Monday, March 27, 2017

My Bibliography

In case you're wondering where I get my ideas. This is about 25 years of reading.

             Christian days
The Tao - Lao Tzu
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time – Dominic Crossan
Something by Marcus Borg
The Doors of Perception  -
Religious America, Secular Europe? Peter Berger and Grace Davie. 2007
Iron John – Robert Bly
The Gospel of Inclusion – Carlton Pearson
The Great Emergence- Phyllis Tickle
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
Abraham: A Journey to the – Bruce Feller – Well researched look at how the 3 monotheisms draw from one tradition.
Jesus for the Non-religious John Shelby Spong
                Not so Christian days
Blessed Unrest Paul Hawken – about organizations working for peace and justice
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
The Imitation of Christ Thomas Kempis
Dante's Divine Comedy – actually, I couldn't finish it
Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach
The Meaning of Life A Short Introduction – Terry Eagleton
The Story of Philosophy Will Durant – excellent complete coverage
Reason, Faith, and Revolution – Reflections on the God Debate by Terry Eagleton, 2009
Spinoza on Ethics - Surprisingly strong emphasis on god and the impossibility of uncaused events.
50 Voices of Doubt
                Definitely not Christian days
If You Meet the Buddha on the Road Kill Him – Sheldon B Kopp
The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follet – fiction, but paints a picture of the time when there were two Popes
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
What's So Great About Christianity – Dinesh D'Souza – Terrible, complete cherry picking of history, ignores anything bad about it. It was recommended by a liberal Methodist Bishop so I include only as an example of something that a Christian could be fooled by.
The Daily Show and Philosophy – not that great
Fire, Water, Spirit – Malidoma Some. A biographical story, not theology, some history, mainly mythology.
Banned Questions from the Bible – mostly for teens, a few high points.
Compassion – Karen Armstrong (I think I read her History of God)
Critical Thinking books recommended by Russell of ACA
                Demon Haunted World – Carl Sagan (read parts of it)
                Innumerncy –John Allen Paulos (ways people are fooled with math)
Who Wrote the Bible - Friedman
Mistakes were Made but not by Me – Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson  About psychology of belief
Not the Impossible Faith – Richard Carrier. Why Christianity flourished.
Tony Jones A New Atonement
The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin – Amir D Azcel – this was more history of the man and his political problems and not much about this religious philosophy.
How the Irish Saved Civilization – Thomas Cahill – fills in a few gaps in history
The Liberation of Theology -  Juan Luis Segundo – religion is politics
Introducing Liberation Theology – Leonardo Boff 
Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed - William R Herzog
The Botany of Desire – Michael Pollan – has a great bit on the Genesis creation story as a metaphor for the dangers of pagan rituals involving hallucinogenic drugs
Sir Gwain and The Green Knight
Bertrand Russell History of Philosophy – Comprehensive, reviewers have said it contains inaccuracies
God’s Philosophers – James Hannam – A rare look at early science in the Middle Ages, but it has some historical errors and leaves a lot out.
Everything Must Change – Brian McClaren
Thomas Sheehan, The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity
Quest for Jerusalem – about recent histiography on Columbus
Free Will – Sam Harris
Infidel  Ayaan Hirsi Ali amazing story of a woman escaping Islam
I am Malala – the girl who was shot in Afghanistan for going to school
Wittgenstein’s Poker – A fun history of 20th century philosophy, including Karl Popper
Sense and Goodness Without God – Richard Carrier – rare idea for philosophy incorporating all modern knowledge
Wild – Cheryl Strayed – Not about religion, but a about a journey of healing.
And God Said Billy – Frank Schaeffer – bizarre, but a look into the fundamentalist mind
Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in God – Frank Schaeffer. Cherry picking, but at least he admits it.
Snowy Tower – Martin Shaw
Branch from the Lightning Tree – Martin Shaw – these are about myth, they are essential
American Gods – fiction, but a fun play on mythology and how the European gods followed people to the US
Think – Simon Blackburn Descartes to modern era
A.D. 381 Charles Freeman – covers the history of the theology of the 4th century. Amazing.
In Faith and In Doubt – Dale McGowan – for mixed secular/religious relationships, but also has some interesting data on belief and how it doesn’t match the given identified denomination
The Brothers Karamzov – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brothers K - David James Duncan 
Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor E Frankl. Totally amazing.
Why I am Not a Christian – Richard Carrier
Hitler Homer Bible Christ – Richard Carrier
Is There a God - Richard Swinburne - read this for a class, don't recommend it
The Tao of the Dude – Oliver Benjamin – fun, just sayings mostly
The Christian Delusion – John Loftus, a collection, got it for the Carrier chapter mostly
Eve – William Paul Young (Author of The Shack), fiction. Uses Genesis creation narrative to tell the story
The Way of the Heathen – Greta Christina - 2nd only to Sense and Goodness
Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World – Miroslav Volf, disagree with it, but it's still interesting
Islam and the Future of Tolerance – Sam Harris, Maajid Nawwaz
How to Defend the Christian Faith, Advice from an Atheist – John F Loftus, very sarcastic
Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower – Tom Krattenmaker. Disappointing, very religious.
On the Historicity of Jesus – Richard Carrier
A Christian and an Atheist Walk Into a Bar – Shieber and Rauser.
Doubt – Jennifer Michael Hecht
Why I Left, Why I Stayed – Tony Campolo, Bart Campolo
What Is the Bible - Rob Bell
War on Science - Shawn Otto
Flourishing: Why We Need... - Miroslav Volf
Social Conquest of Earth - EO Wilson
The Bonobo and the Atheist - Frans de Waal
Misquoting Jesus - Bart Ehrman
How Jesus Became God - Bart Ehrman
Breaking the Spell - Daniel C. Dennett
The Brothers K - David James Duncan - fictional story that includes some amazing insight into the human psyche
How to Read the Bible - James L. Kugel - using it as a reference
The Sacred Depths of Nature - Ursula Goodenough
Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief - David Madison
Jesus Mari and Joji - James C. Jensen
The G.K. Chesteron Collection
Jesus Interrupted - Bart D. Ehrman
Small  God: Discworld #13 - Terry Prachett - a humorous interlude
The Man Who Knew Infinity - Robert Kanigal - interesting look about someone who came from the Hindu tradition and how that affected his view of the world, but the story is mostly about his understanding of physics
Consilience - Edward O Wilson - not all that much about religion
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari (I include this one to say I don't recommend it. He overuses the idea that things are myths. That idea is better developed elsewhere.)
The Righteous Mind - Includes some history of the evolution of thought as it relates to religion
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Love Your Enemies Arthur C. Brooks (for a Conservative's perspective on politics in the Trump era)
Science of Religion course on EdX - highly recommend this
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer


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