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Spirituality and Religion January 2019
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| A Call for Revolution: A Vision for the Future by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Sofia Stril-Rever What it is: a thoughtful, impassioned appeal from His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, urging readers to improve the world around them through compassion and an understanding of the ways in which all living things are interconnected.
Why you might like it: The writing is persuasive but concise, making for an approachable introduction to the Dalai Lama's teachings.
Who it's for: Although readers of all ages will find wisdom here, this book is primarily targeted at the young people who will inherit the consequences of climate change and increasing inequality. |
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| Living With the Gods: On Beliefs and Peoples by Neil MacGregorWhat it's about: the ways that religion and society shape one another, from the primal origins of religious belief to the effects of spiritual practice on things like architecture and perceptions of time.
Read it for: its sweeping scale, relevance to contemporary issues of religion and society, and engaging, accessible writing style.
Author alert: Neil MacGregor is the author of other expansive histories, most notably A History of the World in 100 Objects. |
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| God in the Qur'an by Jack MilesWhat it is: an accessible introduction to the Qur'an, discussing the shared God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as depicted in the Muslim holy text.
Who it's for: non-Muslims will probably get the most out of this book, since it focuses on figures that the Bible and the Qur'an have in common but covers few that are exclusive to Islam.
Don't miss: the appendix, which details concepts like the afterlife and Satan as they are portrayed in the Qur'an. |
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| Dear Zealots: Letters From a Divided Land by Amos OzWhat it is: a thought-provoking, reflective collection of essays by Israeli intellectual and writer Amos Oz, detailing his reflections on the state of his homeland and the forces that keep it divided.
Why you should read it: Oz offers a path to reconciliation different from the current discourse, encouraging everyone to be aware of 'the little fanatic who hides, more or less, inside each of our souls."
You might also like: Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi and The Balfour Declaration by Jonathan Schneer. |
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| Why Religion? A Personal Story by Elaine PagelsWhat it's about: religion scholar Elaine Pagels' story of her relationship with spirituality over the course of her life and career, with insights from neurologists and social scientists about the purpose faith serves for humanity.
Don't miss: the parallels between parts of the author's life story and the Book of Job, and the lessons she took from these difficult experiences.
What sets it apart: the artful balance between Pagels' respect for faith as a concept and her curiosity about why it manages to endure in the modern era. |
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| The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims by Mustafa AkyolWhat it is: a thought-provoking exploration of the influences of Christian and Jewish thinkers on early Islamic conceptions of Jesus and his nature.
Topics include: depictions of Jesus's mother Mary as she appears in Islamic writings; discussions = of the lessons that believers of all three Abrahamic faiths can take away from the Qur'an.
Read it for: its conversational, accessible evaluation of holy texts and evidence from the archaeological record. |
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Forged : writing in the name of God : why the Bible's authors are not who we think they are
by Bart D. Ehrman
It is often said, even by critical scholars who should know better, that "writing in the name of another" was widely accepted in antiquity. But New York Times bestselling author Bart D.Ehrman dares to call it what it was: literary forgery, a practice that was as scandalous then as it is today. In Forged, Ehrman's fresh and original research takes readers back to the ancient world,where forgeries were used as weapons by unknown authors to fend off attacks to their faith and establish their church. So, if many of the books in the Bible were not in fact written by Jesus's inner circle - but by writers living decades later, with differing agendas in rival communities - what does that do to the authority of Scripture? Ehrman investigates ancient sources to:- * Reveal which New Testament books were outright forgeries.
* Explain how widely forgery was practiced by early Christian writers-and how strongly it wasc ondemned in the ancient world as fraudulent and illicit. * Expose the deception in the history of the Christian religion. Ehrman's fascinating story of fraud and deceit is essential reading for anyone interested in the truth about the Bible and the dubious origins of Christianity's sacred texts.
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The great transformation : the beginning of our religious traditions
by Karen Armstrong
The critically acclaimed, best-selling author of A History of God examines the origins and history of the religious traditions of the world during the ninth century B.C.E. Axial Age in four distinct regions of the world--Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece.
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Pagans: The End of Traditional Religion and the Rise of Christianity
by James J. O'Donnell
Religion in the Roman Empire during the first four centuries A.D. assumed that there were many gods. People were devoted to their deities but also tolerant of different beliefs. The early followers of Jesus asserted a strange, novel idea when they claimed that their God was the only one. In Pagans, Georgetown University scholar James O'Donnell offers an easy to follow tour of ancient Roman religions preceding Christianity. He also explains how Christian doctrine began to drive out polytheism and eventually dominated Western religion. Though it's packed with historical scholarship, this book "employs the classical texts with irony and irreverence" (Kirkus Reviews).
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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New Hanover County Library
201 Chestnut Street Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 910-798-6301 www.nhclibrary.org |
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