Do you nonbelievers read religious literature be it Scripture (Bible, Koran, etc.) or just literature (ie theology books)? Do you own any books of that type?
Not really.
Otara
If I were to forsake both the King James Bible and Chick Tracts, I’d miss much of what is enjoyable in life.
I have a few. Now and then I’ll get this crazy idea that I’ll buy some religious text that I don’t have, thinking that maybe I can appreciate it as a literary work in its own respect. Then I read it, slap my face, and ask myself why do I keep blowing money on bigoted, sexist bronze-age fairy tales. :smack:
But yes, I do have a collection that can fool people into thinking I’m fairly broad-minded and tolerant.
I have a BA in Religious Studies. I have shelves full of religious texts of all sorts. I have read a ton of religious literature, including the classic Christian theologians like Augustine and Aquinas, also Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist literature, as well as some literature from acncient and defunct religions, shamanistic/tribal traditions, neopaganism, woo woo new age tripe (like Eckenakar) and probably some other stuff I’ve forgotten. The only thing I’ve refused to look at altogether is Scientology.
Yeah. I haven’t read anything lately, but I majored in anthropology with a focus on religion and culture, so I read a LOT about religion in college. My main interest was in the Western religion tradition, so I’ve read more about Judaism and Christianity and Islam than other religions. I’ve read scriptures, theological commentary (especially on Judaism, because I took a Halacha class once), academic stuff on how religion is practiced, and popular history stuff. Since graduating college, I do occasionally read popular books about religion and culture and history, like books by Karen Armstrong. That sort of thing.
I used to but that was long ago. I was looking for something not Catholic that would be interesting. Zoroastrianism was not bad but I had to eventually face it that none of it worked for me.
Do you nonbelievers read religious literature be it Scripture (Bible, Koran, etc.) No
or just literature (ie theology books)? No
Do you own any books of that type? No
Yes, I studied Christianity in detail in college and I have a few different translations of the Bible around, at least one Qur’an, and a bunch of non-canonical early Christian writings. I also have a lot of commentary on these, though those are not religious texts, but rather academic writings about religious texts.
I was raised a Christian, and I was dragged to Sunday school and then church every week until I was 16 and a half*. So I’m pretty familiar with the Christian bible. And I own a couple of them, along with a couple of other religious/spiritual books, and I’ve checked a few out of the library. I went through several periods of trying to find a religion that I could believe in, including Wicca and Satanism. Yep, I tried to sell my soul. I didn’t get any takers.
A lot of Christians think that unbelievers are not familiar with religious works. This is false. Most unbelievers in the US have been raised as Christians or Jews. Simply telling us about the “good news” isn’t going to make believers out of us. Muslims seem to do this too, although I don’t personally know that many Muslims.
*I ran away at that age, and allowed myself to be persuaded to live with my grandparents, who were Christians but who didn’t insist that I go to church if I didn’t want to.
Yeah, I do. I’ve read the Bible and have read through Watchtower the few times I found it at my door. I read about different religions a lot, mostly in an effort to reduce my ignorance about it. I’m agnostic though.
I enjoy reading different Buddhist authors. That’s about as close as I come to religious texts.
I was madly, desperately reading those texts for about 20 years. Only in the past few years have I been able to put them aside. I just got tired of it all.
Yes. I read various Judeo-Christian texts in college (the Bible, Maimonides, Anselm, Augustine, Aquinas) as philosophy/literature. I enjoyed some of it, some of it wasn’t really fun, and some of it was like dragging myself over hot coals (I did not have a good relationship with Anselm).
All I currently have in my possession in terms of religious texts are a copy of the Tanakh, a King James Bible, and a side-by-side copy of the Qur’an (I am going to really learn Arabic. Someday. Eventually.).
They’re interesting for some of the stories, some bits of poetic language, and for their overwhelming cultural influence. Also useful for arguing with fundies.
(I also absolutely love Gregorian chant - I want nothing to do with religion on a personal level, but I find chant to be just hauntingly beautiful.)
Yes, and I’d like to own more. You don’t have to be a believer to be interested in learning about different religions.
I have read the entire King James Bible. And I once took a course in “Literature of the Great Religions.”
Does *Atlas Shrugged *count?
Sure, I read the Bible all the time (not all the way through, though – mostly to check specific references). I’ve read the bits of the Koran that were included in Approaching the Quran: The Early Revelations or the Norton Anthology of World Literature, but that’s about it for religious texts from other traditions, unless you count Greek / Roman mythology.
I have several books on Judaism. *Jewish Literacy *by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is interesting whether you’re a believer or not. It covers not just the Jewish religion but the history of Jews.
I really enjoyed Eli Wiesel’s Souls on Fire, which is a history of Hassidism. I actually read a ton of Wiesel. I took a seminar on him.
I belong to a Theology book club and another discussion group that often focuses on books about theology. I own a stack of Bibles (most given to my husband by people trying to proselytize to him) and a Book of Mormon, but no other scriptures. I’d like to add some to our bookshelves, though, especially the Confucian Canon.
I’ve read many passages in the KJ Bible, just randomly browsing and occasionally looking up references. I was raised without any exposure to religion, so I’ve always viewed it as a colllection of stories that had been passed down that parents pretended were real, sort of like Santa Claus, so it’s been difficult to really test whether or not I might at some point believe in a God. It’s only in the past decade or so that I realized how many people take it so seriously, which worries me.
I’ve loaded an e-book copy of the Quran onto my Kindle, but haven’t gotten around to reading anything substantial.
I haven’t read much in the way of generic theology.