God? Faith?

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by OnyxCougar

However, my study of the bible (including it's veracity) and other sources, along with my intellect, have shown me that there is compatibility with my beliefs as a witch and Christian beliefs, and harmony with what I have seen and experienced firsthand and those documents....Right now I'm looking into the Messianic Prophesies and the likelihood of Jesus being the Messiah, versus what the Jews believe. It gets kind of confusing, but I want to look at all the evidence and make my own decision.

Ahhh, maybe this would help me a lot. I never took a religion class in college, and have often wished I had. Do you (or anyone reading this thread!!) have any recommendations of books or other resources (I only have the web at work, and I already am pushing it as often as I am HERE ) that kind of give a basic background to different religions etc.? THANKS!

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by LabRat

Ahhh, maybe this would help me a lot. I never took a religion class in college, and have often wished I had. Do you (or anyone reading this thread!!) have any recommendations of books or other resources (I only have the web at work, and I already am pushing it as often as I am HERE ) that kind of give a basic background to different religions etc.? THANKS!

Start by reading the holy books themselves. I personally have read the Koran, the Bible, the Talmud (that is a LONG read), the Witches Bible, lots of books by Scott Cunningham, and various other texts like the Book of the Dead. Most of these are available online, in e-format and amazon.com.

There are compendiums of other philosophies (Eastern and African) that you can get, usually at the library. They will give you titles of various holy books of those beliefs and you're off again!

I'm one of those people that buys my books because I make notes in the margins.

Before I left Vegas, I had a HUGE 8 foot oak bookshelf filled (sometimes doubled up) with books. Left most of them behind when I moved to NC, tho, or I would mail some to you. The rest I packed up and took to my mom's in CA. I'll get out there to pick them up one day...

But yeah. Read the books for yourself, don't just take someone's word for it. There's something to be said for experiencing the scriptures of various cultures for yourself.

For a real basic overview, you can go to beliefnet.org, which has many many many different religious forums and information.