Christians, Are you afraid to read books about other religions or faiths?

Afraid? Why would I be afraid? Is my God so weak that reading about some made up religion could ruin everything? If my 'god' was that weak, then I'd best be looking for a new 'god'. But the Bible has proven itself true so many times, I can't figure any reason to not read about other religions. In fact I have my copy of the Qur'an right here, and I've found that my faith in the Bible, and the Lord through Jesus, has been greatly increased by learning about other beliefs.

I too love to read about other religions and faiths and draw lessons from them and try to apply them to my personal life and community involvements. There is so much wisdom and knowledge out there that we are deprived of because we don't dare to venture and to learn. These faiths and religions have been instruments of coping and improving human conditions in the course of historic time. Seen in this way and mobilize in this way, the positive synergy among different faiths and religions will most certainly turn the Earth into a paradise all faiths and religions dream of and aspire to create.

If your faith is strong, you would not worry if you happened to pick up a book and find it is the Koran. That is what happened years ago when we first moved into Winnipeg. The motel we stayed at was run by Muslims and instead of the Gideon Bible, they had the Koran. I found it curious but I had no intention of learning from it and applying some of the teachings. It is the same when I read those Catholic books that are not canonical. I was curious to know where they got the story that the painting Susanna and the Elders came from, who was Tobias, and how different were those stories then Daniel in the Bible. I do think that many people think that by reading books of other faiths, they may learn from them and perhaps consider they are equal to Christianity and that is the danger - not the reading of them, but the motives behind those who want you to read them. Curiosity and maybe learning about another religion so bring these people to Christ and to understand what they are up against (for instance you can understand that for a girl to go against her parents might mean that her life in danger.)For converting Jews, that perhaps they might have a hard time going to church on Sunday as against going to the Synagogue on Saturday.

Whaat? Well... I'm an Evangelical Lutheran, and I've got no problem with any other religions and or faiths whatsoever (excluding things that are just sick, like pedo/zoolophilism and satanism). But maybe that's because you can't really say that I'm really "into" the whole thing. God is a very complicated matter, and even I don't know if I believe in God or not; I've been to church several times (+ a Finnish summer camp) and all, but I've also read and studied a lot of science and other stuff. Even though there isn't really any real proof that God(he/she/it?) exists, whenever I am in trouble (really BIG trouble, like falling from a cliff... OR something), I find myself praying for God. And guess what... I've always survived. But to be afraid of reading books about other religions and faiths? That has never even occured to me Here in Finland (where I live, Doh!), kids are taught early on (from age 3-7 to 15) about all kinds of different religions and faiths, and so far, I haven't seen one single kid being scared of them. About that "Is it that their faith is not as strong as they would like us to believe?"; there are people in every religion and faith that believe very strongly, and some who don't. However, it is true that in western countries (Europe + USA + Canada), there are a lot more "non-believers" than there are in for example India. There are lots of "strong-believers" in "the western countries" too, so don't get me wrong. "I have never refused by read anything from any religion if I wish to, and I've found that I've always learned something from the experience. How do you feel about this ?" -That's pretty frequent: reading - learning P.S. Might I ask you a relatively personal question, as your religion? Your post doesn't really explain it (you speak of Christians as "them")

This is a good topic. I used to be very afraid to ever read any other holy scriptures of any other religion, or at least to be seen reading them or having an interest in any of them. It was very much frowned upon - particularly by the local ministers. While it is true that we must be careful with what we do read, we may well be missing out on some very important truths, wise sayings, useful ways to go about our daily lives, etc if we fail to read them. Of greater or equal importance, is that if we fail to read the holy scriptures of other religions, we do not see things from other people's perspectives & a lot of misunderstanding can result. From my limited reading, all religions point to the one same truth. They all point us back to God - by whatever definition you wish to use. We should study other religions as much as we can. But first, we should seek to understand our own religion. Many simply do not, or do not wish to learn more or even the history of their own religion. However, we each have our own paths to walk in this life with different times to accomplish these things & none should judge another. Everyone is at a different stage in their reading & understanding, though we should each encourage others to read more & not discourage them from learning more. I would read more widely, but sometimes I lack the motivation to do so - so many other things seem to get in the way. I just don't feel inclined to read some of the holy books & that's really a pity. I feel that my time would be better spent in reading all the books that have been written about Jesus & about Christianity & then I feel that should I live to be a thousand years old, I would not have completed such a list! But whenever I have good cause to read such a book, I will not refuse to do so out of fear. Many times here in My Lot I have pleasantly discussed at length & referenced passages from the Holy Koran. Likewise the Hindu Holy Scriptures. We are all here to learn from each other & we do have some very good people from almost all religions here in My Lot whom I've had the good fortune to have some excellent & worthwhile discussions with.

I don't see nothing wrong in reading books about others religions. Actually, I think that we should read about it, because we need to learn about the faith of the others persons before saying anything about the religion of someone else.

I can't answer you're question in the way it was asked, as I am not a Christian. and my path doesn't have a holy book. but I do think that it's very important to learn about and try to understand as many different religions as you can. after all, if you don't know what else is out there, how can you say that following the path you do is an informed choice. and often your path doesn't go on unchanged forever. not to say that you will change religion necessarily. I've beleived in and honoured my Gods for many years. in recent years I learned about the Lwa, and I also beleive in them, and work with them. but until I learned of them, they were not a part of my path.

Reading other so called holy books like the koran ( it truly refer the bible as a book of friend to confirm what it want to say or state)or the vedic scripture, the five baskets of wisdom has strongly edifice my christian testaments,it is only the bible that strongly claim with internal and external provable evidence that it was inspired by God's holy spirit for it to be written by men.

I don't feel afraid reading other religions or faiths as I know my faith is strong and through learning other's religion and cultures, I will be able to understand others more, and through mutual understanding, a lot of problems can be resolved without resorting to violence. Cheers.

I love reading and to learn from other religions and philosophies. So, I never would refuse reading a book about another one, even if I don't accept other believes one hundert percently. We always can learn something new, everyone has something to show us, so I read those books whenever I can and try to get those points important to me.

Hi Pose, I am a Roman Catholic but I read all books from different religions. It started way back during my university days when I took up subjects in Comparative Religion as requirements for my Philosophy course. My Jesuit mentors dumped all kinds of reading materials to make reports every week from Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Zen to Islam and all minor religions in between. It opened up my mind to a wide variety of ideas but I was never diverted from my beliefs. I am still a practicing Roman Catholic. No I don't really fear reading other books about different beliefs. I even read LaVey's Satanic Book, Smith's Book of Mormon just like any other literature. No hard feelings really, just plain academic pursuit and I have no hangups about the whole thing.

I am not. In fact, when I was still studying, there is a subject in our class about other religions in the world. We took it for a whole semester and it didn't shake my faith. I even attend gathering of other religion. I think, it is how strong is your faith that will determine if you will be shaken by other religion.

I am a Roman Catholic and yes I don't read other books about other religion. Afraid is not the word though, that would explain why. It's more of faith and belief in the Holy Bible. That book alone quells my questions in life so far. :) I am also in one with the belief that no matter what's your religion we are all brothers and sisters and that we are taught to love your neighbors as you love yourself. Also, do good. :) We aren't taught too, to practice discrimination but respect for everyone. :)

There is nothing to be scared about. I love reading about other religions and I respect whatever religion there is in this world. I even have a Quran here. I had the chance to read it for a while and it was fine. I liked it. No matter what book it is I am sure everything written are the best things.

I will take every opportunity I can get to learn about new religions. I was born and raised a Christian, but I have moved towards agnostic. I believe in God, and I think I believe in Jesus, I just have a hard time in believing what a mass group of people say, especially when in the name of that religion (and many others!) dangerous cults have been started, and people have fought in wars.

Hi Pose: I think that stop reading some other points of views is not a solution but at the same time if you don't know well in what you believe you might feel confused if you start exploring another philosophy or religion book. So I would say that a person should have clear in what he/she believes before reading other point of views, but it's nmot healthy to hide other points of views that are also important for a debate. ALVARO

Not at all. In fact, I am currently reading the Koran. Understanding what other people believe helps me to deal with them better.