What books would be in a UU canon? (gospel, Leviticus)

[applewuud]

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

Is that question mark because you don't know the date of the Council of Nicea or because you don't know if the canon was decided there? If it was for the former reason (as I suspect), the council was actually held in 325. If it was the latter, then, no the canon was not decided at Nicea....... At the time of Nicea no council, local or otherwise, had come up with a definitive canon and Nicea did not even consider the issue.

James

Thank you, James, I was writing off the top of my head and knew the date was probably wrong, but I WAS under the incorrect impression that some canon-parsing took place there. It's good to get our facts straight. It was the place where the Nicene Creed was codified, and I assumed that's where they threw out the "noncanonical" texts. That's when the first suppression of the Unitarians (under Origen, I think) happened, so it sticks in my mind.

I welcome this input from you, because many liberals who are "hit over the head with the Bible" aren't familiar with its historical sources, and think it is a monolithic document that all conservative faiths agree on. My latest encounter with that was around Hannukah when I was looking for the story in the Book(s) of Macabees, and realized my Protestant bible doesn't include it.

Thanks for checking in on us...

This input shows how important collective thought is in saying certain texts "deserve to be in the canon". So, let's carry on with forming our "loose canon", having learned that the "orthodox" canon is looser than it seems...

[applewuud]

A friend pointed out that our canon needs parables and stories, like Jonah and the Whale, or the Book of Job...she proposed some books by the UU religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs.

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (a late-life Unitarian) deserves a place in our "Old Testament".

If I could put a movie in, I'd put "It's A Wonderful Life" to stand in for the Book of Job, and maybe "What the @#%! Do We Know" as mysticism...

I hear not wanting to put some economic polemic in, but David Korten's "The Great Turning" certainly places him as a prophet in the wilderness, calling society to turn away from the age of exploitation and empire towards earth community. I've heard him speak at GA and on NPR, but haven't finished his book yet.

A friend told me that Carl Jung's autobiography is the most accessible and comprehensive of his works. Anyone know the title?

Others told me that they consider the U.S. Constitution contaminated by patriarchy and classism, but I think in context of a time when the vast majority of humanity was in serfdom or slavery, it is still a watershed document that in its structure led to the elimination of slavery in the U.S. even though it codified and legitimated it at the time.

In any case, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights should definitely be added to the UU canon of sacred works.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by applewuud

A friend pointed out that our canon needs parables and stories, like Jonah and the Whale, or the Book of Job...she proposed some books by the UU religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs.

The problem here is that we are replacing short stories and parables with entire books - collections of stories. Job and Jonah are both remarkably short "books" with a lot of meaning packed into them.

Originally Posted by applewuud

If I could put a movie in, I'd put "It's A Wonderful Life" to stand in for the Book of Job, and maybe "What the @#%! Do We Know" as mysticism...

You would get a lot of resistance from me. I much prefer the suffering in Job over the sentimentality of "It's a Wonderful Life." And "What the @#%! Do We Know" is not mysticism, imo. It's a reductionist approach trying to explain mysticism.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

So? I don't recall there being any rule that I cannot offer a friendly correction to the misrepresentation of a different faith in a DIR forum.

The problem is that "friendly corrections" can easily turn into debates, and you yourself admit that the "myth" is widely believed.

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

If I had seen anything other than an honest mistake in the OP I would have reported it, as deliberate misrepresentation of a faith constitutes and attack on it and that is forbidden in DIR forums.

You're kidding me. So if a Muslim posting in the Islam DIR said that Christians worship three gods, you as a Christian would report that as an attack??

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by jamaesi

I'd like to think The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry would be included, just for some lighter reading.

"Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Or "The Velveteen Rabbit."


"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

[dbakerman76]

I'd have to include Victor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" only because it shows how one can find meaning and purpose even in the most adverse situations.

[Tigress]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Or "The Velveteen Rabbit."


"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Oh, I love The Velveteen Rabbit! Excellent choice!

[KSojourner]

Originally Posted by dbakerman76

I'd have to include Victor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" only because it shows how one can find meaning and purpose even in the most adverse situations.

I would have to agree with dbakerman that this is a book that would need to be added. I liked Frankl's point that the smallest of favors and simplest of pleasures took on a great importance for those forced to live in the camps. It is something that we take for granted.

I would also say that Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh would be a good one to add. TNH talks about how to acknowledge your anger without feeding into it. It also talks about how to express your anger in a constructive way that doesn't harm others emotionally and encourages you to take responsibility for your actions/reactions.

This is becoming more of a "reading list" than just one book. (I love reading lists. Keep those book recommendations coming!)