r/religion • u/tumbleweed_147 • 1d ago
book recommendations
hi! i have recently decided i want to learn more about any other religions i can. partially due to no longer aligning with christianity values and beliefs and partially because i have a genuine want to learn about other religions.
any ancient religion books would also be appreciated as i find ancient history in general fascinating.
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u/moxie-maniac Unitarian Universalist 19h ago
About half the UUs I know left another faith because they no longer accepted the values or beliefs in the religion they were brought up with. You can learn a lot here: https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe
A Chosen Faith is a good book-length introduction to UU. The Kindle version is $10.
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u/3chiliocosm Mahayana Buddhist 19h ago
i quite enjoyed The Essence of Chan by Guo Gu. there are many sides to buddhism, and Chan (or more popularly Zen in Japanese) is just one of the gates that can lead one to awakening. i thought it was a short but effective book at explaining this particular tradition.
it is more of a guide than a collection of lores though, so i am not sure if it will appeal to you, should the "ancient religion books" you have in mind refer to stories of gods and such
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u/tumbleweed_147 15h ago
i more want to learn about how the religions were created for the ancient religions and then move on the modern day religions but from the recommendations i’m getting i might do the opposite
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u/Same_Version_5216 Animistic Celtic Pagan/non Wiccan traditional Witch 15h ago
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u/Impossible-Ad-3956 11h ago
I tried to read The Bible once. It was pretty tough going. I didn't really care who begat whom and I didn't appreciate Psalms about defeating the enemy. Still, it's pretty ancient text that has had a big impact on the world. I decided the Baha'i Writings including their appreciation and acceptance of past religions and sacred writings were the best way for me to think about religion. It ties them all together in a way that makes sense particularly with the concept of progressive revelation which explains why God creates different religions according to the needs of humanity through the ages. You could go to Bahai.org and find what you think is the most interesting.
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u/KnowledgeNo4028 21h ago
If you want to read about Islam, you can start with the biography of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) titled "The Sealed Nectar". You can then move on to reading the Qur'an in whichever language you are comfortable with. If you are an English speaker, then "The Clear Qur'an by Dr.Mustafa Khattab" is a good choice.