Most sacred scriptures are ancient. They were written in ancient languages, in ancient cultures and in ancient places. What knowledge they contain is pre-scientific. Interpreted outside of their historical context, they become misleading and dangerous, as Bible thumping bigots repeatedly prove.
Although the following sites can be used as either a reference or an introduction to many of the world's scriptures, they are not sufficient in themselves. Companion explanations and commentary by reliable scholars provide the missing clues and connections needed for understanding. Those available on the Web will be listed here.
The fundamentalist approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible for ready answers to the problems of life. It can deceive these people, offering them interpretations that are pious but illusory, instead of telling them that the Bible does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to each and every problem. Without saying as much in so many words, fundamentalism actually invites people to a kind of intellectual suicide. It injects into life a false certitude, for it unwittingly confuses the divine substance of the biblical message with what are in fact its human limitations.
- The Vatican in the 1993 document, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. -
The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality Justin R. Cannon's booklet which is described by the Los Angeles Times as "an illuminating...analysis that argues the Bible doesn't condemn faithful gay relationships."
Bible Gateway Search Bible texts in several English translations, as well as several other languages.
Biblical Errancy This highly valuable reference contains the contents of all of C. Dennis McKinsey's 192 issues of Bible errors and contradictions. It is also available in book form as The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy.
The Book of Bart Bart Ehrman, a New Testament expert and best-selling author of "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why," investigated the origins of Christianity and lost his faith altogether. "Bart was, like a lot of people who were converted to fundamental evangelicalism, converted to the certainty of it all, of having all the answers. When he found out they were lying to him, he just didn't want anything to do with it."
The Book of Mormon The text in searchable and downloadable formats.
BuddhaNet: Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network A large, well-organized site that provides a wealth of information about Buddhism and its scriptures and offers a large number of free e-books to download.
Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library A central resource for finding a wide variety of Buddhist texts and other information. Covers the full range of Buddhism.
Contextual Criticism A commentary on religion - its various forms, bases for existence, creedal formulations, leaders, and impact on the world. Special attention is given to the influence of religion in the United States.
The Dark Bible A compilation of Bible passages that deal with the wrath, scatological, woman-debasing and dubious moral teachings of God in the Bible. As the author says, "the Bible does not represent only 'high morality' or a means to better one's life...most of the Bible, in fact, concerns itself with conquest, war, killings, and curses, many times coming directly from Yahweh (God). By today's standards, many of these Biblical stories describe despicable atrocities."
Dominion Theology A brief explanation of a growing and politically powerful fundamentalist belief that Christians are commanded to bring all of the world's societies under the rule of the Bible, especially the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). "All religious organizations, congregations etc. other than strictly Fundamentalist Christianity would be suppressed."
The Flat-Earth Bible Article explains the flat-earth cosmology of the Bible.
Gay and Christian Detailed scholarly information and analysis of scriptures shows why there is no conflict between being gay and Christian.
The Gnosis Archive Major source for Gnostic texts, including the Nag Hammadi texts, and information about Gnosticism. The finding of the Nag Hammadi texts in 1945 was a crucial reminder that it is more accurate to refer to early Christianities than to early Christianity.
The Gospel of Thomas A large one-stop source of information about this interesting gospel.
The Hindu Universe This comprehensive site on Hinduism provides all of the major Hindu scriptures.
I Am That I Am This article by Laura Olshansky, a former editor at Realization.org, explains that the famous cryptic statement from the Old Testament was meant as a joke in a children's story.
From Jesus to Christ From PBS, this Frontline series is an intellectual and visual guide to the new and controversial historical evidence which challenges familiar assumptions about the life of Jesus and the epic rise of Christianity. A large number of fascinating articles.
The Many Forms of Fundamentalism Fundamentalism has made an extraordinary impact on the world. But what is it? See, also, Interview: James Carroll, American Fundamentalisms.
Panlatrevo Home Resource for texts and scriptures of Taoism and Tao-related traditions.
Taoism Information Page Texts include the Tao Te Ching, the I Ching, and more.
World Wide Study Bible Comprehensive collection of Bible texts, including apocrypha, and commentary.
Recommended Books
The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy is a radical new look at Christian origins which suggests that Jesus the man did not exist at all and that Jesus was a mythical Osiris/Dionysus god-man.
For easy-to-read explanations of Hebrew and Christian scriptures, books by Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong are among the best and most popular. In particular, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, is a no-holds barred confrontation with the literalism which has been used to justify every form of intolerance. Other popular books by Spong include:
Asimov's Guide to the Bible, by the entertaining and illuminating Isaac Asimov, is among the most readable and thorough scriptural commentaries available to the layperson.
Another popular and easy-to-read book, The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, by Robin Lane Fox, examines the Bible as history, myth and literature, and provides a wealth of detailed information. Although the author is a self-admitted atheist, he handles the texts and the issues of historical inconsistency with far greater objectivity, temperance and honesty than do many theistic scholars, or his theistic critics.
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, by Peter Gomes, the pastor of Harvard University's Memorial Church and a professor of theology, attempts to restore the Bible's place in a living faith by rescuing it from the radical religious right and from homophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism and racism.
In The Hidden Jesus: A New Life, Donald Spoto, a theologian and former monk, describes how Christianity went wrong when it focused on the words of the Gospels, rather than on their meaning, and changed faith into dogma. "Religion, to many modern churches, is tantamount to a system of laws and doctrines; that is the usual thinking, but in the final analysis such an attitude bears no relation to the life of mature faith. This attitude of moral rectitude--as if faith and morality were synonymous--is closer to a fascist police mentality than it is to the attitude of Jesus...."
The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Dennis McKinsey contains over 500 pages listing Bible errors and contradictions.
Elaine Pagels, a religious historian, writes some of the most interesting and provocative books about early Christianity, including Gnosticism:
- Adam, Eve, and the Serpent analyzes how early Christianity changed the meaning of sexuality, and not for the better.
- The Origin of Satan examines the Christian development of Satan through its demonization of Jews and heretics.
- The Gnostic Gospels, a study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity, won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Other fascinating books about Gnosticism include:
The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead
Jung and the Lost Gospels: Insights into the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library
