Theo-Maniac

Anyone ever read either of these? The first is a two volume commentary on the Gospels written by Paramhansa Yogananda, and the second is a two volume commentary on the Bhagavad Gita also written by Yogananda. I've read bits and peices of both sitting in Barnes & Noble, but don't own copies of either, although I would absolutely love to.

I was reading through the "Christianity and Buddhism" thread in this section, and I noticed at least one person mention one of my favorite Buddhist authors, Thich Nhat Hanh, so I thought I'd start a thread just for discussing Hanh's works. Personally I'm working on collecting all his books, although I haven't read all the ones I've bought so far, kind of a "so many books, so little time" paradox.

Just realised, I forgot to give the name of my thesis, "Christian Yoga: Eastern Theology in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark", by Frank Martin.

Well, might not be "academic" exactly, but I would invite anyone thats interested who's in Seattle at any time to swing by the Northwest school and check out my Senior thesis on Eastern theology in the Gospels. Its based primarily on works by Yogananda and Kriyananda (as anyone who's read many of my posts on this board probably guessed) and it's bound to piss off the fundamentalist contingent to no end, but I think I bring up some interesting points in it. I might get around to posting it somewhere on the 'net in the future, and if so I'll let you all know, but don't hold your breath. Oh, and anything and everything by Marcus Borg is worth reading over and over until it falls apart.

If I've said it once, I'll say it a million times, Paramhansa Yogananda, and Swami Kriyananda (J Donald Walters) in my opinion, have not written a single thing between them that isn't worth reading. I would recommend their autobiographies (Autobiography of a Yogi, and the Path: Autobiography of a Western Yogi) be the first thing that you read, as they'll give you some really useful insight into the pairs thought processes. Kriyananda is a disciple of Yogananda, who was a Kriya Yoga Guru that came to America back during the second quarter of the 1900's. Yogananda died back in the 40's if I remember correctly, but Kriyananda is still around, producing books like a pair of rabbits makes babies. Heh

I doubt you'll find many here who agree with you. The NIV is a conservative translation that actually manipulates the text of the Holy Scriptures to say what they want. For example, you know all those parts of the NT where Paul talks about sexual practices and it says Homosexual or gay in the NIV? Turns out there's no word that is anything close to gay or homosexual in the origianl languages the NT was written in, so how did they pull that off? As for the KJV, I read it primarily for the Psalms, most of the Psalms I memorize are the KJV version simply because they sound more beautiful to me than any other translation. However I can't make heads nor tales of most of it, so it is not my primary Bible. Not to mention the fact that it has similar problems to the NIV, except in the case of the KJV, verses appear in the english that don't exist anywhere in the original texts.

I second Guns, Germs, and Steel. Haven't read it yet, but heard its excellent. Haven't read it cover to cover, yet, but I'd also recommend "Secrets of the Samurai" to anyone who's interested in feudal Japan. It gets into every aspect, the martial arts, weapons, armor, Bushido, and more. Interesting fact or two to get you interested: "Bushido" means "Art of the warrior", and the Samurai were called "Bushi", which is Japanese for, you guessed it, warrior.

Kind of off topic, but I really don't think the Fundies are burning HP because of supposed "witchcraft", I personally think its more a matter of control, keeping people from being exposed to things that might encourage things such as INDEPENDANT THOUGHT. Sorry for the totally off-topic post, just felt the need to get that out there.

I'm reading "My Utmost for His Highest", which I consider to be quite a good devotional book. However, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good devotional that comes more from a Progressive bent? Or does such a thing even exist?

I would recommend that when you're reading the OT, no matter what version of the Bible you're reading, you read a copy of the Hebrew Tanakh alongside for comparison. I personally preffer the Jewish Publication Society's translation, but there are a couple different ones out there to choose from. There are some pretty interesting translation discrepancies you'll notice if you do this between the Tanakh and OT of the Bible. Not to mention the fact that I personally trust the Jewish people more when it comes to translating their own Holy texts accurately than my fellow Christians.

Is Phillip Yancey considered a Conservative, Mainline, or Liberal Christian? I found a couple books of his at Barnes & Noble yesterday that I'd like to read (primarily "the Bible Jesus Read" not sure if thats the exact title though) and thought I'd get some opinions from people here before spending any money.

Barnes and Noble normally sells the JPS translation, which is the one I'm reading and would recommend, but you should be able to order a copy from most any bookstore. Unless you want to pay almost forty dollars I'd recommend getting the pocket addition, although the JPS does sell a pretty nice looking, inexpensive, study version.

I have no Jewish roots other than theologically, but I still find it important to study Judaism, as Christianity came from Judaism, and you cannot truly understand the latter, without at least a basic understanding of the former. I have not yet read any noncanonnical Jewish literature, but I just purchased a copy of the Jewish Publication Society translation of the Tanakh, which is the Jewish Bible, and I plan on reading it alongside my copy of the NRSV when reading the Old Testament for comparison.

Does anybody else here read a copy of the Tanakh beside the Old Testament? I just bought a copy of the Jewish Publication Society's translation today and plan on doing just that. I have a couple freinds who are Jewish that recommended I do this, as there are apparently some pretty major translation issues in the Christian version of the Tanakh, aka the Old Testament, that influence some pretty major Christian teachings.

Its good fiction, there's a reason its not in the nonfiction section, but the "Christian Fiction" section of bookstores. The End Times hype has really been amusing me lately. I mean, really, doesn't the Bible say to not try to figure out God's plans for us? And isn't that exactly whats being done? I enjoyed reading the first two or three books in the series, but got bored with it after that. People have been letting themselves be brainwashed by the false prophets on TV, Christ's message wasn't about fearing for your eternal soul, he was teaching about Divine Love and the search for God. He warned us about false prophets 2,000 years ago, and we still let ourselves be suckered by them.

I personally preffer Borg over Spong, although I've read more of Borg's books than Spong's, so I guess I'm a little biased. Spong just comes off to me as more confrontationary than Borg, more like an immature preschooler that feels he has to be right, than someone who is able to rationalise and see the good in both views, which is what I see Borg doing.

Read "Heart of Christianity", and loved it. I've got a copy of "Reading the Bible Again for the First Time", but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Whats the NOAB by the way?

Hmm, seeing the NIV recommended on a Progressive board seems surprising, as, correct me if I'm wrong, but its one of the more conservative translations, and actually intentionally manipulates the text in some places (using the word homosexual, when there's no equivalent in the original language for example). As far as stand-alone commentary goes (if I decide to go that route), what are some well respected "liberal" commentaries?

I've got the NRSV that my old church gave me, but I'm interested in getting a Bible geared towards "New Christians" that explains Christian concepts etc, that I can read as a study/devotion Bible, which is why I was looking at the "New Believer's Bible" or New Testament, but its a bit Conservative for my tastes (advocates actively going out and proslytizing, etc). So, I guess what I'm wondering is: is there a Progressive/Liberal equivalent of "the New Believer's Bible"?

My point exactly, and I maintain that people interpret stuff like this as saying what they want it to say, instead of what it actually does.

The way I see it, he wasn't the son of G-d, we all are, its even in the original text of the scriptures that way (the word that is translated as the in Jesus' statement about his relation to G-d in greek actually means A, not THE). However, I also don't believe he was simply a good person. He did fulfill the prophecy of a saviour in the old testament, but nowhere does it say anything in the OT (that I'm aware of, and I'm basing this off of discussions with my counselor who is a Jew and has studied the Tanakh (the original version of the Old Testament) in Hebew for almost his whole life) about Jesus being THE son of G-d. I personally believe that he was a student of Hindu Yoga (and I do have evidence to support this), and that he was a master of the Yogic Arts (which include control over all functions of the body, which basically means that when he was on the cross, for example, he could have easily simulated being dead by going limp and slowing his heart-beat so he was still conscious, but to such a small degree that people at the time couldn't tell).

I'll definitely be adding that to my "I need to buy this" list of resources on Mysticism & Christianity. Thanks for the link.

I'm not saying I know this is the case of course (nobody does for sure, and probably never will), but I personally believe, as I think I've said before on this board, that Heaven and Hell are states of consciousness that we experience here, in this life, Hell being seperation from G-d and living purely in the physical world. I feel I can say this with some assurance, as I experience it vicariously through my father, who has no spiritual grounding, lives purely in the physical realm, life dictated by his job, money, and alcohol.

This is more how I approach evangelism when I do engage in it (and its rare, if ever that I engage in any form of direct evangelism). To me, witnessing and evangelism is sharing the gospel, which doesn't mean trying to force someone to convert, or even necessarily showing them that they've sinned to directly try to get them to convert. I think its totally possible, and, infact prefferable to evangelise by sharing the Gospel and debating with others more often then direct evangelising, as it helps the person feel more in control of the decision, as if its a choice for them to make, not what they're being told to do. Also, in my opinion, it seems reasonable to assume that if they convert from that sort of experience, instead of a forced conversion, it'll be a lot more likely that they'll be a true convert, and actually come to believe, not just pretend to convert to get you to leave them alone.

I would have to agree with the OP on this. Christ says to take the eucharist to "remember me" not to commune with him or the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there should be no reason unbaptised people cannot take communion. Their policy on the Lord's Supper is actually one of the dozens of reasons I attend the church I do, as they don't put restrictions on who can join Christ at his table.