Reading Windar12q’s latest post reminded me that we all look at the world a little differently. We see the same facts but don’t recognize the same meaning in them. I do not believe that this makes it impossible to see accurately. Truth is still out there, and God has made it understandable to us. I believe that our beliefs about God, the world, and ourselves give shades of meaning beyond the obvious to facts, events, and stories.
Below, I have consolidated some favorite/recently read books (in no order of favoritism). My faith gives me a certain way of seeing in which I notice Biblical and spiritual themes in books, whether the book was intended as a Christian book or not. I have listed the title, author, and a few words to describe the genre in case you want to read them yourself. The bottom row of each entry describes Biblical ideas that the book expresses or gets me to think about.
How do your beliefs affect how you see the books you read? I would like to see some good book recommendations from this!
Title
Author
Genre + Topics
Themes
Underlands: a deep time journey
Robert Macfarlane
Nonfiction, science, history, adventure
Humanity’s place in time and space, the glory of creation
The Simple Faith of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: religion’s role in the FDR presidency
Christine Wicker
Nonfiction, history, biography
1 Corinthians 13, faith in action
Space Trilogy (series, which I have not finished so the list of themes is not complete)
C.S. Lewis
Fiction, other worlds
Fear vs. trust, sinful nature
Star Wars: from a certain point of view
Ben Acker (and many others)
Fiction, short story, drama, action, humor
Hope, courage, baptism, purpose
Reckoners (series)
Brandon Sanderson
Fiction, superpowers, science fiction
Courage, redemption from the sinful nature (and the lengths that God will go to do it), strength in weakness
Mistborn (series, also one I haven't finished)
Brandon Sanderson
Fiction, superpowers, fantasy
Trust, power of faith
Warrior Cats (series)
Erin Hunter
Fiction, animals, fantasy
Purpose, contrast between the divine of Warrior Cats and our God
The Innocence of Father Brown
G.K. Chesterton
Fiction, mystery, crime
Sinful nature, human ability to reason
Harry Potter (series)
J.K. Rowling
Fiction, magic
Sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, good conquering evil
Black Beauty
Anna Sewel
Fiction, animals
Kindness, day of rest, responsibility
Hello ekrause, you have got it spot on, we do as individuals see the world differently, but - there's always a but - we even see differently if we are all in the same bubble. Religious people worshipping the same God still have their differences and that is why there are thousands and thousands of different beliefs. These differences are noticeable in the Bible where many of the stories contradict one another - the four gospels are a perfect example. These differences play an important part in our evolving and it is not just religion, the diversity happens in all walks of life. An intelligent species could not evolve without these differences, we need to bounce off one another to feed that intelligence. I know you won't go along with what I say, but just stop for awhile and think what it would be like if everyone agreed with each other - read the Stepford Wives and you will get a pretty good idea. It doesn't matter whether you are an atheist, Christian or a football player competing against others, we are all dictated to by the laws of nature; you can't get away from the logic of intelligent evolving. We need to differ!
You are familiar with Einstein's theory of relativity; Mass + energy = 0. All is energy. Our consciousness and subconscious are pure energy and are part of a one energy system. Every individual is a one energy system, even down to its micro existence. A star is the same and so is the universe, all are a one energy system supported by individual energy systems. Evolution as I have explained by its diversity is also a one energy system supported by many other one energy systems. (The Species) This pattern of energy is constant and cannot be changed - bringing in the supernatural to explain the natural is a case of not seeing accurately. We are all on the same side, we are doing what evolution has designed us to do ( differ) it's time to make a pact.
You ask if I can suggest any good books, and I hesitate because one man's meat is another man's poison. From school age to when I got married I covered a lot of what were good books to me at that time, I read all Edgar Rice Borough's Tarzan novels, I read all Smith's Biggles stories, along with Tom Sawyer, some Shakespeare which I never liked and still don't , his sonnets were not the surge of expectation that I expected, it left me with a feeling that Will was capable of a little cheating. Apart from the Bible the only supernatural story I have ever read was Bram Stoker's Dracula which I found to be excellent in its orderly dictation of a very complicated format. I did try Shelly's Frankenstein, but found it lacking and gave up.
At the age of 25 I got married and except for a newspaper I never read another book until after my wife died, some 50 years later. By this time I was nearly 80 years old and my reading had changed, I wanted to find out what life was all about. This changed my choice of books, I was reading Richard Dawkins 'The Selfish Gene' and The Blind Watchman, along with Stephen Hawkins' A Brief History of Time, plus The Grand Design and I have just finished reading his last book Brief Answers to the Big Questions. I have just read Dracula once more and a few Tarzan stories, trying to capture a bit of nostalgia, but my periods of relaxation now, is cuddling in front of the fire with something more substantial.
Keep well and keep safe ekrause.
Thanks for the book ideas. I just placed a hold for Brief Answers to Big Questions at the library, so hopefully I will pick it up soon. I have never read an argument against God by one of the significant atheist scientists, so this will certainly be interesting. My goal in reading it is to better understand the beliefs and attitudes of people who don't believe in God so that I can speak about my faith in a way that responds well. In the meantime, I am reading more from some series I started earlier.
It feels a little awkward to try to read something that I know is trying to argue against God, but you may be interested to know that the daily devotional I get in my email sent me a very timely reminder today: God remains true even when people say untrue things about Him.
What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:3–4)
Hello ekruase, the best Stephen Hawking's book if you want an argument against God is Brief Answers to the Big Questions, but what I would like to know is, what made you choose that one? Good choice.
Look up quantum mechanics before you read the book, it will give you some insight into the reason why a God is not needed. Like I pointed out in my last post - the pattern of energy is constant and not even a God can change it; otherwise he would have changed it by now. We wouldn't be arguing over the what is right and what is wrong, we would know.
The energy of a system, including the sum of kinetic energies, is proportional to its function. This also must apply in the case of quantum physics and Einstein's theory of relativity; the two appear not to be compatible, yet they must be. Whenever there is a problem, there has to be an answer, the one justifies the other. Think of the excitement of eventually coming up with the answer - Eureka! This is what religion stops you from experiencing, the euphoria moment that only knowing the truth can bring. When you think of the buzz that religion brings, it is nothing compared to a demonstrable truth. You won't have to change the facts to back up that which you have no evidence for, your mind will be set free.
Finally ekrause, think about this debate and the reasons for it; we are following the dictates according to the laws of nature - we are differing in order to evolve our intelligence. We are all part of evolution, which adheres to the pattern that is set and no one or no God can change that. The energy that drives us forward is also indestructible.
Commenting on Romans 3;3- 4. I am not judging you, I am judging your religion and the chains that bind your thinking. What Romans is ordering you to do is don't think for yourself.
Goodnight, I am off to bed now.
Keep safe.
I chose that particular book from your suggestions because I looked up information on the books and Brief Answers to Big Questions had chapters on many different topics. It seems to be about not only religion but also technology and speculation about the future. I will probably be able to pick it up from the library tomorrow, if I remember to stop there after class.
It does touch on religion, but that is not the main object of the book, it's the part that relates to quantum physics which suggests that a super power is not likely and not needed.