I went on the first leg of my quest to learn about world religions yesterday. It was just a brief trip to the Waldenbooks' religion section. Problem was...all the books were about Christianity.
Help!
And suggestions on good books that will give me religious perspectives OTHER than Christianity? I'm looking for a kind of, "this is what we believe and why." A little historical perspective would also be welcome.
I did pick up the two CS Lewis books that have been recommended to me. The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed. I was surprised to find that they are thin little books...for tackling such big topics, I would have thought there would be more. I will let you know what I think (of course).
(oh yeah...the exclamation point issue has been refined for today. I can use it if and only if I use the shift key on the left side of the keyboard...the right shift key seems to only work with @ and beyond.)
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Huh...heavy stuff for the sub pg....i would still suggest Agatha Christie myself LOL.
I read the Tao Te Ching years ago and it was interesting...probably not what you are looking for though. Thomas Merton's The seven story mountain is good, but then that is Christianity again. So i guess i have no useful suggestions, i will be looking however to see what suggestions you do get.
What about the Joseph Campbell books? I haven't read them since high school, but Myths to Live By? The Power of Myths?
Pagan and Alt religious beliefs are rarely in the "religion" section. Try new age, try eastern or asian sections and if you are at a barnes and noble sometimes they have an alternative belief or alt religion section.
You can find out a lot about pagan/wicca/earth based faiths online for free.
Well, as a seminary graduate and wife of a pastor, I couldn't resist answering this post! :)
I searched our bookshelves and think you might like to check out Eerdman's Handbook to World Religions. Its a good handbook that covers all the major religions, as well as new-age and postmodern philosophies. Of course, there's also Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith (he's a lawyer and was an atheist that set out to disprove Christianity when he started writing The Case for Christ). Anyway, both of these seemed to me to be most balanced and something you might want to check out. :)
I recently became a member of the local Unitarian Universalist church and I find it to be a very interesting and provactive group. They do not generally identify themselves as Christian, and in fact the congregation is made up of many "defectors" from other sects, both Christian and non.
The minister emeritus at the church sums it up rather well: "I have never met a Unitarian who did not accept the findings of science. I have never met a Unitarian who did not affirm the importance of this life, of living well in the here and now as opposed to preparing now for a life to come. Unitarians hold that living well now is the only possible preparation for whatever may come after death if anything. Life is a gift, a mystery to be respected and lived.
Some links that may be helpful:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/unitarianism/beliefs/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/unitarianism/history/index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism
http://www.ucmtl.ca/services/PDF/eddis_affirm.pdf
http://www.uua.org/bookstore/index.php?cPath=19&sort=3a&&page=1
(Notably: "Building Your Own Theology")
How about "The Jewish Book of Why"....
I remember reading The Tao of Pooh. :) Okay, that's probably not what you're looking for.
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