Book buying orgy, oh my!
Sometimes I throw caution (and my bank balance) to the wind and buy a load of books in one hit, then work my way through them. They’re usually thematic; photography, technical etc. My last blow-out was on religious topics, specifically:
- The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel – A little dry, but very informative. People like Moses and events like the Exodus simply didn’t happen, there is no archaeological evidence supporting but plenty opposing these ideas.
- 101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History – Less dry, but still a good read. Again this shows how the early stories in the old testament were constructed with little historical accuracy. They were, after all, there to keep the flock faithful, not act as an accurate history of the region. Some people need to remember that.
I did buy other books but I’ve not gotten round to reading them yet, the next on the list is The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, whom I’m a huge admirer of.
Some may wonder, why a self-professed militant atheist would be reading books about the history of religion, but it’s history I’m currently fascinated by, and the fact that certainly people actually take these stories as being literally true means that a little education on the topic is very helpful to me.
Maddeningly, it’s obvious to anyone with any degree of objectivity that these stories are as historically accurate as tales of Thor, Odin, Zeus, Mythras or Harry Potter. At least Harry Potter is more entertaining to read, and in most cases, more believable.
October 7th, 2006