Buddhism books: throw, recycle, donate, pass on, burn?

Petros2015 said:

I'm not sure what the understanding is there.

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This is encouraging......one day you will.

Petros2015 said:

Sounds like it would make a good thread topic under the Egalitarian forum though Let me know if you start one there, I'll bring the popcorn.

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I was speaking of spiritual things.......which the carnal mind cannot understand... So, though it would be entertaining.... it would not be fruitful ....and is discouraged.

RaymondG said:

I was speaking of spiritual things.......which the carnal mind cannot understand... So, though it would be entertaining.... it would not be fruitful ....and is discouraged.

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Mmmm, so the spiritually minded can understand why "sin must always start with the woman"?? Funny, all the most spiritually minded people I've ever known — men AND women — would totally disagree with that idea. But I'm relieved you think discussing it would not be fruitful.

(Apologies for going off topic again.)

Kerensa said:

Ummm... I'm not even going to comment on this remark, as that would be wildly off topic.

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You did comment......and your comment is below.

Kerensa said:

I'm just going to say there is a TON of evidence — Biblical, let alone historical — to show it up as a complete and malicious falsehood.

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The things of the spirit are foolishness to the carnal mind. If you would hear it.... You too, have a wife, which is always deceived before you are.....

In Christ there is neither male nor female.....and those who walk after the spirit, no longer mind the things of the flesh..

Now can we try and get back to the topic at hand.

section9+1 said:

You can derive that from his message. But then again how many really care what he says and instead dream up what sounds nice to them.

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The message is, love one another as Christ has loved you. destroying the literature of those who God has not found yet, cannot be derived from this.

Kerensa said:

Mmmm, so the spiritually minded can understand why "sin must always start with the woman"?? Funny, all the most spiritually minded people I've ever known — men AND women — would totally disagree with that idea. But I'm relieved you think discussing it would not be fruitful.

(Apologies for going off topic again.)

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No, the spiritual minded would not first think of human gender, nor would they look for the wrong first in words.....nor would it be easy to find offense in them. Let every man be a liar....and Gods word be true....

RaymondG said:

You too, have a wife, which is always deceived before you are.....

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No I don't, mate. I'm a woman!!! Unless you're getting into some idea that the "feminine" side of our nature is the spiritually vulnerable side that's deceivable and then it deceives the "masculine" side of our nature, which otherwise, of course, would always be right... I'm only guessing there, but that doesn't sound like any form of Christianity I know, sorry.

But yes, let's get back on topic. I do totally agree with you that Christianity doesn't teach us to destroy the literature of those whom God has not found yet!

Kerensa said:

No I don't, mate. I'm a woman!!! Unless you're getting into some idea that the "feminine" side of our nature is the spiritually vulnerable side that's deceivable and then it deceives the "masculine" side of our nature, which otherwise, of course, would always be right... I'm only guessing there, but that doesn't sound like any form of Christianity I know, sorr

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You must forget about the flesh completely to see the spirit...... There will be no men and woman entering in......only Children of God. Would you mind being called a son of God....because you are a woman.....or are you one who must add "and Daughters.....?"

RaymondG said:

Would you mind being called a son of God....because you are a woman.....or are you one who must add "and Daughters.....?"

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If you mean 1 John 3:1-2, the word there is actually tekna — children, not sons — which is a neuter word in Greek. But now who's also going off topic??

Kerensa said:

If you mean 1 John 3:1-2, the word there is actually tekna — children, not sons — which is a neuter word in Greek. But now who's also going off topic??

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Dont forget about 2 Cor. 1 which mentions sons and Daughters in relationship to the Father......I think this would appear to help your case even more. I, find no fault in what you believe and do not desire for you to just take my words as truth......as truth is known....not understood...

Enjoyed the conversation......now lets go back to burning some books, shall we?

RaymondG said:

Enjoyed the conversation......now lets go back to burning some books, shall we?

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Oh yeah.

RaymondG said:

Ive only seen donations to libraries and such. One would have to give an explanation for instruction to blindly hand books, that they deem harmful, to individuals.

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Libraries have limited space. The more books on false religions, the less books on Christianity. We should be donating Christian books to libraries, not false doctrines that's just wrong.

Do you expect, when harvest time come, that people, who dont believe what you believe, will support you in any way?

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Why would I rely on man at harvest time? I rely on Jesus only.

Hmm there is no life in them...so..TRUTH will always lead to Christ.. there is no other truth.

Neshemah said:

A year ago I would never have thought I'd ask a question like this! But in clearing out my book shelf I am faced with issues about passing on the Buddhist philosophy, or the worship of other idols. What are we Christian's supposed to do with these things?
I mean ... book burning? No way! But really - if Jesus is the Way then why would I pass on books about any other "way"? Yet it feels disrespectful to dispose of these books. I threw out a couple of Buddha statues from my garden though ... so what would you do and what do you think? What does the bible say?
Some guidance here would be helpful.

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Personally..i am a bibliophile but i throw them away. I don't want any part in indoctrinating others in wayward religions.

RaymondG said:

The message is, love one another as Christ has loved you. destroying the literature of those who God has not found yet, cannot be derived from this.

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The books are his own. He isn't raiding a Buddhist temple and burning all their literature. Loving others has no bearing on privately burning his own property. He can burn his own bible if he wants to. It's not going send anyone to hell. Let's not get too freaky.

crossnote said:

I'm not familiar with Crossfit

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Its a social exercise regimen who's adherents are evangelical and most certainly devout about it being a "way" to life.

I am familiar with vegetarianism, auto mechanics, cardiology etc., and as far as I know they do not claim to be a 'way' to Life or do they claim that the 'silencing of the mind' is a goal for personal peace.

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Doesn't it all depend on what the individual adherent claims they get out of it?

Vegetarianism & Cardiology are ABSOLUTELY touted by their adherents as a WAY to Life.

Classical Music aficionados, without hesitation, will gleefully evangelize about its power to Clear the mind and center ones thoughts, emotions, and spirit in an effort to gain personal peace.

I personally know Auto Mechanics who find personal enlightenment, solace, & inner peace in the process of diagnosing and repairing internal combustion engines. Someone brought up the Book "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" earlier in the thread....so clearly there are people who look to that for spiritual expression, inner peace and a path to life.

You could even include Golf in this...
Everybody knows someone, or has a family member, for whom Golf is their primary driving force for getting out of bed every morning. I have an uncle like that... He plays every day and his TV is fixed on the Golf Channel 24/7 and you'd better not change it if you're there visiting...

Golf, if Followed, lands someone in Hell, Period.

As I said the list is exhaustive and unending

Tell me, doesn't Buddhism teach many paths? Jesus taught only ONE.

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I was unaware that Buddhism taught anything about any "paths" to Salvation... Enlightenment? perhaps, inner peace? certainly, but as far as I know Buddhism is not nor does claim to be about "Salvation" at all...But neither does auto mechanics or Golf for that matter, (Heck, Golf even teaches 9 & 18 "paths") and since we've established that auto mechanics & golf, when followed, lands someone in Hell, period, I guess it doesn't matter if it teaches many paths or not does it? -- Every last one of these, vegetarianism, cardiology, CrossFit, golf, auto mechanics, classical music, etc... do not have Jesus and His teachings as their center, effectively denying Jesus is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, and the ONLY life, FULLY sufficient and lacking nothing, and therefore are denying Jesus and calling Jesus a liar, right?

parousia70 said:

Its a social exercise regimen who's adherents are evangelical and most certainly devout about it being a "way" to life.



Doesn't it all depend on what the individual adherent claims they get out of it?

Vegetarianism & Cardiology are ABSOLUTELY touted by their adherents as a WAY to Life.

Classical Music aficionados, without hesitation, will gleefully evangelize about its power to Clear the mind and center ones thoughts, emotions, and spirit in an effort to gain personal peace.

I personally know Auto Mechanics who find personal enlightenment, solace, & inner peace in the process of diagnosing and repairing internal combustion engines. Someone brought up the Book "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" earlier in the thread....so clearly there are people who look to that for spiritual expression, inner peace and a path to life.

You could even include Golf in this...
Everybody knows someone, or has a family member, for whom Golf is their primary driving force for getting out of bed every morning. I have an uncle like that... He plays every day and his TV is fixed on the Golf Channel 24/7 and you'd better not change it if you're there visiting...

Golf, if Followed, lands someone in Hell, Period.

As I said the list is exhaustive and unending



I was unaware that Buddhism taught anything about the path to Salvation... (But neither does auto mechanics for that matter, and since we've established that auto mechanics, when followed, lands someone in Hell, period, I guess it doesn't matter if it teaches many paths or not....)

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You are speaking in terms of our physical earthy life, I was referencing eternal life.

This isn't on the topic of Buddhism specifically, but it came up recently in another thread and I think it's relevant here too.

C.S. Lewis, as probably all or most of you will know, was one of the most loved and influential lay writers on Christianity for the general public in the 20th century. (His Narnia books were what first introduced me to the idea of a loving yet awesome God when I was a child, hence my avatar.) Lewis was an avowed atheist from a young age into his early 30s, when he found himself compelled first to admit God's existence and then, after an all-night discussion with two Christian friends, to fully embrace Christianity. Those friends were J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson, and one way they particularly reached Lewis was through his great love of Norse and Greek mythology, which had been an essential part of his life since childhood.

That conversation led him to see that the ideas of sacrifice and of a god who died and rose again, which he loved when he read them in those pagan myths, were at the heart of Christianity. So if he could accept those ideas in "men's myths", even if he didn't fully understand what they meant, he could accept them all the more as part of "God's myth" — the difference being that the story of Christ really happened: "the Pagan stories are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through 'real things'." (quoted in Alan Jacobs, The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis, p. 149)

My point here is — C.S. Lewis firmly believed, and had reason to believe, that God led him through his love of pagan mythology to discover the real story of Christ, which he found he could relate to precisely because he already loved those pre-Christian myths. He went on to become one of the most important Christian thinkers of the last century. So... couldn't God, therefore, likewise reach other seekers through their love of whatever is good and true in Buddhism, or any other religion, by starting with that love and showing those seekers how it points to something much higher (i.e. Christ)?

I think so, as I've already said enough times. But again, I don't think people who are interested in Buddhism will feel God drawing them to Christianity if they hear Christians yelling "Burn those Buddhist books, they're false teachings that will lead you to hell!" — any more than Lewis would have been drawn to Christianity if his Christian friends had told him his favourite ancient mythologies were false and evil and would lead him to hell. That's all.

section9+1 said:

The books are his own. He isn't raiding a Buddhist temple and burning all their literature. Loving others has no bearing on privately burning his own property. He can burn his own bible if he wants to. It's not going send anyone to hell. Let's not get too freaky.

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The introduction of this scenario on a public forum makes it a public burning....not private. the world comes here to see what God tells Christians to do with books of other religions. They see us talking about burning them and how harmful they are and how they will send others to hell....claims made by some who havent even read said books.

I agree, I see no fault in the private burning of any book. But this is now, no private matter....so our words should be weighed carefully. To love others....we must consider their feelings about the book when we express they should be burnt. Im sure you can agree that some Christians would be offended by the suggestion to burn a bible......why not show the same respect for books that may be considered sacred to others? e.g. burn them on your own without making it public or publicly suggesting that they should be burnt.

RaymondG said:

The introduction of this scenario on a public forum makes it a public burning....not private. the world comes here to see what God tells Christians to do with books of other religions. They see us talking about burning them and how harmful they are and how they will send others to hell....claims made by some who havent even read said books.

I agree, I see no fault in the private burning of any book. But this is now, no private matter....so our words should be weighed carefully. To love others....we must consider their feelings about the book when we express they should be burnt. Im sure you can agree that some Christians would be offended by the suggestion to burn a bible......why not show the same respect for books that may be considered sacred to others? e.g. burn them on your own without making it public or publicly suggesting that they should be burnt.

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Yup. And what these christians don't realize is that they are giving the world more reasons to see christianity as a bad religion compared to Buddhism.

There is no biblical reason for a Christian to preserve other religious books. He can if he wants to, but he asked advice and that's what he got. He can do whatever he wants. The bible shows no support at all for the virtue of allowing opposing belief systems to co-exist with Christianity. And loving one another has no application in this. Those passages in John and 1 John referred only to the followers of Jesus loving each other. They do not include Buddhists. We are supposed to love all people, but promoting their agendas is a poor way to show love. God always expects his followers to oppose alternative righteousness. And as for Christianity being viewed unfavorably by the world, it is supposed to be so. We are salt not sugar. Christianity tries to be everyone's sugar and it cannot do that and retain its identity. If Buddhists don't approve then we are doing what's expected of us.