landmarks re English Language and Literature:- Ancrene Wisse - (Medieval Christian Rules For Anchorites) The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare - (All Human Life Is There;-)
Our Rich Heritage isn't bound by Borders, Creed or Race (or Time) and provides us with Children's Books that can remain Favourites For Life. Our innocent / mysterious / magical interaction with the illustrations providing a portal into other worlds; the words, told over and over again - delighting us with extraordinary events whilst teaching us about the moral / social Codes of our Culture. This capacity of the child to see (innocently) deeper mysteries than any adult philosopher could dream of (whilst at the same time 'believing in Santa Claus') will be used / abused later by Politicians and Religious Leaders intent only on Control of the body and soul (with-holding information, manipulation, distortion of facts). If that were not the case children would have been able to reach adulthood fully aware and whole. Instead they've believed b*ll*h*t - Santa Claus' role replaced with Celebs, Leaders, Heroes, 'god'(s). Evenso, more and more adults are seeing the Mystery of Life for what it Really Is - less censorship of literature and Freedom of Information paving the way for a BRIGHTer future. This pleases me very much;-)
Well, that should set the ball rolling. I'm looking forward to being reminded of books I'd forgotten about - but I'm especially looking forward to learning about books I've never heard of - so don't be shy - come on in here and share your joys with your friends;-)
Cheers, Maya
ps. This Thread Encourages Repetition - so just go ahead and add yours at the end if you don't have time to look through the whole lot now. If certain books get repeated more often than others we'll discover how much common ground there is between us (re our tastes and influences). What I hope to see emerging is that there are very few works indeed that divide us - and many, many more that unite us;-)
Memories, Dreams, Reflections - Carl Jung The White Goddess - Robert Graves The Dancing Wu Li Masters - Gary Zukav (quantum zen) Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce (genius with words - inspired)
Anyone thinking of reading Frazer's 'The Golden Bough' should consider buying the Oxford World's Classics edition. It reinstates controversial passages on the crucifixion which were dropped in previous editions. It will probably cost you twice as much as other editions but worth it, in my opinion.
Maya, It's commendable, I suppose, to have an 'all-in' strand - what Christians would call ecumenical. The trouble is, if we don't agree with you, why should we read your books? To me, the Golden Bough is, though interesting, simply a book of folklore. It's not the 'back story' to anything, nor does it offer anything to join in with - because the religions whose relics it speculates about are long, long gone.
As I see it, this thread is open to all to post book titles that have influenced them in some way. I don't think it's a case of agreeing or disagreeing with what's suggested - more a case of 'that seems interesting - tell me more about it' or ignoring the recommendation if it doesn't apppeal.
I feel that I have 'got to know' some of the people on these discussions reasonably well enough to trust their judgement, so if someone suggests something, I may indeed follow it up. As an atheist, I would welcome suggestions of theistic titles that would broaden my understanding of religion.
A thread like this can't do any harm - but we could all get something out of it.
Yes, David's right - this is an all-embracing `None Refused Entry' Library - All contributions gladly received and eagerly anticipated. If you bring your own Favourite Books - that'll encourage others to bring theirs - then you'll get to see lovely theist books that you weren't even aware of = Bliss;-)
Btw: The Wordsworth copy of The Golden Bough - is an *abridged * copy = all the bits that theologians didn't like - having been taken out of it - making it just the same as any other anthropological / historical book - able to be read by any theist (& anyone else) interested in History.
Re: THE GOLDEN BOUGH - Oxford Classics Edition Thankyou for giving us the extra product link JA - now we have something to suit all tastes and pockets. The abridged Wordsworth shouldn't upset theists and the restored Oxford will give atheists the insight they seek. (All tastes catered for;-)
This GEM deserves a box of it's own. As a child I would get lost in the artwork for hours - the illustrator was an absolute genius (imo). Published in the 50's sometime.
Religion Explained - by Pascal Boyer Breaking The Spell -by Daniel Dennett Soul Searching - by Nicholas Humphrey The Transcendental Temptation - by Paul Kurtz The Guru Papers - by Kramer & Alstad (Subtitled 'Masks of Authoritarian Power') The God Virus - by Darrel Ray (pub. Dec 09)
Pumpkin Head, Maya, Okay, fair enough...and thanks for your non-confrontational replies. I still think it doesn't make much sense unless we are all (to use another Christian metaphor) singing from the same hymn sheet. I can never resist a list, though! So, though they're works of fiction, I nominate
'Steppenwolf' and 'The Glass Bead Game' by Hermann Hess.
(In case anybody wonders, they're not specifically theistic)
The Magic Furnace - Marcus Chown (Atoms, Stars, Creation of Heavier Elements) The Never-ending Days of Being Dead - Marcus Chown (Reality Explored) Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You: A Guide to the Universe - Marcus chown (Quantum theory made simple. Well, simpler anyway...) Michio Kaku's - Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration of the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel Richard Dawkin's 'The Ancestor's Tale'. (Human evolution.) Robert Axelrod's 'The Evolution of Cooperation'. (Is unforced cooperation possible? Insights into everything from game theory to the behaviour of WWII troops.)
Terry Moore's - Strangers In Paradise Pocket Book 1: Pocket Book Bk. 1 (Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book Collection) (Sam says; It's got nothing to do with anything here. I just really like it and recommend it to anyone. :D)
ps. Sam, if you want to put any of this differently (eg with product links / descriptions) feel free and I'll just delete this post afterwards. cheers, M
Apophenion: A Chaos Magick Paradigm: A Chaos Magic Paradigm The Pseudonomicon The Book of the Subgenius Promethea: Book 1 The Morning of the Magicians (Mysteries of the Universe)
Another book with pictures I could just lose myself in - there was something about them that seemed to transport you back in time and into Their World
[Books that have been reprinted many times and in different formats can also use different illustrators - so if I find this particular book I'll supply details later - or maybe someone else recognises the edition I'm referring to?]
I would highly recommend 'An Interpretation of Religion' by the Christian philosopher / theologian John Hick. His slam-dunk on Plantinga's version of the ontological argument was breathtaking, and so obvious - at least, once it is pointed out!
Incredible I know but they lied to us about the world. Welcome to the Real World (including South America and Africa as they really are .... scarily HUGE;-)
The Peters World Atlas: The Earth In its True Proportions - by Arno Peters
If you like your philosophy in accessible and everyday terms, then read this. It comes wrapped up in an incredibly moving true story about the relationship between a philosophy lecturer and his wolf-dog hybrid, Be prepared to blub when the dog dies!
Great book outlining the case for keeping religion out of the science class. It's an American book, but the approach is equally applicable to UK schools
![[Add comment]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/reviews/comment._V20569588_.gif){kind=small}
RSS Feed
