It's about what's real, as opposed to what's written. Amazing

Not a convincing book. While I did see the merits in distinguishing between literalist versus symbolic interpretations of various religious texts, I did not find the authors arguments for their own beliefs to be any more convincing. I fully support the concept of enlightenment, I just don't see the authors as particularly enlightened.

Not Bad. Nothing new though for me. Most of the stuff is being actively debated in todays society. The whole understanding and concept of God is changing.
My question is - If the concept of god has changed through the millennia from the Violent autocratic God of the Old testament to the loving and peaceful God of the new testament... who is the real GOD? is it whoever we at any time believe to be?
If it is changeable like that then what about the whole concept of Good and Bad? And love and hate?
Anyway.. i am digressing. Overall an interesting read.

This is the Truth!

Another excellent book by Tim Freak and Peter Gandy. I feel I now have 'permission' to drop all the bogus theological BS that I have been wrestling with for years. Thank you for putting the truth out there in such pleasant and easy to understand terminology.

Don't let the title throw you off...this is a great read.

I have not finished but I'll give this a 5 star because I agree with it and the language is so easy to understand. If I could just get Osam Ben Ladin and George Bush to read this we could all start over.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82...

The first part is quite a rant. The second part is worth the read. See the 5-star review.

The first half of the book is a dissecting of the world religions - what the authors call the Literalist viewpoint. If you are fundamentalist you would not like the book. However, I am not fundamentalist and the authors expressed many of the views that I already have. Will the book change anyone - probably not. But if you already believe this way - it will "reawaken" you :)
In this current world we are living in the Literalists - fundamentalists - of all religions are becoming more outspoken and hate filled. They are us - they are the part of us that is fighting the idea of awakening. Awakening to what? That we are all one. When we bomb people in other countries - we bomb ourselves. When we hate others - we hate ourselves. God is not out there - God is inside each and every one of us. As Thich Nat Hanh said "We are all drops in the ocean of God"

Lost this book before finishing it. I was liking it a lot.

This book is split into two sections: The Bath Water and The Baby.

I found the first section to be an informative (if sometimes harsh) look at the kernels of truth that developed into many of our modern religious texts.

The second half of the book provides the author's perspective on gnostic wisdom. While thought provoking and philisophical, it seemed a bit hypocritic to write about a religion or philosophy after breaking down the myths behind most modern religions. At times I felt the authors were saying "don't believe all of this, but you should believe us".

Overall, a great book that would recommend to open-minded readers.

amazing insight on most religions

I'm not a religious person, but I do think we can learn something from just about every religious tradition and philosophy. There were parts of this book I liked a lot, and there were some parts I didn't like so much.
Likes:
1. The historical look at some of the major religions was interesting (though see point 1 under dislikes)
2. I think the "imagine you were hearing this story for the first time" approach to some of the fantastical religious tales was an effective rhetorical device, but if it hasn't persuaded adherents for the last few hundred years I'm not sure it will do so today :)
3. Looking to a variety of religious and philosophical traditions to learn about ourselves and the world around us.
4. The importance of awareness and presence in the moment. The philosophies they describe share a lot with Zen Buddhism in this respect.
5. The notion that organized religion is organized around the agendas of the people organizing it.
6. Eschewing literalism in favor of contemplation and the search for a deeper understanding.
7. The idea of the good and bad in everything is something that I've long believed in.

Dislikes:
1. Some of their historical/fact-based stuff was light on citations, but that's fairly typical of these books.
2. In addition, their tone was a bit combative for my tastes. I understand it was framed as a "takedown" of those religions, but it still came across a bit too arrogant for a couple of guys who promote the idea of "Big Love." I also found it humorous that Gnosticism got to claim all the positives of World religions, while avoiding responsibility for the negatives.
3. The idea of the I vs. the It wasn't inherently bad, but a lot of their talk of one shared consciousness made me roll my eyes - it starts to sound an awful lot like the the superstitious stories they were deriding in the first part. (more on this later)
4. There is a section that promotes the unity of Gnotsticism with science. In that section they state that since science can't fully explain conscious thought, consciousness must be something bigger than just a byproduct of our physicality. This shows a frustrating lack of understanding about what science is - the fact that we can't scientifically explain something doesn't imply that it can never be explained. (The excerpt: "But the fact is, even if someone knows what every neuron in your brain is doing, that won't give them access to a single one of your thoughts")

That said, I think if one looks at their beliefs the way that they suggest looking at other religions I think there is a lot of value there. If we set aside the idea that our "I" is literally some shared awareness that exists beyond the physical world and unites us all, we are left with an interesting symbolic philosophy. We are all one in the sense that we are all conscious beings (whatever that really means) and we are more similar than different - everyone is the protagonist in his or her story, and we're all here to confront the world's events, for better or for worse. The notions that by being aware of the moment and all that comes with it, looking to the entirety of the World around you for inspiration and wisdom, and spreading love and happiness to your fellow man are all noble...well I think those are certainly things I can agree with.

I'd recommend it to anyone who's open-minded about spirituality and interested in learning more about alternatives to literalist religions, but I'd advise you to take their more spiritual claims with a grain of salt. To those who take affronts on their beliefs as affronts on themselves: you will probably hate this book (although you just might need books like this more than anyone else.)