Know What and Why You Believe
"The unexamined life is not worth living." Quote attributed to Socrates. Continuing education is very important to understanding who we are, the world around us, avoiding fraud and improving successful outcomes in life. Here are a list of relevant University and Teaching Company Audio courses suitable for your personal MP3 player that I recommend in the categories of Pre-history, History, Psychology, and Philosophy.
This is not an exhaustive list, but its a start in the right direction to examining what and why we believe. The list contains links to commercial sites, Free university lectures from Berkeley, and the rest are to Torrent sites. Downloading from torrent sites involves some risk from malicious programs and legal concerns. Use your best judgement. Purchase what you can.
First one needs to know who they are.
Then, one should know where they came from.
Then one should examine the origins of their belief from both sides of the fence.
Then one should comapare Secular and Religious Values to see how they match up.
This is not an exhaustive list, but its a start in the right direction to examining what and why we believe. The list contains links to commercial sites, Free university lectures from Berkeley, and the rest are to Torrent sites. Downloading from torrent sites involves some risk from malicious programs and legal concerns. Use your best judgement. Purchase what you can.
First one needs to know who they are.
* Psychology 1: General Psychology UC Berkeley, Free, UC Berkeley
* TTC - Biology and Behavior, under $50.00
* TTC - John Searle Philosophy of Mind, Torrent archive available
* TTC - Consciousness and Its Implications, under $20.00
Then, one should know where they came from.
* TTC - Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations, audio under 200.00, books under 50.00
* History 4A The Ancient Mediterranean World, UC Berkeley, Free UC Berkeley
* TTC - Ancient Near Eastern Mythology Torrent, Archive Torrent available for Download
Then one should examine the origins of their belief from both sides of the fence.
* TTC - The Historical Jesus, under 130.00, book in the panel on the right
* TTC - Christianity, audio under 90.00, book under $20.00
Then one should comapare Secular and Religious Values to see how they match up.
* TTC - The Quest for Meaning, audio $130.00
12 comments:
Yes, it seems the Teaching Company is really a valuable reference library, though some courses are far better than others.
You may find my Teaching Company user forum helpful where all lectures are reviewed from their newest courses:
http://teachingcompany.12.forumer.com
I hope you enjoy it,
Doug van Orsow
Has anyone looked at the material available on iTunes U? There are university lectures on all sorts of topics, religion included.
Go to the iTunes store, and do a search on iTunes U, and do a description search on "religion." You'll find around 150 audio and video lectures listed, all of them free.
I like the Teaching Company, but free is good too.
“I say that it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for man.” - Plato, “Apology” (38a)
Hi Jim,
good call,
I use Itunes all the time. That is where I found out about the berkeley lectures.
There are also many good podcasts. I subscribe to about thirty.
Thanks doug,
I'll check that out.
I can recommend the following Great Courses from The Teaching Company:
The Philosophy of Science by Jeffrey L. Kasser; and
After the New Testament: The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers by Bart D. Ehrman.
Have you guys read:
Darwin's proof by Cornelius Hunter.
Good book.
Well... "Good" is your opinion.
I'll save folks a trip over to Amazon.
The full title is "Darwins Proof: The Triumph of Religion over Science". It's exactly what I expected from Jamie.
And here is a review from Publishers Weekly:
"As a sequel to Hunter's previous effort (Darwin's God: Evolution and the Problem of Evil), this book comes up short. Hunter's original thesis-that Darwinist arguments (past and present) often rely on hidden theological assumptions-certainly deserves further elaboration. But where Darwin's God built a reasonably consistent case, Darwin's Proof offers an assortment of anti-evolution arguments of uneven quality, generally lacking a unifying structure. Two chapters (six and seven) best reflect Hunter's original argument, presenting suggestive historical evidence that the "Creator" rejected by Darwin and Darwinists owes more to Deism and 19th-century natural theology than to traditional Christian religious belief. Unfortunately, most of the text is bogged down in a welter of arguments, argument fragments and biological facts whose relevance to Hunter's overall message is too often unclear. Sporadic duplications and inconsistencies of tone (for example, switching between a posture of religious neutrality and outspoken conservative Christianity) contribute to the impression of hasty or unfinished composition. Readers who are already familiar with recent Darwinism/anti-Darwinism/Intelligent Design literature can find some worthwhile insights here. However, those who are new to the topic, or do not share Hunter's convictions, may lose patience before finishing the first chapter.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. "
Christians need to put their money where there mouth is. If christianity is true, then the data throughout history will converge on that point and it will either be more or less likely. It shouldn't matter what they read or hear. If christianity is true, then dispassionate historical investigation should give it validation and legitimacy. The fact that christians get thier information from christian sources indicates insecurity about the facts. I know, I was one.
How does the christian explain that the one of the earliest recorded instances of 'religion' come from about 45,000 bce and its not in Iraq? Did these people invent gods? Did the one true god lead them astray? Did they not understand the one true god? Did God make his own mess with regards to belief in other gods? Were there in fact other gods? Were these people the victims of demons and god let it go so it would foster belief in other gods?
Religion seems to be an evolutionary artifact of developing cognition and the belief of the King or Emporer was the winner. Until constantine picked up christianity, it was a minority, just like all the others.
Thanks vinny I've got those on my wish list!
The last time I checked, I had over $1,000 worth of audio, video and DVD tapes and disc from The Teaching Company.
These are great educational units on a long trip.
jamie steele said: Have you guys read:
Darwin's proof by Cornelius Hunter.
Good book.
Oh my FSM! Am I going to have to make the torching of evolution denialists a semiannual event? This is the second one I've seen here this week. Like cockroaches, they are.
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