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Post by phil on Mar 28, 2006 12:19:34 GMT -5
 This is Harpur's most radical and groundbreaking work to date, in which he digs deep into the origins of Christianity and how the early Christian church covered up all attempts to reveal the Bible as myth.
What began as a universal belief system has become a ritualistic institution headed by ultraconservative literalists. As he reconsiders a lifetime of worship and study, Harpur reveals a cosmic faith built on these truths that the modern church has renounced.
His message is clear: our blind faith in literalism is killing Christianity. Only with a return to an inclusive religion where Christ lives within each of us will we gain a true understanding of who we are and who we are intended to become.
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 28, 2006 12:26:08 GMT -5
,Amen
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Post by poseidon on Mar 28, 2006 18:46:35 GMT -5
ho ho ho...
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Post by sisyphus on Mar 29, 2006 2:58:59 GMT -5
i've bit the bullet and started to read Thucydides' The History of the Peloponnesian War. brilliantly readable.  i AM sparticus...!!!!! sorry, i couldnt resist. that seems like an intense and testy read. i'm impressed. ever read any flavius josepheus? |
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Post by Rit on Mar 29, 2006 9:53:47 GMT -5
ha!
nice, except you mixed up empires, Sis. The Peloponnesian War deals with the Greek city states' civil war between the Spartan League and the Athenian League.
Thucydides was a brilliant foreign policy militarist, and he actually wrote the history of that war year by year, as it happened, because he was so sure at the beginning that it would turn out to be a war of catastrophic/historic implications. He was right, i guess, becuase Athens was totally defeated at the end of it.
the lure of the book is Thucydides' sharp-eyed observations on the state of humanity and war-and-peace machinations. It's decidedly 'realist' in tendency.... for example, Thomas Hobbes was a devout student of Thucydides.
I amazed that it holds up so well, and also that nothing ever changes in history. As it happened before, so it happens again, and will happen again.
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Post by bowiglou on Mar 30, 2006 17:46:44 GMT -5
just finished Charles Dickens--Oliver Twist
all I can say it may rate amongst one of the best novels I've read.....but if there is a shred of truth to this work of 'ficton' (which apparently there is per the introduction) then conditions were deplorable for kids/orphans....
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Post by poseidon on Mar 30, 2006 18:59:10 GMT -5
just finished Charles Dickens--Oliver Twist all I can say it may rate amongst one of the best novels I've read.....but if there is a shred of truth to this work of 'ficton' (which apparently there is per the introduction) then conditions were deplorable for kids/orphans.... Those "deplorable conditions" occur today. Lots of molestation occurs in shelters/orphanages/foster homes. At least today the kids eat well. |
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Post by poseidon on Mar 30, 2006 19:01:50 GMT -5
Twist has always been one of my fav books.
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Post by bowiglou on Mar 30, 2006 21:06:38 GMT -5
yeah patlogi, just a great tome....thankfully there was a fairly detailed glossary and notes page as there was much vernacular that I needed help with.......
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 31, 2006 11:52:06 GMT -5
def need to read Twist some day . . .
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Post by bowiglou on Mar 31, 2006 14:14:52 GMT -5
Thorny, I can't recommend it highly enough.........and what is amazing is how productive Dicken's was during that time period...I definitely need to put Pickwick Papers on my 'to read classic' list...so, since I started reading the classics 1.667 years ago, this is what I've read thus far:
(1) Hunchback of Notre Dame
(2) Wuthering Heights
(3) The Jungle
(4) Lolita
(5) The Red and Black
(6) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(7) Moby Dick
(8) Of Human Bondage
(9) Oliver Twist
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Post by Fuzznuts on Mar 31, 2006 14:57:38 GMT -5
I'm smack in the middle of reading Of Human Bondage myself. This is one of those books that I can't believe I'm enjoying as much as I am.
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Post by poseidon on Mar 31, 2006 15:03:03 GMT -5
Thorny, I can't recommend it highly enough.........and what is amazing is how productive Dicken's was during that time period...I definitely need to put Pickwick Papers on my 'to read classic' list...so, since I started reading the classics 1.667 years ago, this is what I've read thus far: (1) Hunchback of Notre Dame (2) Wuthering Heights (3) The Jungle (4) Lolita (5) The Red and Black (6) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (7) Moby Dick (8) Of Human Bondage (9) Oliver Twist Read Hunchback, Jekyll and Hyde, Dick, and Twist back during my youth. Had lots of spare time on my hands as I was always grounded to my room for weeks on end for various parental psychosis infractions... |
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Post by sisyphus on Mar 31, 2006 16:47:09 GMT -5
ha! nice, except you mixed up empires, Sis. The Peloponnesian War deals with the Greek city states' civil war between the Spartan League and the Athenian League. Thucydides was a brilliant foreign policy militarist, and he actually wrote the history of that war year by year, as it happened, because he was so sure at the beginning that it would turn out to be a war of catastrophic/historic implications. He was right, i guess, becuase Athens was totally defeated at the end of it. the lure of the book is Thucydides' sharp-eyed observations on the state of humanity and war-and-peace machinations. It's decidedly 'realist' in tendency.... for example, Thomas Hobbes was a devout student of Thucydides. I amazed that it holds up so well, and also that nothing ever changes in history. As it happened before, so it happens again, and will happen again. thomas hobbes, eh? hrmm. have you gotten into any of those japanese war strategists/philosophers, or are you sticking to europe right now? as for realism, i have not gotten there yet...empirical evidence only goes so far with me...only so far in getting my attention....i don't know why....it's not "realistic" of me.heheh i mean, metaphorically, shouldnt i learn the basics of classical physics and use that knowledge to my advantage within that plane? still, i'll save that quest for 2008. (there's no reality, just an illusion, there's not real sainity, just plain confusion) das ist mein hand, du spracht? thrbrrrrbbbbbbbbb'b''''' wittgenschteeeeeiiiiin kan shuv it..heheheheee eternal recurrence. freaky. *sparticus keels over, gratified by the anti-flex of his tongue as it drips into his armpit* i feel crazy today. yeah. crazy. |
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 31, 2006 17:10:21 GMT -5
today?
;b
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