I would like to assemble a personal collection of the world’s religious texts (within reason - see below).
So far I have:
The (Christian) Bible - New International, King James, and NKJ.
The (Christian) Apocrypha
The Book of Mormon
Several general Taoist texts
A couple of Wiccan “books” (don’t ask, she was crazy - but so was the sex)
So. Minimally I would like to add:
The Qur’an
Hindu text (preferably a single volume including both the Vedas and the Smritis.
Buddhist text (again, the more encompassing the better)
Couple of questions:
Can anyone recommend a specific printing of any of my three “want list” items?
What am I missing? *
*A caveat here. As I said above, “within reason” I’m not looking to add a book about every possible religion in the world. I would like to cover the major religions (realizing that, in and of itself is subject to discussion - in my case I’m using major as a synonym for “large” and “influential”).
I would go for a Zen tome. Some will argue that this falls under Buddhism, I would say it both does and does not.
Note that getting a copy of the Talmud (that is the five books of Moses plus the commentaries of the great sages) could be difficult. Last time I checked, it was against Jewish custom to sell or give one to non Jews. The theory is that they may intentionally or otherwise disrespect it.
I believe Muslims have a similar custom concerning Al Q’uran.
Oh something else about the Talmud and Q’uran. Every Islamic group I know of disapproves very strongly of translating the Q’uran. It may be difficult to find a copy in anything but old Arabic. I’ve been looking for a good translation of the Talmud for years. I’m often told that an English version simply does not exist.
Still another note on the Talmud. Expect to pay a great deal. Last time I checked, even the Talmud on cd sold for almost a hundred dollars.
I have a Jewish Publication Society copy of the Tanakh, the Scriptures. Christians would call it the Old Testament. It’s worth having, to compare, for example, how books like the Psalms are translated.
I believe they call any non-Arabic versions an “interpretation” of the Q’uran. You’re not reading actual scripture because the scripture can only be written/read in Arabic but you’re reading someone’s imperfect version of what that perfect scripture says.
Edit: “It’s not that hard” sounds cockier than intended. It’s more available than one might think.
Zhuan Falun (Li)
Dianetics (Hubbard)
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (Eddy)
Divine Principle (Moon)
Gathas (Zarathustra)
Tao Te Ching (Lao Tsu)
The Book of the Dead
Popol Vuh
Kebra Negast
was. The Douay-Rheims translation was rep;laced by the Jerusalem Bible decades ago, and there have since been others:
My mother still has her old Douay bible, but I don’t know of anyone else personally who uses it. I suspect the odd transliterations – “Noe” for “Noah”, and the like – throw a lot of people off. The more recent translations are more faithful to the original texts, as well (although the Jerusalem bible, like the Douay, is not a direct-to-English translation)
My mother is true to her Douay version too although she has studied more recent versions as well as other Christian bibles, depending on the study group she is with.
You’d have to be a pretty dedicated anti-semite to buy a 20 volume book just to disrespect it. But it’s trivially easy to go to Amazon and order a copy of the Talmud’s greatest hits. Not to mention the Quran.
All religious texts (well, except maybe Dianetics) are in the public domain now, so it’s not hard to find one published by a third party.
maybe something by the Dalai Lama (I recommend something by the 5th, 13th or 14th. The current aka 14th has some pretty accessible books and lectures.)
