Nourishment for the Spirit

by Maximus 81 Replies latest jw friends

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  Introspection

  A long list of names and titles is easy; kernels of truth are more rare. Aim for the latter.
  ----
  What has helped you? What have you enjoyed. Book,author. His/her thoughts. Doesn't have to be religious, just upbuilding or enlightening.

  Well, actually that's a toughy for me. Once in a while a friend or acquaintance will ask me a similar question, but they tend to assume I know more than I actually do. I don't think I would actually be considered a big reader, but what I do read or what interests me I try to really grasp the concepts. I think besides taking in the information and having the intelligence to understand it, the other thing that's key is to actually spend some time trying to see things through a different perspective. I find that is the thing that's rare, it seems most people tend to either not understand it, or understand it but dismiss it or not give it a second thought because it's not something they already identify with.

  But here are a couple of magazines I've found interesting, they both examine things from the perspective of different religious traditions:

  Parabola - http://www.parabola.org/
  What is Enlightenment? - http://www.wie.org/home/default.asp

  Each issue of both deals with a specific theme, WIE obviously deals with something related to the subject of enlightenment. Parabola tends to have traditional stories and articles by scholars, whereas WIE consists of mainly interviews.

  As far as books go, I'd have to recommend The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, no doubt some have noticed that I'm using a quote from this book as my signature. Considering I've also posted extensive quotes from the same book in the past, I won't say too much about it except that I think it really goes back to grasping the concept, but the basic premise is of course being in the present moment, not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, etc. To those who might think "well yeah, but big deal, what's so special about that?" I invite you to honestly ask yourself: How well am I doing at just attending to the here and now? To be perfectly frank, this is probably not something everyone is ready for. You can probably read the book and get nothing out of it, it depends on your state of mind. Actually, it's really just a difference between understanding it conceptually and being able to do it, though if you really absorb yourself in it you may find the book helps you to do just that. Here's a review of the book from WIE: http://www.wie.org/j18/bookrev2.asp

  Another book I'd recommend is the Tao Te Ching. The beauty of this classic is it's simplicity, yet at the same time parts of it may prompt you to spend some time to ponder a short passage. (it's just as well, the whole thing is short enough to be read in one sitting, but unless you're already enlightened it's going to take some reflection to understand all of it) Thomas Merton notes that "some of the wisdom of the Tao Teh Ching, which so often reminds one of the Sermon on the Mount, is absolutely necessary for us not only to progress but even to survive."

  "It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
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  bobby

  Often, it can be difficult to get out of the JW "mindset." I left the JW's because I couldn't cope with the people and the closed enviroment. However, I still believed a lot of it and considered them harmless.

  By chance, I started reading George Orwell's books "1984" and "Animal Farm". A friend also lent me "Combatting Cult Mind Control" by Steve Hassan. I recognised a lot of the things described, and found it frightening! It forced me to look up JW's on the Internet. I would recommend these books to anyone who has just left or is thinking of leaving the JW's - it opens your eyes and cuts you out of that "mindset."
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  Maximus

  A very warm welcome, bobby!

  Maximus
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  RationalWitness

  Maximus,

  Thanks for bringing up this topic. I concur: what JWs/xjws need to do is read, read, read. Reading fuels the imagination and is the best cure for the dangers of ‘a little knowledge.’

  I agree with several recommendations already made:

  Kent mentioned The Parousia - A study of the New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord's Second Coming, by J. Stuart Russell. This truly is a remarkable book. It is ironic that about the same time C. T. Russell was concocting his fantasies, J. S. Russell was writing a serious and compelling exegesis of the apocalyptic sections of the gospels and Revelation. Along with The Parousia I would recommend Before Jerusalem Fell by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., to provide an understanding of the preterist view that the apocalyptic sections of the New Testament were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Before Jerusalem Fell provides probably the most complete body of information refuting a late (post-70 C.E.) dating of the book of Revelation. I do not agree with all of Gentry’s or Russell’s explanations of the symbols in Revelation, but for the purpose of understanding the evidence for the preterist view, these books are probably the best.

  Quester recommended Marcus Borg’s Meeting Jesus For The First Time and The God We Never Knew. Excellent books. In fact, it was Quester who recommended them to me, and I am very grateful for the recommendation. These two books, like Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time cast the Scriptures in a very different light than we were used to as JWs: Borg argues for what he calls “metaphorized history,” a nonliteral reading of the accounts that appeals to common sense, and can be appreciated by someone like myself who finds Bishop Spong too extreme in his views. To get a real flavor of Borg’s rational interpretation of Scripture, I suggest first reading the book he coauthored with N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus—Two Views. Both Wright and Borg are outstanding scholars and longtime friends, but they have very different approaches toward understanding "the historical Jesus," and the juxtaposition of their arguments is a sheer delight to read. Both provide compelling reasons for their positions.

  Cygnus recommended Michael Shermer’s Why People Believe Weird Things. I would recommend even more Shermer’s more recent book How We Believe—The Search for God in an Age of Science. I am surprised I have not seen any of our resident skeptics recommend this book--perhaps I just missed it? Shermer (who as Cygnus points out, is the director of the Skeptics Society and publisher of Skeptic magazine) provides a wonderfully balanced treatment of the issue of belief in God. Nowhere does he ridicule or overstate the case for nonbelief. He quotes, for example, physicist and astronomer Chet Raymo (Skeptics and True Believers), who “considers himself ‘a thoroughgoing Skeptic who believes that words like God, soul, sacred, spirituality, sacrament, and grace can retain currency in an age of science, once we strip them of outworn overlays of anthropomorphic and animistic meaning. Like many others in today’s society, I hunger for a faith that is open to the new cosmology--skeptical, empirical, ecumenical, and ecological--without sacrificing historical vernaculars of spirituality and liturgical expression.’”

  In a similar (but ultimately PRO-theistic) vein, David Bartholomew, Professor of Statistics at the London School of Economics, has written Uncertain Belief (Clarendon Press Oxford). Professor Bartholomew provides a rational case for belief “constructed out of uncertainties” by the use of probabilities. He examines in depth miracles, the paranormal, God’s existence, and the Bible, refuting some of the ‘more extravagant claims’--even disputing theistic arguments from such Christian luminaries as C. S. Lewis--but ultimately reaching the conclusion that belief is indeed rational. Just one caveat: those who might want to read this book should be sure they first understand the use of Bayes’ rule; it is fundamental to Bartholomew’s arguments.

  Belief and Unbelief—A Philosophy of Self-Knowledge by philosopher Michael Novak is a look into Novak’s personal odyssey, his own quest for “fidelity to truth”. He discusses openly the attraction of atheism and the difficulty in articulating what we mean by “God.” But ultimately he accedes to the rationality of the universe and our own resonant “drive to understand” as the exigencies which invite us to believe. This is a very thoughtful and subtly argued book … I literally could not put it down.

  Jesus in the Drama of Salvation by Raymund Schwager. A compelling argument that when the Bible speaks of God ‘bringing evil’, it is purely metaphor, meaning that the victims refused to listen to God so as to avert the disaster they were bringing upon themselves. Also treats the issue of Jesus’ “ransom sacrifice” as metaphor. The best explication of this topic I have read. Gives the lie to two of the Society’s control tactics: fear of Armageddon and fear of rejecting Christ’s sacrifice.

  The Powers that Be—Theology for a New Millennium by Walter Wink. Wink’s theology identifies the “principalities and powers” of the Pauline letters as the Domination System that exists, as then, still today … in the form of power abuses by men, governments, and organizations of all kinds—including religion. He reformulates New Testament religious concepts in a very up-to-date fashion, showing Jesus as (among other things!) a teacher of non-violent reform.

  Knowing with the Heart by Roy Clouser. This follow-up to his earlier The Myth of Religious Neutrality takes a simpler approach--using the narrative form of a dialogue--to argue that all theories imply some divinity, since the divine is merely that which is ultimately, non-dependently REAL (i.e., that which depends on nothing for its existence but upon which everything else depends). In other words, to borrow from Kitty Ferguson’s The Fire in the Equations, whether you believe in God, the canons of logic and mathematics, the Hawking-Hartle ‘no-boundary’ proposal for a universe without beginning, or something else as the “First Cause” … it ain’t “turtles all the way down,” Boopie! You DO believe in something that cannot be proved.

  Thanks again for raising an excellent topic (as always!).

  Cheers,
  Rational
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  Liberated

  After Crisis of Conscience, In Search of Christian Freedom, and The Gentile Times Reconsidered.....

  "Right Hearted Living" by Bill Stonebraker unexpectedly yielded these treasures:
  "More important than knowing the Bible is applying
  the Bible. We don't want to just quore Scripture;
  we want to let it shape our lives."

  And, regarding the parable of the good Samaritan:
  "The man was looking for a short list of rules, but
  Jesus gave him a principle: Practice love in
  relationships. It is easier to keep rules than
  to love."

  Libby
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  philo

  I read August 1914 by Solzhenitsyn on my spiritual way out of the Organisation. It’s a beautiful documentary of the war from the many Russian perspectives: admirable but incompetent leaders, valiant and clueless commanders, cowards, heroes, monumental sacrifice, and just plain wastage. It's probably more of a bloke-read but I won't burn for it. I don't remember if it was before, during, or after this book, that I realised I had grown tired of Theocratic Warfare. 1914-1918 was too long, but Russell's 1874 to the Org's 1990 (and now 2001 and still counting) is worse than a war, it is a victory over spiritual peace. The Russian general Samsonov is described with such sensitivity and even love, I am reminded of Franz's way of describing certain members of the governing body. Here Solzhenitsyn quotes from (or invents) a news report…

  Thus General Samsonov's vigorous action was, as it were, a blood-sacrifice upon the altar of brotherhood in arms…

  In memoriam A.V. Samsonov

  Your watch you kept with eagle's eye,
  O'er storming men, o'er victory's gain;
  Far, far above you in the sky
  All but unseen, an aeroplane

  …Among the dead is General Samsonov. Naturally, no one will be down hearted at this news and no one will despair at the death of these brave men. Their blood will temper our courage even further…

  philo
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  JAVA

  Hello Tina,

  I'm always amazed at how people want another belief system handed to them. It's a personal journey that takes time ,effort, personal responsibility. I think some folks are simply intellectually lazy.

  You made some interesting comments about personal beliefs. To a large extent I believe most people except the beliefs they grew up with or beliefs they picked up as young adults. Unless there is a reason to change, that works because their religion isn't weird and out of step with the larger society. Yeah, I think it's easy to become spiritually lazy when things work and there is little reason to change. However, folks exiting the Tower step out of the comfort zone, and need to replace the void that's left. They usually do that in the following ways:

  After they pass through the foolishness of the "where else can you go" stage, the road forks 5 ways.
  

  • God does not exist, and religion promotes myth
  • God exists, and one needs to find the correct religion
  • God exists and can be found in most Christian religions
  • God exists, but religions are not necessary and usually get in the way
  • God might or might not exist, no one really knows

  Most exiting JWs start off on one of the above paths. They might stay there for awhile or skip over to another path. It's all part of filling the void left when leaving the Tower. Some journeys require more effort than others, and even the "intellectually lazy" can find a path defined by religionist before them.

  LOL @ your "earrings" suggestion--good one!

  --JAVA

  ...counting time at the Coffee Shop
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  ozziepost

  G'day bobby and welcome to this happy place. Glad you made it thus far. We wish you a pleasant journey; that's if you can really call what we have to go through pleasant!!

  I look forward to reading more. Enjoy your stay.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."
  TERTULLIAN, Adversus Valentinianos
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  Jeremy Bravo

  Good question Maximus!

  One book that I found absolutely engrossing was The 48 Laws of Power,
  by Robert Greene. It lays out his 48 laws to follow when playing power games. It is a great mix of psychology, political science, philosphy and history; it gives historical examples used by great historical figures and details their obsevances and transgressions of the laws.

  To wit: Law #27 - "Prey on people's need to belive in something to create a cultlike following." The similarities between his 5 step cult creation method and the WTS were very, very EERIE.

  Later Skaters,
  Jer.

  "When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. Life is a relationship to the whole." - Bruce Lee.
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  Mulan

  The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine
  Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse
  Living Buddha, Living Christ (can't recall author)
  Why Christianity Must Change or Die (can't recall author)

  Marilyn (a.k.a. Mulan)