Let me start off by saying that I am not a Muslim, and while I am deeply interested in all of the world's religions, I don't formally practice one myself. In writing this blog, I don't pretend to any special knowledge - either academic or spiritual. I am simply a curious person who feels that I will be a better citizen of the world if I better understand the heart of the world's religions.
The idea for this blog from this came from David Plotz, who did a series called Blogging the Bible for Slate.com. I was teaching a class in the Hebrew Bible at the same time, and truly enjoyed following the course of his discovery, as did my students. I believe he would agree that what he learned far outweighed what his readers could learn from him, and I suspect the same will be true here. However, one of the ways he learned the most was through the comments of the people who communicated with him as he read it. If you are reading this, and can shed any light on what I've missed, or if you have questions or thoughts about what you read, I would be most grateful if you would communicate them to me by posting a comment.
I've been wanting to read the Qur'an for a while now. It's one of the only major religious texts I haven't read yet, and I have a Muslim friend, Sridhara, who is going to read it with me over the coming year. I'm going to give him background on the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (and other religions or myths, as appropriate), and he's going to help me understand the text from a Muslim perspective.
At Sridhara's recommendation, I'm currently reading No god but God, by Reza Aslan. Aslan came to talk at the school where we teach this year, and impressed me with his mix of rigorous scholarship and down-to-earth nature. He approaches the subject intelligently and objectively, but without losing the personal nature that must be part of a religious discussion. In one of my next posts, I'll offer some more specific reactions to No god but God.
The idea for this blog from this came from David Plotz, who did a series called Blogging the Bible for Slate.com. I was teaching a class in the Hebrew Bible at the same time, and truly enjoyed following the course of his discovery, as did my students. I believe he would agree that what he learned far outweighed what his readers could learn from him, and I suspect the same will be true here. However, one of the ways he learned the most was through the comments of the people who communicated with him as he read it. If you are reading this, and can shed any light on what I've missed, or if you have questions or thoughts about what you read, I would be most grateful if you would communicate them to me by posting a comment.
I've been wanting to read the Qur'an for a while now. It's one of the only major religious texts I haven't read yet, and I have a Muslim friend, Sridhara, who is going to read it with me over the coming year. I'm going to give him background on the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (and other religions or myths, as appropriate), and he's going to help me understand the text from a Muslim perspective.
At Sridhara's recommendation, I'm currently reading No god but God, by Reza Aslan. Aslan came to talk at the school where we teach this year, and impressed me with his mix of rigorous scholarship and down-to-earth nature. He approaches the subject intelligently and objectively, but without losing the personal nature that must be part of a religious discussion. In one of my next posts, I'll offer some more specific reactions to No god but God.
1 comment:
Nice....
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