Introducing Hinduism By Vinay Lal and Borin Van Loon (2010, ISBN 978-184831-114-5)

 Subtitle-- A Graphic Guide

 I found this to be a good introduction to Hinduism. Easy to read and many great illustrations.

Purchased 2023-07-15 at Powells for $5.98

 

 

 

 

The Islam Book, a DK book with varying contributing authors. (2020, ISBN  978-1-4654-9148-0).

This book is an easy introduction to Islam.  However, it is not very objective. The authors appear to be "true believers".

Purchased from Amazon on 2020-12-10 for $17.10

 

The Bible Book by DK (2018, ISBN 978-1-4654-6864-2)

 

Covers the Bible, Jewish and Christian, from Genesis to Revelation. 

The book covers each "Book" of the Bible separately. First the Old Testament books, which are sacred to both Jews and Christians. Then it covers the New Testament which is used by Christians only. The Apocrypha (or Pseudepigrapha) are mentioned but not really expanded upon.

The coverage is glossy from a perspective of various traditions. Some time Jewish perspective is given and sometime Christian. Also, Islam is mentioned a few times.

Sometimes ideas about the Bible from a secular view point are presented. This is not a book meant for believers. Rather this book is for people who have little knowledge of the Bible and want to learn more. Believers might also benefit from this book as it covers the whole bible in an easy to read format, but they must remember this book isn't trying to proselytize but rather just be informative. 

This book was purchased from Amazon Marketplace (AtolyeWish) on November 24, 2020 for 18.26$

 

Saint Luke by G. B. Caird (1963, ISBN 0-1402-0490-3)
Subtitle- The Pelican New Testament Commentaries.

This book is a commentary of the Gospel Of Luke from the Christian New Testament.

 The books consists of a series of sections, each covering a part of the Gospel Of Luke. Each section contains text from the Gospel Of Luke. The text is taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The text also includes any variations that the translators might have noted. Next is the commentary. It explains the text, what it is trying to convey, the context of the time of the events of the text, the context of the time that the author wrote the text and also modern ideas concerning the events and time period being discussed. Following the commentary are often technical notes concerning the text. Many different versions of the text are extant and because they were written by hand by individuals that might have had different opinions about the text or the events it describes, there are differences that the translators had to choose from. The commentary also discusses the text and how it compares to the other Gospels, which parts are in common and which are unique to Luke.

This book was purchased a long time ago,

The Gospel According to Luke, New King James Version, Gideons.

The first time I read Luke, probably 50 years ago, was the Good News translation.

Book found free some where.

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (2017, ISBN 978-0-06-246431-6).
Subtitle-- A Brief History of Tomorrow. Discusses some ideas about what the future may hold for Humans. It is possible that we may create an AI the will replace us. The dominate theme is the Data Religion wherein the AI of the future will monitor us 24/7 and make all of decisions for us. An interesting book to read, would like to read it again sometime.
Purchased at Powells, 2-21-2017 for 35$.

Sefer HaChinuch / Book of Mitzvos, Volume 1, Mitzvos 1 - 65. 2012, ISBN 978-1-4226-1189-0.
This is a multi-volume English elucidation of a 700 year old classic of Torah scholarship. The Torah is described by the Jews as having 613 Mitzvos. A Mitzvos is an obligation or prohibition. The familiar 10 commandments are included in these Mitzvos. The author of this book is unknown, however he is thought to have been a disciple of Ramban. There are many references in the book to Rambam. Interestingly, there is not complete agreement on what are the 613 Mitzvos. This book details some of the confusion regarding this situation. Also, the way these Mitzvos are understood by the Jews can be surprising. For example, Exodus 20:13 (20:15 in King James) says "You shall not steal." This is described in this book (Mitzvah 36) as a Prohibition against Kidnaping. This book contains the Hebrew text and enhanced English translation with notes and insights. Purchased from Artscroll  3-1-2012, for $27.44.

Fallen Angels by Harold Bloom. 2007, 978-0-300-12348-7.
The concept of fallen angel as discussed in this book is different than the usual as given by the above link. Bloom here describes a theory that all humans can be viewed as fallen angels. Interesting book. Purchased September 2012 from Cameron's Books for $5.

Joseph Smith by Robert V. Remini. 2002, ISBN 0-670-03083-X.
This is a biography of Joseph Smith, jr. who was the founder of the LDS movement (Mormons.) The book is well written and I enjoyed reading it. Seems to be objective without being pro or con concerning the veracity  of Joseph Smith claims or those of his dis-tractors.
Purchased from Powells on 6-3-2012 for $7.95.

You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh (2009, ISBN 978-1-59030-675-8) This a book about Buddhism. Specifically it is about living in the present moment.  This is achieved through breathing meditation. "Breathing in. I know I am breathing in" and "Breathing out. I know I am breathing out." The book discusses this breathing meditation but does not contain much about the basic of buddhism. It is primarily a discussion about the benefits of living in the present.
Purchased from amazon, 9-11-2009, for $13.57.

The Book of Mormon, A Biography by Paul C. Gutjahr. 2012, ISBN 978-0-691-14480-1.
This book is about the Book of Mormon. It contains a disscussion about how the book was created and its effect on American culture, during its 180 year history. The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the LDS church. It is not regarded as sacred by any other religion.
Purchased at Powell's Books for 17.50 on 6-3-2012.

How to Answer a Jehovah's Witness by Robert A. Morey. 1980, ISBN 0-87123-206-5. Purchased on 2-17-2012 for $ .01 + 3.99 s&h from Thrift Books via Amazon Marketplace.
This book purports to teach Evangelical Christians how to talk with and convert Jehovah Witnesses who might come to their house to promote their religion. The idea of the book is to prove that the Watchtower Society promotes false prophecies and that therefore their version of religion is false.
The real way to talk to them is to just not answer that door and whatever you do don't give them any money or let them in your house!

How to Answer a Mormon by Robert A. Morey. 1983 ISBN 0-87123-260-X. Recently there has been talk in the media about Mormonism vs. Christianity. Mostly because of a republican candidate for president. So I thought it would be interesting to read a book on the subject. I have read about Mormonism before, I even tried to read the Book of Mormon (I found it too silly. Read it here.) This book however doesn't discuss Mormonism vs. Christianity. Morey's attack on Mormonism is based purely on the prophet-hood of Joseph Smith jr. and what he prophesied. Morey's idea is that all of Mormonism rests on Joseph Smith being a Prophet and if he is shown to be a false prophet then the religion is false.

The Oxford Dictionary of Islam edited by John L. Esposito. 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-512559-7. This is a dictionary, a reference book, and therefore not meant to be read from cover to cover. I have read part of the beginning and will probable continue to read a few pages from time to time. So far I am not enjoying this as much as the Thomas Hughes book. That book is much older and much bigger and not as politically correct, but it was more interesting to read than this book. The entries were usually longer and frequently contain references to the Quran, etc.

The Islamic Invasion by Robert Morey. 1992, ISBN 0-89081-983-1. Subtitled Confronting the World's Fastest Growing Religion. This book is critical of Islam. The book makes some good points, but is mostly everything negative the author could find to say about Islam. The author is a Christian who seems to feel the need to defend his religion by attacking others. Besides books on Islam he has written books about Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Roman Catholicism, Masons, etc. I guess these books are meant to enlighten the Evangelical Christians on how to deal with everyone else who believes something that they don't believe.

Saint Mark by D. E. Nineham. 1963, ISBN 0 14 02.0489 X. This is a part of the Pelican New Testament Commentaries series. This is a commentary on the Book of Mark (or Mark, Gospel of Mark.) This book contains the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of Mark. The commentary discusses the Greek text some, but not extensively, mostly just to explain the choices made by the RSV. Otherwise, the commentary is mostly about the writer of Mark (What they knew or didn't know about Palestine of that period, etc.) The commentary is mostly historical and literary and less about theology. Purchased new on 30 Aug 1978, for $4.95. Purchased at: unknown, possibly Powell's Books.

Book Of Mark. This is from the same copy of the New Testament as the Book Of Matthew. This was shorter than Matthew, I read a couple of chapters a day. Mark contains the ministry and ascension of Jesus, but not the birth story. The print in this tiny copy of Gideons is very tiny. The version of this text is the New King James Version.

Buddha, The Enlightened One by Gabriel Mandel Khan. 2004 Thunder Bay Press, ISBN 1-59223-400-3. This book presents a biography of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama. The text is short, but well written and I think covers the material enough that the reader will gain a good understanding of the Buddha. The book starts with a brief sketch of the Vedic culture that had established itself in India and gave birth to several religions, Hinduism and Jainism, etc. The book describes the life of the Buddha. The last half of the book is about Buddhism and how it spread across Asia. The book contains many color photos of Buddhist art.

The Koran translated and with notes by J. M. Rodwell. 1909. ISBN 978-0-486-44569-4. This Dover Thrift Edition is an unabridged republication of the 1909 edition with the notes and the chronological ordering of the Suras. It is amazing how much different translations can vary. See here for example. A PDF of this book can be obtained at books.google.com. I purchased this copy at Borders sometime last winter (2010) for $5.00.

Genesis: A Living Conversation by Bill Moyers. ISBN 0-385-48345-7. This book is a series of transcripts of conversations recorded for a PBS television series of the same name. The series first appeared in the late 1990s. I found this book interesting to read, however sometimes the comments seemed to be a bit silly. The stories of Genesis were written thousands of years ago for a completely different social-economic context. To expect them to represent some modern value system (in other words, to be politically correct) seems to me to be unrealistic. Most of the participants were professional religionists, i.e. people who have made a career out of studying religion.