The Good Book: A Secular Bible - Hardcover

Grayling, Professor A. C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408837838 ISBN 13: 9781408837832

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2013

Synopsis

Drawn from the wealth of secular literature and philosophy in both Western and Eastern traditions, using the same techniques of editing, redaction, and adaptation that produced the holy books of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions, The Good Book consciously takes its design and presentation from the Bible. In its beauty of language and its arrangement into short chapters and verses for ease of reading and quotability, it offers the non-religious seeker all the wisdom, insight, solace, inspiration, and perspective of secular humanist traditions that are older, far richer, and more various than Christianity.

Organized in twelve main sections - Genesis, Histories, Wisdom, The Sages, Parables, Consolations, Lamentations, Proverbs, Songs, Epistles, Acts, and the Good - The Good Book opens with meditations on the origin and progress of the world and human life in it, then devotes attention to the question of how life should be lived, how we relate to one another, and how vicissitudes are to be faced and joys appreciated. Inspired by the writing of Herodotus and Lucretius, Confucius and Mencius, Seneca and Cicero, Montaigne, Bacon, and so many others, The Good Book fulfills its audacious purpose in every way.
"I suppose some might be offended by The Good Book but they needn't be. You don't have to be a nonbeliever to find solace and wisdom in the distilled ideas presented here."- The Huffington Post

About this title

About the Author

A.C. Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He believes that philosophy should take an active, useful role in society. He is the author of many books, including The Meaning of Things and Towards the Light: The Story of the Struggles for Liberty in the Modern West, and has been a regular contributor to The Times, Financial Times, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Economist, Literary Review, New Statesman and Prospect. He has been a Booker Prize judge and is a frequent and popular contributor to radio and television programmes, including Newsnight, Today, In Our Time, Start the Week and CNN news.

Review

Undeniably thought-provoking * Christopher Hart, Sunday Times * Truly ... a good book, full of sage counsel, wise advice and comfort for the sorrowing * Richard Holloway, Observer * There is an immense depth of human wisdom on display here, and five minutes with any passage will have you contemplating all day * Independent on Sunday * There are many sentences, thoughts and sentiments in The Good Book that are illuminating, life-enhancing and revelatory on a personal level * Glasgow Herald * I am glad he put this book together and it will occupy a valuable place in my library as a source for inspiration and wisdom. **** * Terry Waite, Sunday Express * Grayling is ... a skilled writer of prose ... most impressively [he] demonstrates mastery of Greek history and culture in Histories and Acts * Rabbi Ariel Abel, Jewish News * Professor Grayling himself neatly exemplifies the values of calm rationality which are at the heart of Stoicism, and which influenced early Christian thought * Church Times *

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1408837838
• ISBN 13: 9781408837832
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 599