COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS CALENDARS

COMMON THEMES IN WORLD RELIGION READING LIST

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World Scriptures: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts  by the International Religious Foundation. It contains footnoted quotations from world religion on key subjects. It is hard to find and very large but an absolute must for students of world religion.

Dictionary of Religious and Spiritual Quotations  by Geoffrey Parrinder. This is also a good topical dictionary of world religious quotations.

Jesus and Buddha. Marcus Borg. An excellent topical comparison of Chistian and Buddhist quotations.

Man and His Destiny in the Great Religions  by S.G.F. Brandon

 The Judgement of the Dead  by S.G.F. Brandon.

Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt  by J.H. Breasted. This is a truly amazing book by the most famous historian of ancient Egypt. One may not agree with all conclusions here but it is a brilliant study of common themes of ancient Egyptian religious thought and later religious world views.

Eastern Religions and Western Thought  by S. Radhakrishnan. This book by a former President of India was published by Oxford University Press of India but is hard to get in the west. Sections I through III contain long-winded dissertations on Hinduism but the later parts of the book are truly brilliant comparisons of western and eastern religious thought organized in terms of the periods of ancient history.

Intercourse between India and the Western World. by H.G. Rawlinson, one of the most famous historians of the ancient world. This is a brilliant book containing much ancient documentary source material concerning east west links in the ancient world. It is a good companion to the former book. The significance of both books is to show that Asia clearly played a part in the development of western philosophy and religion.