Interfaith dialogue: Spirituality

Bulfinch, Thomas. The Age of Fable. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Book Publishers, 1990.

Vivid, classic retellings of the myths of Greece and Rome, along with stories of the Norse gods and heroes. Zeus and Hera, Apollo, Jason and the golden fleece, the wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas, the deeds of Thor, many more seminal stories underlying Western culture.

Campbell, Joseph. Myths to Live By. New York: Bantam Books, 1972.

Examines the myth-making process since primitive times to demonstrate the ways in which specific myths reflect human needs.

Collins, Francis S. The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. New York: Free Press, 2007.

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world’s leading scientists. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture. He believes that God cares about us and can intervene in human affairs – on rare occasions, even miraculously. Collins has personally discovered some of the scientific evidence for the common descent of all living creatures, even though he repudiates the materialist, atheistic worldview argued by many prominent Darwinists. In short, Dr. Collins provides a satisfying solution for the dilemma that haunts everyone who believes in God and respects science. Faith in God and faith in science can be harmonious – combined into one worldview. The God that he believes in is a God who can listen to prayers and cares about our souls. The biological science he has advanced is compatible with such a God. For Collins, science does not conflict with the Bible, science enhances it. For many years Dr. Collins kept his views largely to himself, as he helped oversee the Human Genome Project’s stunning sequencing of the code of life. Now, in what may be the most important melding of reason and revelation since C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, Dr. Collins explains himself in detail. The Language of God makes the case for God and for science. Dr. Collins considers and rejects several positions along the spectrum from atheism to young-earth creationism – including agnosticism and Intelligent Design. Instead, he proposes a new synthesis, a new way to think about an active, caring God who created humankind through evolutionary processes. He has heard every argument against faith from scientists, and he can refute them. He has also heard the needless rejection of scientific truths by some people of faith, and he can counter that, too. He explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes readers on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible. ‘The Language of God’ is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all; Why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Doty, William G. Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1986.

William Doty’s popular text has been hailed as the most comprehensive work of its kind. Extensively rewritten and completely restructured, the new edition provides further depth and perspective and is even more accessible to students of myth. It includes expanded coverage of postmodern and poststructuralist perspectives, the Gernet Center, mythic iconography, neo-Jungian approaches, and cultural studies, and it summarizes what is new in the study of Greek myth, iconography, French classical scholarship, and ritual studies. It also features a comprehensive index of names and topics, a glossary, an up-to-date annotated bibliography, and a guide to myth on the Internet. Presenting all major myth theorists from antiquity to the present, Mythography is an encyclopedic work that offers a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of myth. By reflecting the dramatic increase in interest in myth among both scholars and general readers since publication of the first edition, it remains a key study of modern approaches to myth and an essential guide to the wealth of mythographic research available today.

Dundes, Alan. The Study of Folklore. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965.

A unique selection of thirty-four essays on folklore: what it is, how it originates, what it means, and why it is of continuing importance for an understanding of the nature of man.

Eliade, Mircea. Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. New York: Harper & Row, 1959. 

This founding work of the history of religions, first published in English in 1954, secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-1986). Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no less than half a dozen European languages, Eliade’s The Myth of the Eternal Return makes both intelligible and compelling the religious expressions and activities of a wide variety of archaic and “primitive” religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to the “archaic” is no longer possible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding this view in order to enrich our contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. Jonathan Z. Smith’s new introduction provides the contextual background to the book and presents a critical outline of Eliade’s argument in a way that encourages readers to engage in an informed conversation with this classic text.

——. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987.  

In a book of great originality and scholarship, a noted historian of religion traces manifestations of the sacred from primitive to modern times, in terms of space, time, nature and the cosmos, and life itself. The Sacred and the Profane serves as an excellent introduction to the history of religion, but its perspective also encompasses philosophical anthropology, phenomenology, and psychology. It will be of concern to anyone seeking to discover the potential dimensions of human existence.

——. Patterns in Comparative Religion. New York: The New American Library, Meridian Books, 1958.

In this era of increased knowledge the essence of religious phenomena eludes the psychologists, sociologists, linguists, and other specialists because they do not study it as religious. According to Mircea Eliade, they miss the one irreducible element in religious phenomena-the element of the sacred. Eliade abundantly demonstrates universal religious experience and shows how humanity’s effort to live within a sacred sphere has manifested itself in myriad cultures from ancient to modern times; how certain beliefs, rituals, symbols, and myths have, with interesting variations, persisted.

____. Mitul Reintegrarii [The Myth of Reintegration]. Bucharest: Humanitas Press, 2003.

Frye, Northrop. Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology. Orlando, FLA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.

In this outstanding collection of sixteen essays, the world-renowned critic and scholar discusses various works in the central tradition of English mythopoeic poetry, paying particular attention to the centrality of Romanticism.

—–. The Great Code: The Bible and Literature. Orlando, FLA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.

An examination of the influence of the Bible on Western art and literature and on the Western creative imagination in general. Frye persuasively presents the Bible as a unique text distinct from all other epics and sacred writings. No one has set forth so clearly, so subtly, or with such cogent energy as Frye the literary aspect of our biblical heritage.

Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1963.

A monumental study of comparative magic, folklore, and religion, The Golden Bough was originally published in two volumes in 1890, grew to twelve volumes for the third edition in 1915, and was ultimately abridged by the author into this one-volume edition in 1922. Drawing on the myths, rites and rituals, totems and taboos, and religious beliefs and customs of ancient European civilizations and primitive cultures throughout the world, James Frazer’s ideas had a far-reaching impact on the course of modern anthropology, philosophy, and psychology and on the writing of such literary figures as D. H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, and T. S. Eliot.

George, Andrew, transl. The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. New York: Penguin Books, 1999.

Originally the work of an anonymous Babylonian poet who lived more than 3,700 years ago, The Epic of Gilgamesh tells of the heroic exploits of the ruler of the walled city of Uruk. Not content with the immortality conveyed by the renown of his great deeds, Gilgamesh journeys to the ends of the earth and beyond in his search for eternal life, encountering the wise man Utanapishti, who relates the story of a great flood that swept the earth. This episode and several others in the epic anticipate stories in the Bible and in Homer, to the great interest of biblical and classical scholars. Told with intense feeling and imagination, this masterful tale of love and friendship, duty and death, is more than an object of scholarly concern; it is a vital rendering of universal themes that resonate across the ages and is considered the world’s first truly great work of literature.

Goldberg, B. Z. The Sacred Fire: The Story of Sex in Religion. New York: Gold Press, Inc., 1962.

Originally the work of an anonymous Babylonian poet who lived more than 3,700 years ago, The Epic of Gilgamesh tells of the heroic exploits of the ruler of the walled city of Uruk. Not content with the immortality conveyed by the renown of his great deeds, Gilgamesh journeys to the ends of the earth and beyond in his search for eternal life, encountering the wise man Utanapishti, who relates the story of a great flood that swept the earth. This episode and several others in the epic anticipate stories in the Bible and in Homer, to the great interest of biblical and classical scholars. Told with intense feeling and imagination, this masterful tale of love and friendship, duty and death, is more than an object of scholarly concern; it is a vital rendering of universal themes that resonate across the ages and is considered the world’s first truly great work of literature.

Grant, Michael. Myths of the Greeks and Romans. New York: Penguin Books, 1995.

In this insightful and absorbing book, distinguished historian and classical scholar Michael Grant demonstrates the dynamic effect that ancient mythology has had on the creative efforts of succeeding centuries. He summarizes all the myths as well as the legends of the lesser gods and heroes, and traces their origins in historical fact or religious myth. He then shows how myths have continued to evolve throughout the ages. The author’s brilliant investigations lead from Pericles to Picasso, Homer to Freud, Apuleius to Grimm – and prove that mythological themes have been continuously restated in art, science, and folklore, up to the present day. Lively and fascinating, this in-depth study is complemented by maps, genealogical tables, and 64 pages of photographs. Included, too, are an appendix on additional myths, chapter notes, and an updated bibliography and index.

Graves, Robert, transl. from Apuleius, The Transformations of Lucius, Otherwise Known as The Golden Ass. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996.  

Hesiod, Theogony. Works and Days. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.

This new, fully-annotated translation by a leading expert on Hesiodic poems combines accuracy with readability and includes an introduction and explanatory notes on these two works by one of the oldest known Greek poets. The Theogony contains a systematic genealogy and account of the struggles of the gods, and the Works and Days offers a compendium of moral and practical advice for a life of honest husbandry.

Highet, Gilbert. The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature. New York & Oxford: Galaxy Book, Oxford University Press, 1959.

This landmark book explores the ways in which the Greco-Roman tradition has shaped modern European and American literature.

James, E. O. The Ancient Gods. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2004.

This account of the religious history of the ancient world is essential for the proper understanding of the great living faiths, which, directly or indirectly, have arisen from or been influenced by this remarkable center.

Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.

The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are “metaphors we live by”—metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them.In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson’s influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.

Schlam, Carl C. Cupid and Psyche, Apuleius and the Monuments. Pennsylvania: American Philosophical Association, 1976.

The story of Cupid and Psyche is part of The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses, a Latin novel by Apuleius (second century A.D.). It is both a charming fairytale and an allegory of the search of the Soul for happiness and fulfillment.

Seton-Williams, M. V. Egyptian Legends and Stories. New York: Fall River Press, 1988.

Ancient Egypt has a rich tradition of stories and proverbs, recorded by scribes. This book raises these stories from the dust, and presents obscure ancient texts in a readable form. The selections date from the Old Kingdom to medieval times, the majority being based on religious themes. There are many surprising new texts here, but some of the themes seem familiar: the creation myth of Memphis theology is similar to the bible while ‘The Capture of Joppa’ is an older version of ‘Ali Baba’.

Shattuck, Roger. Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.

Examining the meaning of moral responsibility in literature and in our everyday lives, Shattuck also suggests that we live in a violated world that dismisses taboos and fails to heed the wisdom of that which is sacred. Forbidden Knowledge is a scintillating work that does nothing less than trace the tragic arc of Western literatue and culture, exploring the notion of forbidden knowledge from the sexual innocence of Adam and Eve to the sexual excesses of the Marquis de Sade and beyond.

Thornton, Bruce. Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2000.

In the classics departments of today’s universities, Bruce Thornton says, the Greeks are accused of stealing their achievements from black Egyptians, of oppressing their wives and daughters, and of hypocritically speculating about freedom while holding slaves. Most of all, classic Greek culture has come under attack precisely because its glorious achievement, extended into history, is what defines the West and makes it distinct. In Greek Ways, Thornton clears away these misconceptions. Writing with wit and erudition, he discusses in fascinating detail those areas of Greek life – sexuality and sexual roles; slavery and war; philosophy and politics – that some modern critics have made into “contested sites.” Perhaps more importantly, he also reclaims the importance of those core ideas the Greeks invented, ideas about human fate and purpose that have shaped the modern world. Nearly seventy years ago, Edith Hamilton published The Greek Way, a book that educated two generations of readers about the debt we owe the handful of city-states that developed “the spirit of the West” some 2500 years ago. Bruce Thornton’s Greek Ways is for our time what Hamilton’s book was for a prior era: a classic inquiry holding up a mirror to Greek culture in which we can see ourselves.

Tillich, Paul. The Courage to Be. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2000.

In this classic and deeply insightful book, one of the world’s most eminent philosophers describes the dilemma of modern man and points a way to the conquest of the problem of anxiety.