Question by Daniel Dawning: French Fryday, have you read writings by theologians or mystics from many differing religions, o just your own?
Christian
Hindu
Jewish
Islamic
Pagan
Hindu
Buddhist
Other
My favorite authors are Gustavo Gutierrez (Christian), Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhist), Idries Shah (Sufi Islam), and Lon Milo Duquette. (Pagan)
Best answer:
Answer by problem JPAS
Christian…I am Christian.
Hindu..Yes, but not as much as I would like.
Jewish…Yes, doing studies right now, especially on Rabbinical commentaries.
Islamic…Not as much as I would like
Pagan…Yes, in depth
Buddhist Yes, Tibetan Buddhism in depth.
Add your own answer in the comments!
I thought it was Freedom Fryday?
I have read a few, my personal favorite is the Tao Te Ching, but I also enjoy My Upmost for His Highest as well.
I think your assumption here is that all religions are equally valid and true, which is patently false. Also, God doesn’t give out merit badges to people who pride themselves on being “open minded” because they read lots of different (and contradictory I might add) religious texts.
The pursuit of every man is for Truth – pure and simple.
And where Jesus Christ is concerned, there is no option of believing only part of what He taught, or believing what He taught PLUS what Mohammad taught. He said “I AM the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”
Jesus claimed to be God. Now compare that to all of the other world religions:
C.S. Lewis puts it this way:
“There is no half-way house, and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, ‘Are you the son of Brahah?’ he would have said, ‘My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.’
If you had gone to Socrates and asked, ‘Are you Zeus?’ he would have laughed at you.
If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, ‘Are you Allah?’ he would first have rent his clothes and then cut off your head.”
There are good summaries of the holy books of the world’s religions and there is no need to read every one of them. What is needed is a broad understanding of the religious views of others so that one might better bring the Gospel to them.
“Test everything, retain what is good.” 1 Thess 5:21
Peace be to you all+
I read Rumi poetry (Sufism) and I like to read Paulo Coelho books (mysticism/Alchemist). I myself am Christian 😉
I also like to read Yehuda Berg’s writings on Kabbalah
Occasionally I pick up the Bhagavad Gita and also I like the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglette books on Taoism.
I think my Christian faith deepens the more I read about other “religions” wisdoms. My faith has grown quite a bit in the last 20 years and I thank God for the open mind He has given me.
Most people are curious about religions. I don’t put my faith in any religion. My faith is in a savior, Jesus the Christ.
You can read all the books in the world and it will not save you. You can join any religion in the world, even christian, and it will not save you. There is one way to God the father, that is Jesus the Christ. He alone, with nothing else added, will save you from your sin.
I know this sounds wierd to most people. I am not worried about what other people think.
Christian, Judaism and different Pagan paths (mostly Celtic, Norse and Native American). I don’t really have a favorite author. I have tons of favorites lol
i have, but not as many as i’d like. i’m still reading.
no knowledge is ever wasted…
Ohh Yeahh! A Question after my own heart. I’ve read most scripture from most faiths. Bible, Gnostic, Apocrypha, book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Science & Health, Upanishads, Most of the Suttra’s, Urantia book, A Course in Miracles, Koran, The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, All Castaneda and related authors (which are my favorite). I’m not at all religious but am very spiritual. I take from them what I take and ‘leave the rest’.
Tahuti, In my search for a meaningful system of Spirituality I read a great many works. I examined the works of ALL the great Religions of the Earth and many of the lesser ones as well. As I explored, none of them seemed to answer my questins nor fulfill my personal needs. I explored deeper into all of them andread a lot of thephilosophical works that were associated with the. the more I read the more I came to an understanding that ALL believe all the way down deep into their spirits or souls that there way is the right path for them.
The more I read the more I came to understand that only one small set of Religions actually acknowledged the concept that there are MANY paths to spiritual union with Deity. the tiny set was the set that composed the Neo-Pagan Faiths. I explored in that area in as much detail as I could and found that Wicca seemed to fit me and I fit it. I became initiated into a coven in New England which followed the practices of Gerald Gardner. It rang of truth to me, sopke to my very spirit and I actually could hear the voice of Goddess and God who were actually speaking to me every single day. It taught me HOW to listen to them and helped me to understand what it was that they were trying to tell me. As time went on, I became disillusioned by the political “structure” of coven life and explored further and eventually I picked up a book by Ann Moura which detailed the Green Witch principles. This was in 1997 and from that point on I developed my own version of Green Witchcraft. Several years after that I discovered a set of texts by Arin Murphy-Hiscock which covered my understanding of the relationship between the universe and me. So, based on that I gathered that I had indeed found the proper path all along and that MY concepts and understanding were not unique and were instinctively shared by thousands of other Green Witches.
NOw as for the reasons that I read everything about every other Religion that I could find? I wanted to explore them ALL. To SEE if any had any”truth” to them at all. In ALL of my exploring I found that they ALL had a core of basic truth to them. Yet as I explored them deeper, learned about theHistory of each Religion, I discovered that everyone of them went through a period where they diverged from that core truth to become something else entirely. They became dogmatic, uncompromising, and closed to outside sources of NEW knowledge. They became structured and turned into Institutions. Institutions need money to operate effeciently and THAT was the source of their demise. the search for new and innovative ways of financing their institutional operations became the central focus of their hierarchyand fromthere the actual worship and tending to the needs of the followers gave way to the chase for financial gain. Wicca has NO hierarchy, no institution to support and the ONLY ones making financial gain are the writers themselves. Having ventured down the writer’s path, I can safely assure you that very FEW of those writers are getting very wealthy at doing that, probably less than one or two dozen writers are able to support themselves off of their works at any level that one would consider to be wealthy. So MOney seems to NOT be the object in most of these cases. It generally seems to be a genuine desire to “share” their knowledge with their fellow Witches. Some are stuck in basic 101 mode and others have become scattered all throughout the entire range of the craft. Very few are of the caliber that one would truly consider to be a “Master” or a specialist in one specific area. That is BOTH the weakness and the Strength of Wicca. NO dogmatic authority, dictating what followers will believe and adhere to but no definitive structure that can guide the unitiated along a “sure fire” path to wisdom, either. It is up to each practioner to discern the garbage from the really beneficial material. Because of that most fall by the wayside. The REST of us merely muddle along and eventually find our OWN version of the truth and in our own ways. We form a unique relationship with the universe and with Deity on terms that are mutually beneficial to both US and Deity. Over all, I think this makes our paths a lot harder to adhere to but in the end, it makes the rewards a lot more meaningful and heart felt.
Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch
answer: Yes – Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Pagan, Heathen, ancient ones – Greek, Roman, etc.
I’m Heathen
I’m really enjoying learning about Judaism currently.