RicOlie_2

No, you can't say it. ;)

a5

The Qur'an is interesting to read, and I won't judge it too quickly before knowing more about Muslims' beliefs and reading more of it. Allah is similar to the way God is portrayed in the Old Testament, so I don't know why some Christians accuse Islam of being such a violent religion with an evil God. I think the Islamic take on God is a bit more so than the Jewish one, but only slightly so. That being said, I think it comes down to the way the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews thought God was.

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks is proving to be an awful book. Brooks employs deus ex machina far too often. The protagonist has some elfstones which have magical properties. They seem to be able to do anything they are needed to do, yet the characters don't use them that often and tend to think of them only at the last minute. I am also left wondering why the characters don't just ask the elfstones to show them the way to where they're going, since they don't know the way. Handily, they are found by someone and brought to their destination (not their final destination, as I haven't gotten that far yet), presumably just to speed up the story. The characters appear incredibly stupid, but it's a good thing they seem to have fantastically (literally) good luck. I advise that you stay away from these books if you appreciate quality literature. Read a book that has the characters solve their own problems, and doesn't employ a magical plot device that pushes the plot forward when the author runs into a corner. I definitely do not plan to read any more books in the series, but I'll stick with this one until I'm finished, just to see if it improves.

Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell

This is a great book and I highly recommend it. I may have mentioned it before in this thread, but I'm still reading it. It's fascinating how some of the things that the government does in that novel are being done, to a lesser degree, today, and nobody seems concerned. For instance, certain governments are monitoring their country's citizens, one-sided history is being taught to children in public schools, etc.

I'm still reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Christie is an excellent mystery author. I like how she gives several characters motives so that it is very difficult to determine who the culprit is. I have yet to find out how well she plays out the end, but from some Poirot shows I've seen (for those who don't know, Poirot is one of her best known characters), she seems to do a good job, assuming the TV episodes are similar to the books.

I'm making my way through The Book of Mormon and am on The Second Book of Nephi right now. There are many phrases and ideas from the New Testament in that book, which is interesting, since Nephi supposedly wrote first. I plan to become much more familiar with The Book of Mormon over time, so that I can understand Mormonism better, as well as being better prepared to debate with regards to Mormon theology and scripture. The same goes for most religious texts. I am of the opinion that knowledge (real knowledge, that is, not an incorrect understanding of the text) of another person's scriptures is the best way to understand their religion and allows for better discussion related to religion.

Lucas even made fun of the ideas sometimes...that mustn't have been a good motivator for the artists who were trying their best. It would have been more efficient to at least give a general idea of what he wanted. George seemed clueless about what he wanted his characters to look like.

Thanks for the update Jay. It's unfortunate that the hosting service hasn't fixed the problem yet, but it isn't your fault and the regulars can deal with it until you find a solution.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare is difficult to get through without ever having seen one of his plays, and needing to use Dictionary.com every couple of minutes. It also doesn't help that I read his plays over a period of several months, and am reading over fifty other things at the same time. What I can understand is interesting, and I enjoyed Julius Caesar, since I already knew the basic story.

Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life by Ivan T. Sanderson

This is very interesting, and I had no idea just how many reports of these things (called "ABSMs" in the book) there were. The book was written in the sixties, back when the world was more full of unknowns, and I could probably be convinced of the existence of ABSMs were it not for the fact that we still haven't proved the existence of any of them.

Alfred the Great by Jacob Abott

The author is good at presenting history in an interesting way, without getting too detailed and boring me. With next to no background information on someone, it can be nice to have an easy-to-read book on them. It doesn't feel juvenile, though, which would be no good. I've read his biography of Alexander the Great as well, and plan to tackle the next several if I have time.

April 23:

A.D. 1014: King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats invading Danes at the Battle of Clontarf.

A.D. 1154: Damascus surrenders to Sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo.

A.D. 1635: The first public institution in the U.S., Boston Latin School, is founded.

A.D. 1941: The Greek army surrenders to German Nazis. King George II escapes to Egypt.

Px1d

W-d6

I'm reading St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologia. This is a very heavy read, originally written in Latin by the scholarly Thomas Aquinas who was a Dominican monk living in the 11th century. I've been taking it slowly, which allows me to absorb the content, since it's almost as hard as reading Shakespeare. I enjoy it though, and have learned a fair bit from what I have read so far. It's a huge work, and will likely take me years to finish, but I figured I should read it sometime, since it's so well known and frequently referenced in Catholic writings/Catechisms, etc. There are some things in it that are inaccurate, but considering Aquinas was writing a thousand years ago, I give him a fair bit of slack in those areas.

I don't recommend this to people who aren't heavily interested in Catholic theology, but for those who are...well, you might enjoy it if you have the time to work through it, but his "Shorter Summa" (I'm not sure, but I believe it is called just that) may be a more preferable option.

I have no idea how that became a classic. It's entirely nonsensical (in a bad way--Stephen Leacock has some very funny nonsense writing) and not very enjoyable.

...

Among numerous other things, I'm reading The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox, Jr. I've read better books, but it's interesting in the way it portrays certain aspects of early American society. It takes place before the Civil War, in the South, and having been published less than fifty years after the war, I consider it a more reliable account of life back then than some other books which portray nearly all slave masters as evil, ruthless tyrants. I can't say I'd recommend it though, as there are probably many better books set in that time period.

One of the histories I'm reading is A History of Europe by H.A.L. Fisher. Unfortunately, I only have the first volume (which goes up to the early 1700s). It's a good read, though it can be biased against "Mohammedanism" and Catholicism at times. It isn't overly so, however, and I don't find that it takes away from the enjoyability of the book.

One of the classics I'm reading is Tom Brown's School Days, by Thomas Hughes. I thoroughly enjoyed what I've read so far (which is all but the last chapter) and it gave me a bit more insight into the culture of Britain in the 1800s. The characters all seemed very human and realistic, the author's style is easy to read, but not dull, and the book is about life, something that I find very interesting when presented by a good author. Life, without any extraordinary events, can be a fascinating subject, with wide variation, and many possibilities. I enjoy seeing a character develop over a long period of time, rather than just reading about a week-, month-, or year-long adventure in the same length of book. I find that books like that connect with me emotionally in a way that few other books do. I don't mean that I burst out in tears when something bad happens to the protagonist, but I become genuinely interested in what happens to the main character and the choices they make.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, whom I highly recommend, also writes good books that explore life, and the realities of life. I like books that show the hard side of life a bit, with people dying and whatnot. Rawlings' books have bittersweet endings, which is far preferable to a happy or sad ending, in my opinion.

I'm reading ecumenical council documents, beginning with the earliest ones and continuing all the way through. So far I'm on the Fourth Council of Constantinople, which is the eighth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It's interesting to see the development of the Church over time, where and when certain practices and rules originated, and for what reasons various things came about.

I've also been reading ancient Sumerian poetry on <a href="http://gatewaystobabylon.com/">this site</a>. Unfortunately, there is so much text missing in most of them that they are almost impossible to follow.

I'm always in the middle of some parts or others of my Bible, or my other Bible, or an online Bible, and have started reading different versions to get a better grasp of what certain parts are actually saying and also to broaden my knowledge of it overall.

f7xe7

F-1d

April 19:

A.D. 1587: Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet.

A.D. 1770: The first sighting of Australia by Captain James Cook.

A.D. 1934: Shirley Temple appears in her first movie.

A.D. 2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected Pope, taking the name Benedict XVI.

April 20:

A.D. 1139: The Second Lateran Council (the 10th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church) opens in Rome.

A.D. 1841: The first detective story, Edward Allen Poe's Murders in Rue Morgue is published.

A.D. 1862: Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization test.

April 21:

753 B.C.: The traditional date for Romulus and Remus' founding of Rome.

A.D. 1509: Henry VIII ascends the English throne.

A.D. 1689: William III and Mary Stuart become king and queen of England.

April 22:

A.D. 1659: Lord Protector William Cromwell disbands the English Parliament.

A.D. 1823: Roller blades are patented by R. J. Tylers.

A.D. 1876: Tchaikovsky completes his "Swan Lake" ballet.

A.D. 1914: Babe Ruth plays baseball as a professional for the first time.

F-2e

*sigh* I'm off to a bad start again. Hopefully I don't make another silly mistake.

C-e5

You've clarified my position somewhat, but not convinced me. Jesus lost all his disciples besides the Twelve Apostles because of something he said and he didn't clarify that he was speaking metaphorically? I'm not buying it, but thanks for elaborating. I can understand your point of view, it just doesn't convince me... However, a lot of people are equally skeptical about my beliefs, so I don't think this discredits your beliefs whatsoever.

darth_ender said:

Oh, and "gnaw" is spelled with a silent g, not a silent k. ;)

 'Twas just a typo. It's fixed now. :P

I'm just pushing for a more satisfactory answer, but I don't intend to sound critical of your beliefs.

F-e6

Shoot, I thought my crane was in danger, so I thought I was moving it out of the way. Instead I did the opposite. :(

Fx3f

C-3f

b4