(Part 2) Best history of religion books according to redditors
We found 366 Reddit comments discussing the best history of religion books. We ranked the 130 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
There is a lot of discussion here about what ‘teaching Atheism’ might look like, and since there a few of us who actually do that I thought it might be interesting for people to see what we do.
A good friend of mine teaches at the University of Edinburgh on the subject of non-religion, and in the UK there is also the Non-religion and Secularzation Research Network, the Understanding Unbelief research program at the University of Kent, the International Society of Historians of Atheism Secularism and Humanism, and the International Society for Heresy Studies:
As well, many of us have recently published books on Atheism and non-religion, and there is a growing number of people researching Atheism at the academic level.
Here’s a good short bibliography.
History of Atheism
Atheism and the US Supreme Court
New Atheism
Cambridge Companion
Oxford Handbook
Definitions
Nonreligion
For those interested:
Here's a solid resource: http://teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/foundations/golden-age-islam/
I'd also highly recommend the following book as a concise, effective introduction to Islam that comes across as both objective and favorable toward Islam - a rare feat for anyone. Not to mention the author is a renowned religious scholar who taught at MIT, Berkeley and Syracuse: http://www.amazon.com/Islam-Concise-Introduction-Huston-Smith/dp/0060095571
I wouldn't get too caught up in lengthy theological discussions about Islam. I'm sure you're well aware of this already, but Islam is often viewed in such a volatile manner that such discussions will only serve to distract and possibly misinform your students.
Finally, thank you for reaching out and inquiring. It can be quite the mixed bag of results on the ol' interwebs even from folks with the best of intentions. I'd really stick with academic sources at this point and not stray too far into apologetics.
Also, this an informative and engaging TED Talk on the Quran by a Lesley Hazlelton, a Jewish writer no less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOnwG_GgAqg
To be honest, if you're interested in learning about the Baha'i Faith in broad terms, the best way to begin would be with an introductory book. The classic of this genre is Esslemont's Baha'u'llah and the New Era; other good books include those by Smith, Momen, and Bowers (this last one is targeted specifically to a Christian audience).
Of the books you mentioned, The Hidden Words is probably the most accessible (and shortest!), and it's usually what I recommend to people who are interested in the Baha'i Faith. However, it's not always useful to look at the Baha'i Faith through the same lens as we may look at, say, Christianity or Islam, as having one or two "Holy books" that are central to all understanding. The Baha'i Faith is blessed with having many pieces of writing from the central figures of the Faith, and it's not possible to gain a full picture of the religion just by reading the four texts you mentioned.
Edit to add: The other excellent way to learn about the Baha'i Faith, which I heartily recommend, is to meet with some Baha'is from your area and talk with them. There are (relatively) a lot of Baha'is in Ontario (although I don't know where you are specifically), and there are usually ways to go about contacting them via the web.
Here are some videos and books that you might find beneficial:
I recommend these books:
and Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time
Side note on Quran translation:
Stay away from
Try:
Misc:
Movie:
Current times and over 1,400 years ago when Islam began are very different. I recommend the book "No God, but God" by Reza Aslan. It's a historical book about the Islam. A very good read for people who want to learn more about history.
Some nonfiction books I enjoyed that came to mind:
Mormon Research:
https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-View-Mormon-Origins-ebook/dp/B00GYL84RA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520437507&sr=8-1&keywords=insiders+Mormon
https://www.amazon.com/No-Man-Knows-History-Arkosh-ebook/dp/B07467NQDF/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1520437554&sr=1-1&keywords=no+man+knows+my+history
www.mormonthink.com
http://mit.irr.org
www.utlm.org
Philosophy of Religion/Evidence for the existence of God:
https://www.reasonablefaith.org
https://www.amazon.com/Guard-Students-Thinkers-Guide-Christian-ebook/dp/B00U894IGA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520306101&sr=8-3&keywords=on+guard+william+lane+craig
https://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-Lewis-Signature-Classics-ebook/dp/B002BD2UR0/ref=pd_ybh_a_13?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ET4M1H0BNR1J0S4RA6ZW
https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Religion-Basics-Jargon-Free-Beginners-ebook/dp/B0088DXG2A/ref=pd_ybh_a_19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ET4M1H0BNR1J0S4RA6ZW
https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Religion-Anthology-Louis-Pojman/dp/1111305447/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1520385625&sr=8-22&keywords=Philosophy+of+religion
In the Dark Places of Wisdom is a good book that has much relevant information from a philosophical and historical perspective.
The Kitab-I-Aqdas means The Most Holy Book, but I don't think it's fair to equate it with being the Baha'i Bible or Qur'an. It is one of literally hundreds of books and tablets which comprise the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, all of which are sacred, all of which are equivalent in importance to the Bible for Christians/Qur'an for Muslims. It's also not the best reading for someone completely new to the Faith, as it is speaking to a Baha'i audience who is asking for laws, some of which might not be understood out of context.
On top of that, the Baha'i Faith has the Writings of the Bab (the Prophet-Founder of the Bab'i Faith, Predecessor to the Baha'i Faith) and 'Abdu'l-Baha (son of Baha'u'llah, authorized interpreter of the Writings of Baha'u'llah) which are given nearly equivalent weight. That brings the total volume of sacred Writings of the Baha'is to several orders of magnitude greater than that of most any other world religion. It can be difficult to know where to start, and overwhelming when someone heaps book after book after book upon you. We're not even getting into Shoghi Effendi or the Universal House of Justice yet.
God Speaks Again by Kenneth Bowers is a great starting point for someone who knows nothing.
Baha'u'llah and the New Era by J.E.Esslemont was the starting point for decades before this.
The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah is my choice for a first read of the Holy Writings.
The Kitab-I-Iqan/Book of Certitude by Baha'u'llah is much heavier reading, but is the core of Baha'i Theology, if you want to dive into the deep end.
Thief in the Night by William Sears is my starting point for people who are intimately familiar with Christianity and the Bible.
My advice is to start with only one book, then move to others. Have fun!
Edited for grammar
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Would you like a link to my amazon wishlist to see all the books? There are a lot of non-Islamic stuff there to that you might like.
Tim Keller has some good advice about approaching new atheists in general.
You might try some things by Alister McGrath, on Dawkins views in general or specifically on the Dawkins Delusion. There's several links here, and the correspondence with Mike Poole takes on some of the more aggressive claims down the bottom of the page. William Lane Craig makes points on who designed the designer. In fact he has quite a few videos like that which can at least be a starting point.
But really the best defence against Dawkins is simply to get to know the facts. Get a book or two on the historic relationship between science and Christianity. Get to know about Christianity and what historic Christians have actually said, and it will be harder for people to present you with strawmen. Get to know what you think first, and then you know what to defend.
There's actually a book called The handy religion answer book that would be perfect for a class like this. You can suggest to the administrators that they use this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Second-Messiah-Templars-Shroud-Freemasonry/dp/1931412766
Nää kun lukee niin tulee vähän paska housuun. Ei välttämättä näitä ennen edes osaa paskoo housuunsa. Silmä ei nää asioita, joita aivo ei ymmärrä.
In conjunction with that book, I would also recommend taking a peak at this one. Hyman's thesis, in brief, is that the post-Scholastic period witnessed a very gradual slope towards what Feser calls "theistic personalism." First a gradual reconception of God as part of creation rather than transcendent to it, and then a slide from there into "big invisible man" territory. God then became one more thing to be scientifically investivated, and of course because there is no "big invisible man," the evidence never comes and atheism follows almost inevitably. And that modern atheism is a reaction against this "big invisible man" theism. You'll see in the Road From Atheism article that Feser still finds this conception of God to be just as implausible as he did in his atheist days.
Anyway, regardless, it's all very interesting and gets the old gears turning...
:)
> I suppose what I'm trying to get to the bottom of is: How to best address what I feel is the completely baseless claim that Islam is inherently violent (I often point to a wider context of colonialism and oppression as an explanation), and also how Islam and Buddhism can benefit each other.
A great place to start is Huston Smith's seemingly innocuous little book entitled Islam: A Concise Introduction. It quickly dispels the notions of Islam as 'inherently violent' without being mired in some doctrinal labyrinth. It's taken from his chapter on Islam in his monumental work 'The World's Religions.' He published it as a separate book following 9/11. His credentials speak for themselves. As a side, I had the honor of meeting him not long ago at LMU when he received the university's Bridge Builder award.
Misinformation and ignorance fan the flames of Islamophobia more than anything else. Put another way, imagine what the world's perspective of Buddhism would be during WWII if there was as much access to (mis)information as there is today. Similar rhetoric used by the likes of ISIS was present in Japan. Take this quote from a Zen monk exhorting the virtues of Japanese imperialism during WWII:
"If ordered to] march: tramp, tramp, or shoot: bang, bang. This is the manifestation of the highest Wisdom [of Enlightenment]. The unity of Zen and war of which I speak extends to the farthest reaches of the holy war [now under way]." - From Zen At War
I hope that helps a little :).
A religion is a complex social structure, much more than just its founding text. That said, the texts are themselves very complex artifacts with a long (and murky) history, plus layers and layers of interpretation and commentary. But if you are only a "budding" psychologist, you should definitely start with one of the survey books like Huston Smith's The World's Religions. That will give you a better overview of the major religions and you can decide which (if any) are worth spending your time on studying.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/
Secret Teaching of All Ages (1928)
Fair warning, this is from an esoteric philosopher so there is no academic distance. As for a more of a balanced introduction with less content.
The Western Esoteric Tradition
A former CIA analyst wrote a book with this very premise, called "A World without Islam". Its well worth the read, but the short version of his assessment is that most of the underlying conflicts in that region would still be there in some form or fashion, as you would just be replacing the current dynamic with a more drawn out version of the Eastern vs Western Christianity conflict.
For example, the crusades are often pointed to as an example of Christianity attacking the Muslim world and a root for many of our modern issues, but the crusaders were also perfectly happy to attack and loot Eastern Orthodox Christians they encountered.
Another example is the Israeli Palestinian conflict. By and large, Palestinian Christians are also opposed to Israel, and many of the founders of the PLO were Christians.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07467NQDF/ref=oh\_aui\_d\_detailpage\_o00\_?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I am looking at it now bloody hell that's expensive though, probably WT buying up every available copy and burying them in the desert lol
I will try and pick up a pdf somewhere...grrrr yet another book I have to plough through like CoC :O)
edit: Just found it wow 600+ pages though this is going to be a long week :(
There is actually a book on it, haven't read it, ex-CIA guy apparently too. However, from a theological perspective, Muslims considered each truly revealed religion to be Islam(submission to the will of God), since the time of Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. In any case, link to the book, haven't read it, can't vouch for it personally but if I recall right, someone I know recommended a look:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Islam-Graham-Fuller/dp/0316041203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527258736&sr=8-1&keywords=a+world+without+islam
Okay, let's talk about runes. I'm almost sure I haven't the answer you might want.
First, the whole Elder Futhark has its names known through linguistic reconstruction. Please check more informations about how these names were reconstructed here.
That being said, there is a chance that Fehu and the whole set as well had different names. But there are no evidences for runes being used as ideograms, like Fehu used to mean cattle, when written, or most probably carved, alone. The names of the runes are made up using the phoneme of their first letter. This argument by itself is rather problematic, since most of todays work is made through their individual meanings -- which as stated above, is reconstructed.
But, as people said in another commentary, there actually is evidence of magical purposes in runic inscriptions. Nevertheless, you find just a few cases in historical runic inscriptions where Tiwaz or Ansuz (see Lindholm amulet) runes are used as somewhat like bindrunes, or isolated runes with some purpose.
In my current research, I already found 2 different types of use of the runes for magical purposes. The first one is as magical words, like alu, laukaz/laukaR, Laþu, erilaz, etc. These charms seems to have been used as magical incantations, evoking some kind of supernatural or natural force through them. You can read more here.
The second and most common type of use you can find through evidence are places where runes are decodifying some poetic message, as an enchantment, and probably these verses came from an oral tradition or folklore. For example, retelling the history of a hunter in a belt to provide its user with the power of that mythic hunter. In the previous link you can find more about that.
So, in my practice, I don't use runes based on their individual names; I really think that the rune poems are made just as a way to better memorize the sounds they represented. If you want to do so, feel free, but be aware that there is NO historical evidence for that.
You can read more here:
I hope it helps you.
I know a couple books at an academic level that are easy reads but they might not fit nicely into what you're looking for.
For example the book that I have in mind describes politically driven events and the motivations behind them but because it's a book about Islam before anything else, you may have to connect some of the dots yourself. If you'd like a quick summary, what happened is that after the Prophet (PBUH) passed away there was a discord as to who his "successor" should be. This splintering would result in a new sect of Islam, civil wars, corrupt leaders, and the expansion of Islam which in turn would introduce a huge amount of culture and scientific advancements. This book covers all that.
Another easy read would be Islam: Faith and History. It covers the tribal structure of society before Islam, the major wars that would occur (their motivation/impact) and how Islam would eventually change this idol worshiping society. Again, it's a book about Islam rather than the politics but the two are so intertwined that I feel like it makes for a good introduction.
I'll take a look through and see what else I've read that might be useful if those don't fit the bill. If you're unsure about the recommendations, I can certainly scan a few pages and send them your way for review.
Edit: Both the books can be read by (I'd say) someone in late highschool or above. The first book is a bit dry and long while the second one is some small, non-intimidating primer.
I've seen variants of the story with the "man" replaced by "angel", for some reason. To be exact, it was here.
Same book (which is otherwise wonderfully written, refreshingly non-judgmental and such) also says Buddha's teaching was devoid of the supernatural and traditions, even though reading other parts of the book carefully already contradict this.
I did the same thing, only with his No God But God, back when it came out. (It's excellent, by the way.)
And you can read actual accounts from a former Governing Body member here and here with sample chapters here and here
Here is the mobile version of your link
Can I suggest you read A World Without Islam by Graham Fuller, former vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council and Station Chief in Kabul for the CIA.
Runic Amulets and Magic Objects by MacLeod and Mees
I’ll give you three, just in case you’ve read the one I was gonna give you.
Good luck.
https://www.amazon.com/Comparing-Religions-Jeffrey-J-Kripal/dp/1405184582
https://www.amazon.com/Western-Esotericism-Guide-Perplexed-Guides/dp/1441136460
https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Goddess-Complete-Birrell-Hughes/dp/B002C3UTM2
Don't thank me! I compiled it from work that others did.
My sources:
JW Facts
JWN
And of course The Gentile Times Reconsidered by Carl O. Jonsson
>In some way however my worry remains. Are these modern incarnations more 19th century spiritualism or new age woo woo? I can respect that these beliefs tap into an anti-ascetic desire in people and a genuine practice could result. But even new age religions like Wicca and paganism are often shallow at least compared to the complexities and depth that exists in well established age old religions. I speak as an atheist with no compassion for established beliefs, but when you give a traditional system thousands of years to parse out it's theology and practice it gains a depth unknown to recent reincarnations of religious belief. This isn't anyone's fault but it doesn't help that these beliefs are represented by some the more er floaty types in the west.
Well the New Age and 19th century Spiritualism are actually modern incarnations of far more ancient phenomena. I am referring to the field of study called "Western Esotericism" which covers ancient Hermeticism, Gnostic thought, Theosophy, Alchemy, Theosophy, Kabbalah, etc all the way down to the New Age, Spiritualism, and others. The New Age and Spiritualism are in fact rooted in this phenomenon, and cannot be properly understood without it. If you're interested the book New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought is the best book on the subject, and in it the author, a highly respected and influential scholar in the field, shows how New Age ideas are actually deeply rooted in Western Esoteric ideas, and are in fact just modern incarnations of the same. As for Wicca and Paganisn you're a little closer to the mark because there isn't much evidence for it before Gerald Gardner's creation of it (that he framed as merely a public revival of a long underground Pagan system, which historical evidence has a hard time backing up). While I understand your point that "established religions" have more time to parse out and elaborate a more consistent and rooted theology and practice, it's also true that no religion started in a vacuum, and in fact most of the time new religions just work with material already existing. We can see this with Christianity, in that it's more or less an offshoot of Judaism that adopted many Pagan beliefs involving the resurrection of god, and furthermore ancient Israelite thought owes much to the religion of the Ancient Near East as well. Buddhist thought cannot be understood outside of the shramana milieu surrounding its genesis on the fifth century BCE. My point in this is that none of these religions, even in their infancy, sprang out of thin air. Thousands of years later they're accepted as fully formed religions, but in their infancy they looked a bit more like modern day Wicca in the ways that they creatively worked with already existing material in the creation of a semi-novel worldview, in the absence of thousands of years of credibility-building. And modern Wicca and Neopaganism has the entire wealth of Europe's pagan past to work with as raw material for their own worldviews, and this chain of lineage is real for them, so as a scholar I have a commitment to study how these issues of legitimacy are dealt with in the creation of a worldview that is whole-heartedly believed in.
>My question to you since you study this is where does the occult even come from? I get that it's a combination of Kabbala, Gnosticism, and western mystical beliefs, but when did it arise and who lumped this disconnected series of beliefs together in the west? The evangelical Christian revival and romantic metaphysics movement seemed to occur at the same time in America, a time when people were furiously searching for meaning but surely someone had to "put it all together" into a practice no?
This is something I'm still trying to learn the complete history of, but reading some other books on Western Esotericism could help lay the foundation. This history is a great overview of Western Esotericism as a whole, and towards the end it discusses Kabbalah and the other components of modern day Occultism. We should keep in mind that the word "Occultism" is a word used to describe a various number of interrelated traditions, so take it with a grain of salt. Its development wasn't the work of any one person or innovator, but over the decades and centuries it subtly morphed, elaborated, and acquired new directions just like the history of Western Esotericism, and all religions for that matter. As for precise details that's something I'm working on understanding myself, but the books I mentioned should help for your general inquiries.
If you want to know more, from a solid academic perspective, I suggest http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Revised-Updated-ebook/dp/B004I43MPE It's a well written book that is an extremely common textbook for Introduction to World Religions classes in colleges for 30+ years now. Smith's book on Christianity is also great. You should be able to get either through your local library, or online for pennies (plus shipping).
Get him to read "In Search of Christian Freedom" by Raymond Franz, he was a former governing body that was able to hang on to his faith after leaving the cult. Here's a link to the Amazon page.
If you haven't heard of him, you may be interested in the work of Peter Kingsley. This book is relevant to your OP.
>He is not just some guy who write crazy books, or makes a name for himself for talking off cuff on television.
Actually that is exactly how he made the name for himself, mocking believers on television and in his books - which were specifically directed as a punch to believers, I mean the title itself "The God Delusion" speaks volumes about that man's real motives.
I never claimed to be a scientist (my husband does have a BA in physics though and he is a Christian same as myself, he used to be a staunch atheist like you). However what I learned from my research (before I even became a Chrisrtian) is that science is not as clear cut as you try to make it out to be and I have read books by PhD's in various fields of science who actually got saved during their studies because of that realization.
If you aren't scared to read one of those books please do read this one - Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. It's written by this man Alister McGrath who has a PHd in molecular biophysics from Oxford University. His book is a brilliant critique of Dawkin's ideas as well as the statement you just wrote here. And I think by your own standards he is definitely qualified to speak on this matter, he does have a PhD in biology, not just an MA in engineering like Chuck Missler.
As for the last few sentances in your post - you know before I got saved I also thought I had it all figured out, and thought I was so clever and superior to those stupid Christians, now I look back at some of the things I used to say and really do wonder how such a person could have been me.
Like I said before I am not a scientist and I do not pretend to be one, however I have learned enough about science to realize that absolutely nothing in it can definitively exclude the possibility of God, only militant atheistic scientists such as Dawkings come to that conclusion. And the only reason for that conclusion are narcissism and pride, because if there is a God you are accountable to Him for your actions in this life and that makes a lot of people who love themselves above everything else very uncomfortable.
I do some street evangelism, and one of the main reasons people who do not believe in God close themselves to it is because they just want to be their own god in life (their words not mine). Many people we talk to "sorta believe in God" aren't interested to go any further for the same reasons.
I have seen how God works in my own life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ plenty of times. When I look at the prophetic verses in the Bible which talk about our times and I see it all line up like a puzzle that is being put together I tremble. So even if I decided to become a biologist and put all of my efforts into study, it still would in no way cause me to lose my faith.
Before I became a Christian so many things in the world did not make sense to me I was very lost and confused, I feared many things. God opened my eyes, He made me His child, Jesus says in the Bible:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
At the end of the day you can either open yourself up to the possiblity that there is a God, and He is a personal God who seeks a relationship with you, or you can choose to turn away from Him, the choice is always yours there is nothing I, or anyone else, can say to change that. But I know that God is working even on your heart.
Thank you for not swearing, and I'll pray for you (and no I do not mean this in any deragatory sense).
>The noise, industrial, and esoteric circles are filled with people who have pretensions of knowing things about history, sociology, religion, philosophy, etc. But all they know is tiny smattering of fringe trivia. Robust knowledge on any of the topics they claim interest in is rare, and they have a stripped down cartoon view of history shorn of any and all context. It can be useful and enlightening to examine the fringes and the extremes and learn things about society from those, but a lot of people seem to ONLY be interested in the fringes and the extremes. To the point that they have no idea how it interacts with the larger social conversation or its place in this historical dialectic.
I would definitely agree here. The problem I think is not just that focus on the extremes; you can make good art out of the extremities of human experience, it's more the lack of depth, of any sort of intellectually serious engagement. I mean, there's two types of people interested in the occult and it's history; there's people who read books like this and this, and there's people who read books like this and this. The same with any 'dark' topic; murder, sexual fetishism, war and genocide, and so on and so on; the lurid and extreme attracts lurid and extreme writing, often penned by Garth Marenghi like characters who've 'written more books than they've read'. You need to be able to hack through the bullshit, and a lot of that comes, as you say, from having a knowledge of the broader history. I mean, I say this as someone who has made art books about true crime and the occult, for full disclosure.
> (and one single in particular, and you might know which one I mean) have REALLY put me on edge.
As you're American, I'm going to guess Klan Kountry, which I haven't heard actually. I only have a couple of their albums; unfortunately not only are they obviously either fascists or tasteless, they're not actually very good. Anenzephalia is a little better. Actually, looking at the details of that release, I can definitely see why you'd steer clear. In fact, most of the stuff on Tesco Organisation is kind of second rate, and I've heard bad things about the label generally. As for Deutsch Nepal, I'm really not sure; I've never read much about them, but the name seems to be a possible nod to Nazi mysticism, plus there's the use of swastika-like imagery on the covers of A Silent Siege and Erotikon. It's not that much, compared to some of the others, but enough perhaps.
> He would probably find it even more strange that he's so admired by a person like me who does My Little Pony fanart.
Now that, I'm sure s/he'd get completely; GPO knows the ins and outs of fannish obsession with h/er Brian Jones thing. Read the liner notes to Godstar: Thee Director's Cut sometime if you get a chance.
>I so agree. Coil...I used to be obsessed with them, and from 1999-2001 tried to gather up as much of their discography as I could. I think most of it is in my closet right now since our apartment doesn't have a lot of places to store cd's. One of my goals is to eventually go back and get as much of their complete discography as I can. I've been fascinated with them ever since I was in high school and read an interview in Trent Reznor in which he discussed how much they influenced his music. Something about what he said intrigued me, and when I finally heard them I was entranced.
My obsession goes back a similiar way for me, though I'm a touch younger than you I think...I started listening to Coil just in time for Jhon's death, but not that I could actually get to see them, which I will probably always regret. The footage of those late gigs... and of course the recordings...can you imagine having been there in the audience during the recording of ...And The Ambulance Died in His Arms? Just thinking about it gives me chills. I think they were just a perfect musical duo; Christopherson had a very sophisticated and innovative approach to electronic music, and Balance just had that...intensity. I think that's something that so many of the pale imitators in industrial and related things miss. It's one thing that has always made the best Current 93 stuff stand out to me as well; especially listening to some of the best live recordings, it's clear that, whatever else you might think about Dave Tibet (nutter, crypto-fascist, can't sing, too Christian, not Christian enough) he's really not phoning it in. His performance is so utterly demented and broken at times (Black Ships Ate The Sky is a great example) that personally I can't help but be compelled. Maybe that's a bit of a trick, but I don't think so.
>these guys actually knew a lot about art and music history, and understood a lot about modern art and why it was important. Even a guy as abrasive and intentionally silly and lo-fi as Monte Cazazza, I'm pretty sure, actually went to art school.
Yeah, Cazazza definitely went to art school; such an overlooked hero of early industrial for me. I love how damned entertaining he makes his cartoon misanthropy; If Thoughts Could Kill is a great song to listen to on the bus on a rainy morning. And of course, GPO and Cosey Fanni Tutti had been doing gallery shows and performance art as COUM Transmissions for years before TG was even a thing.
This book proposes that the secret history of Freemasonry is that its formal genesis occurred following the suppression of the Knights Templar in the 14th century, when a branch of the Order escaped to Scotland and another went underground in France and across Europe (and some even took to the high seas, possibly looking for La Merica/America). The Templar’s themselves originated in the early 12th century but the book proposes that they did so as part of a coordinated emergence of European noble families centered in France who were themselves blood-descendants of a first-century Jewish-Christian priest class which gathered at the Jerusalem Church under the Apostle James, brother of Jesus Christ. This priest class escaped the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and hid their secret knowledge under the temple to be excavated by the Knights Templar Order a thousand years later. This priestly order themselves allegedly trace their lineage back another millennium (approximately 3,000 years ago) to the establishment of Solomon’s Temple, and who are alleged to possess antediluvian wisdom derived from one of the two pillars encoded by Enoch prior to the flood. According to legend, one of the pillars was recovered by Hermes who then established the Egyptian civilization around 3000 BC. The other pillar was recovered by the Jews at some point, again according to legend. The over-arching idea binding all this history together is the notion that Jesus was not God become Man, but was an initiate of the mysteries through this Jewish priest class (and perhaps through his time in Egypt, although that piece isn’t explored in the book) and emerged as human messiah to establish a hereditary lineage of kings, what’s called the “Rex Deus” or Kings of God. The dispersed priests who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD fled across Europe and established noble families preserving holy bloodlines of this lineage which reaches back to King David.
The book spend considerable effort explaining how the Shroud of Turin is the linen cloth which wrapped Jacques de Molay following his mock-crucifixion at the hands of the French Inquisition in October 1308, and this seems to be a well-documented theory. The suppression of this truth by the Catholic Church was intended to quell the rise of a potential cult of a second messiah at a time when papal influence waned due to global instability.
Whatever your response to the claims made in this book, it is important not to ignore them because powerful people throughout history have believed them, and their collective belief has shaped world history right up to today. The Crusades were initiated for this very reason, it is suggested.
My interest is in gaining a clearer picture of medieval European history and the forces which shaped it. I believe there is a secret society that traces its lineage back 3,000 years to the foundation of Solomon’s temple, but which at that time broke away from the branch that was essentially a Babylonian mystery religion (Synagogue of Satan, Jews who are not Jews, etc) which would eventually overtake Freemasonry entirely. High Level Insider Anon presents this competing historical narrative. The notion of a Rex Deus bloodline is intriguing because it strikes at the heart of orthodox Christian teaching, which itself is circumspect given its undeniable Roman influence.
My conclusion is that there is a spiritual lineage that Jesus Christ did initiate, and which can be more deeply apprehended through certain secret rites, but the secretiveness should be understood largely relative to Roman persecution, not because of a mystery religion prerequisite. The Rex Deus bloodlines are likely factual, as established by the escaping priest-class. But they are also likely misunderstood, that is to say, they are a physical maintenance hiding a more esoteric truth, which is the spiritual lineage established by Christ, of which the literal bloodlines are a dull symbolic idol. The "secret" spiritual lineage of Christ is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit among the Body of believers, which is a coherence of consciousness akin to Plato's "land of forms," based upon restored relationship with God the Father through the "royal blood" of his Son attributed to us.
Grasping this deeper truth means that the one who breaks the idol is the rightful leader, for he has recovered the sword from the Lady of the Lake (the Templars likely authored the Arthurian Myths to encode their own secret history). It also means that the 3000 year old breakaway society has done a good thing by preserving ancient wisdom with which to anesthetize Mystery Babylon. This society was behind the Magi who welcomed Jesus’ birth, they three.
What comes next, in my judgment, is a restoration of the Kingdom of God based on a synthesis of true ancient wisdom which has been systematically corrupted by evil mystery schools going back to Nimrod (and further back to the Brotherhood the the Snake, Cain himself, and the seed of the serpent) and continuing through the Vatican and others, and true Christian faith in the figure of Jesus through whom the power of evil is routed. No doubt both sides will be dissatisfied with this outcome, at least at first. But the job of this leader will be to shepherd the flock through the narrow gate, all the time upholding the banner of Christ, the risen lamb. How he is risen and to what degree will be testified by each individual’s heart, mind, and soul. But the collective consciousness thereof will take hold of the Truth, and see its Face, and know it even as itself is known.
History of Religious Ideas, Vol 1, Vol 2 and Vol 3. by Mircea Eliade A comprehensive comparison and history of different religions, religious ideas and ways in which myths work. Was a real eye-opener
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LE - Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam by Michel Onfray
I love his take on Naturphilosophie and his appreciation for Paracelsus and Boehme. Apparently there is a bunch of great stuff written in German which remains untranslated and I don't read German. :(
Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed by Wouter J. Hanegraaff is closely related. Hanegraaff has some great youtubes.
I recommend you get the used paperback of this - you can get it for $6 shipped. Or you can get ones w/o illustrations for $4 shipped. Or you can probably find it at your library.
https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Worlds-Religions-Wisdom-Traditions/dp/0060674407