When it comes to religion and philosophy, what are the best and worst books you have read on the subjects? Any book over any topic (evidence for/against God, the afterlife, psychology, ethics, non-/dualism, etc.) is perfectly fine.
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Best and worst religion/philosophy books you've read?
- Thread starter StarryNightshade
- Start date
Skwim
Veteran Member
Best.
Worst.
Reptillian
Hamburgler Extraordinaire
I agree with Skwim, Bertrand Russell is good. For a more "classic" text I prefer Cicero's "De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods)"
Gaura Priya
IRL
One of the many best books out there to read:
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Titanic
Well-Known Member
I will say to you what another person said to me on this fourm when i asked a similar question. If you do not believe in god get a notebook and write in it there is no god over and over, then that will be the best book about the not for god, if you believe in god write there is a god over and over then that will be the best book for the there is a god agruement. simple as that you do not need anything else.
in_lakech
I Am Another You :)
One of my favorites: The Book of Understanding By Osho
The path to freedom is filled with questions and uncertainty. Is it possible to truly know who we are? Do our lives have a purpose, or are we just accidental? What are we meant to contribute? What are we meant to become, to create, and to share? In The Book of Understanding, Osho, one of the most provocative thinkers of our time, challenges us to understand our world and ourselves in a new and radical way. The first step toward understanding, he says, is to question and doubt all that we have been taught to believe.
All our lives weve been handed so-called truths by countless othersbeliefs we learned to accept without reason. It is only in questioning our beliefs, assumptions, and prejudices that we can begin to uncover our own unique voice and heal the divisions within us and without.
Once we discover our authentic self, we can embrace all aspects of the human experiencefrom the earthy, pleasure-loving qualities that characterize Zorba the Greek to the watchful, silent qualities of Gautam the Buddha. We can become whole and live with integrity, able to respond with creativity and compassion to the religious, political, and cultural divides that currently plague our society.
The path to freedom is filled with questions and uncertainty. Is it possible to truly know who we are? Do our lives have a purpose, or are we just accidental? What are we meant to contribute? What are we meant to become, to create, and to share? In The Book of Understanding, Osho, one of the most provocative thinkers of our time, challenges us to understand our world and ourselves in a new and radical way. The first step toward understanding, he says, is to question and doubt all that we have been taught to believe.
All our lives weve been handed so-called truths by countless othersbeliefs we learned to accept without reason. It is only in questioning our beliefs, assumptions, and prejudices that we can begin to uncover our own unique voice and heal the divisions within us and without.
Once we discover our authentic self, we can embrace all aspects of the human experiencefrom the earthy, pleasure-loving qualities that characterize Zorba the Greek to the watchful, silent qualities of Gautam the Buddha. We can become whole and live with integrity, able to respond with creativity and compassion to the religious, political, and cultural divides that currently plague our society.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
It's a tough choice between Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All and Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way.
Best: The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda.
Worst: The Yoga Sutras of Patajnali by Geshe Michael Roach.
Worst: The Yoga Sutras of Patajnali by Geshe Michael Roach.
Sha'irullah
رسول الآلهة
The best I would say is The Iliad? But if that does not count I am going with In Quest of God by Swami Ramdas. It is sort of a cheesey whimsical work but it makes so many nice points to it. Just an inspired book to begin with.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. I praise these philosophical literatures on how exactly not to display a view point. They are at the pinnacle of foolery and show the lack of understanding a critique has on religion.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. I praise these philosophical literatures on how exactly not to display a view point. They are at the pinnacle of foolery and show the lack of understanding a critique has on religion.
paarsurrey
Veteran Member
The best book for religion:
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Philosophy-of-Teachings-of-Islam.pdf
The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Best/Worst for logic or for meaning?
Well, my favorite for logic but was really hard to read so it wasn't really my favorite but:
The worst I can't decide, I don't get into them if I don't find their philosophy good
Well, my favorite for logic but was really hard to read so it wasn't really my favorite but:
The worst I can't decide, I don't get into them if I don't find their philosophy good
Outside of my Bible, I would like to say that Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh is an excellent book- I think he successfully showed the major similarities between the two religions and helped shrink a chasm between the two.
As for worst, I can't say any of them are really bad if someone values them- even if I don't personally value them.
As for worst, I can't say any of them are really bad if someone values them- even if I don't personally value them.
That's perhaps because the New Testament isn't a book of philosophy?
No "worst," but the best is a book by Alan Watts called, "The Wisdom of Insecurity."
Of course, I haven't read much.
InvestigateTruth
Veteran Member
Book of Certitude by Baha'u'llah. And Some answered Questions by Abdulbaha. Both are available online.
The worst religion book I have read are probably the Spiritist Codification by Allan Kardec. If Spiritism qualifies as a religion, that is.
The best book in the area that I have read is perhaps "The Life You Can Save" by Peter Singer.
The best book in the area that I have read is perhaps "The Life You Can Save" by Peter Singer.
Does this mean books as in modern works, or does include the older philosophical essays and religious scriptures?
Usually I prefer to read from the earlier sources.
My favorite philosophical works are probably:
-Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle
-Nature, and other essays, by Ralph Emerson
-The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus
-Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
For religious scriptures:
-My favorite religious texts are probably the Bhagavad Gita and the Mukhya Upanishads.
-I also kind of like the Tao Te Ching.
-The Gospel of Thomas is decent, as well.
-My least favorite texts are probably the Old Testament, the Canon New Testament, and the Qur'an. Those are the ones I found the least value in.
For modern books on religion:
-I like the Origin of Satan, by Elaine Pagels
-Constantine's Sword, by James Carroll, is good too, imo.