Vote for new book

[bluegoose]

Harold Bloom: The American Religion

http://www.amazon.com/American-Relig...8764115&sr=8-4

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by Solon

Hey, Gibbon's great. They just don't write like they used to. Couldn't we all do with more of this 18th century prose?

"The primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground, and their minds were exercised by the habits of believing the most extraordinary events. They felt, or they fancied, that on every side they were incessantly assaulted by daemons, comforted by visions, instructed by prophecy, and surprisingly delivered from danger, sickness, and from death itself, by the supplications of the church. The real or imaginary prodigies of which they so frequently conceived themselves to be the objects, the instruments, or the spectators, very happily exposed them to adopt with the same ease but with far greater justice, the authentic wonders of the evangelic history; and thus miracles that exceeded not the measure of their own experience inspired them with the most lively assurance of mysteries which were acknowledged to surpass the limits of their understanding." (from chapter 15 of Gibbon's Decline and Fall ...)

Seriously, though, chapters 15 and 16 are really interesting treatments of Christianity in the Roman Empire (and its contribution to its fall).

Clearly needs more appositional phrases.

My favorite aspect of Gibbon has always been the fact that it inspired the Foundation series.

Originally Posted by bluegoose

Harold Bloom: The American Religion

http://www.amazon.com/American-Relig...8764115&sr=8-4

This looks good. It also has the advantage of being owned by my local library.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Pardon me, but which Arrington book? The Mormon Experience?

[SeattleUte]

Here's a good book about religion that's an easy read I'm reading now. It just won the Pulitzer.

http://www.amazon.com/Looming-Tower-...8771098&sr=1-1

[Archaea]

Well I keep making motions but none carry. Perhaps Babs can take control so that we can have a decision. I'll read them all.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by DarkBritches

Sounds good, plus Gibbons can be found online for free:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decl...s/decline.html

But a bit much, all of those books, don't you think? Maybe Solon could pick some good readings from the whole and write some newsletters for study guides. Or Peligias could do that too, like his sunday school newsletter.

Or, you can download all 8 volumes in .pdf format from googlebooks, print them onto acid-free paper, and put them in your trapper keeper to take to church for some distraction reading during Open Mike meeting.