Christian Authors Pagans Should Read

[TeaDidikai]

So- this started out as one topic and turned into something completely different.

When it comes to fluff- a huge factor in the fact that Fluffy Bunnies breed like... well, fluffy bunnies is the fact that poor quality texts are easy to hand. For only $15 your average neophyte can pick up a book that promises to reveal the grand high mysteries of Magick3al Wizdom.*

One of the things this guild often focuses on is quality texts- anthropological, archeological texts as sources for pagans to turn to while developing their path- in addition to primary source authors like Gardner and the like.

However- perhaps we should grow beyond that. We know that Christendom has had a couple thousand years to develop social structures where people pretty much spent their time praying, worshiping, and twiddling their thumbs... and as a result, many of them have authored amazing bodies of work on the spiritual struggle of humanity.

As a result- perhaps we should look at some of these texts and the commentary upon them in order to further flesh out elements of spirituality that transcend religious tradition.

After all, there isn't a lot of sense in the Neo-Pagan movement reinventing the wheel.

With that in mind- which Christian authors should be on every Pagan's bookshelf?


* Remember kiddies, if you can't see the 8 You aren't a real witch.  

[error-dot-tar]

Does Milton count? Having a copy of Paradise Lost may help with understanding where the concept of Lucifer being a fallen angel and Lucifer and Satan being the same being comes from.  

[TeaDidikai]

error[dot]exe

Does Milton count? Having a copy of Paradise Lost may help with understanding where the concept of Lucifer being a fallen angel and Lucifer and Satan being the same being comes from.

Why not.

Though it wasn't what I had in mind when I wrote the thread.

I was thinking of the words of St. John of the Cross.  

[puerdemon]

I love Milton myself. Also I find that Dante's trilogy (The Divine Comedy, The Inferno, and Purgatorio) should be there. If I remember correctly Dante and Milton, while having some different ideas on Christianity, lived around the same time.

Also, I find The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis to be wonderful as well, although that could be due to my infatuation with demons. It is one of his darker pieces, very unlike the Chronicals of Narnia.  

[MoonJeli]

Well, the Bible with its assorted authors.

And Apocrypha and some Gnostic texts.

The first other author that comes to mind for me is St. Thomas Aquinas. Some others, hrm, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas à Kempis.  

[Wrath of Ezekiel]

MoonJeli

Well, the Bible with its assorted authors.

And Apocrypha and some Gnostic texts.

The first other author that comes to mind for me is St. Thomas Aquinas. Some others, hrm, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas à Kempis.

Darn it! You took what I was going to say!  

[chaoticpuppet]

In regards to the bible, which version(s) should one have?

Also, maybe something that covers the Catholic Catechism should be included.  

[MoonJeli]

Well, I have half a dozen Bibles. *lol* At least. I'd have to go count.

However, I personally think the KJV is important to have for most. Not for its accuracy, but because it has had such a major cultural impact in America and Europe. Not to mention it is an ASTOUNDING piece of literature (many other translations just don't match the poetic impact of KJV).

I also think it's important to have a more accurate translation, and a Catholic Bible as well as a Protestant Bible, but with all the online Bible resources, one may not need to have the actual physical book on their shelves. (I do, but I'm a bibliophile).

I also like study Bibles with lots of notation and analysis. We have a few Bibles that have my handwriting scribbled all over, and Terence's liberal highlighting. And I have Strong's Concordances (a huge hardcover monster; I love you, used book store!), and about a dozen books on the Bible as literature and Bible analysis.

I totally forgot one, I think everyone should have a Book of Mormon. I have two since both Terence and I entered the relationship with one. XD

And I agree, chaoticpuppet, good call, the Catholic Catechism should be included. That and the Screwtape Letters are the two things I lack in paper form from this thread. Luckily the Catechism is online.  

[Tyrannical Princess]

puerdemon

Also, I find The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis to be wonderful as well, although that could be due to my infatuation with demons. It is one of his darker pieces, very unlike the Chronicals of Narnia.

Actually, most of the stuff by C.S. Lewis is good. Mere Christianity is a great one, and is effectively a journal from his radio show where he argues for Christianity from scratch. There are a few suppositions Lewis takes that I disagree with, but it's good nonetheless.

The Narnia books and the Space Trilogy are good FICTION, but not really useful as religious texts.  

[Thou]

The Writings of Pseudo-Denys come to mind.  

[TheDisreputableDog]

Tyrannical Princess

The Narnia books and the Space Trilogy are good FICTION, but not really useful as religious texts.

They were useful to me. I learned some very important lessons as a child about sacrifice, courage, getting out what you put in, not forgetting where you came from, that just because it's all in your head doesn't mean it's not real, and that Lions may love you but are by no means tame--many of which are coming to the fore for me now. I need to reread the space trilogy--although meeting the Oyarsa is pretty much the definition of an ineffable experience.  

[Tyrannical Princess]

TheDisreputableDog

Tyrannical Princess

The Narnia books and the Space Trilogy are good FICTION, but not really useful as religious texts.

They were useful to me. I learned some very important lessons as a child about sacrifice, courage, getting out what you put in, not forgetting where you came from, that just because it's all in your head doesn't mean it's not real, and that Lions may love you but are by no means tame--many of which are coming to the fore for me now. I need to reread the space trilogy--although meeting the Oyarsa is pretty much the definition of an ineffable experience.

Good points. But does that make them useful for pagans religiously or just for people learning moral lessons in general?  

[Ainwyn]

I've heard a lot of great things about the Conversations with God books from Christians, pagans and atheists alike, but I've only ever gotten to read a few clips from it. Hopefully I can get a copy of the first one from the library and have time to read it at some point.  

[MoonJeli]

Rajani Kali

I've heard a lot of great things about the Conversations with God books from Christians, pagans and atheists alike, but I've only ever gotten to read a few clips from it. Hopefully I can get a copy of the first one from the library and have time to read it at some point.

Personally I didn't like it at all when I read it (long time ago).  

[TatteredAngel]

I think just about everyone should read at least a few selections by Ælfric of Eynsham. Selections from the ginormous Early Church Fathers collection are also great-- I think that it's important that we understand where many of the ideas present in modern day Christianity had their conception.