GODS

Creating a Friendship of Civilizations in a Terror-ridden World

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Najmus Saquib, Ph.D.

TO

GOD

Thy will Is ever unfolding In my life In myriad ways

CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Readers Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv

1 God, Man, And Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Notes from History (Timeline: Eternity to Now) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Man Goes Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Cyclonic Monk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Yankee Mohammedan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Lords Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Does God Belong to Any Religion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Gods Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 God Changeth Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Does God Matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Revival of Interfaith Dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Chicago Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Facebook Goes Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Pope Blesses Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Grand Mufti Blesses Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Jesus Tops Facebook Ranking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 What If God Had a Facebook? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 I Heard God Laughing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Notes from History (Timeline: 400,000 BC to Now) . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Where It All Began . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Belief Conundrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Search Continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Dialogue Between a Scientist and a Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Who is God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Holly Wall: Gods Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Gods Song of Myself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2 Gods Song Of Myself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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3 God is Born (250,000 to 2000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Notes from History (250,000 to 2000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Birth of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Early Days of Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Wall of Mortals: The Pyramid Texts (2400 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Birth of Deceased King as a God in Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 To Make a Libation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 King Prays to Sky Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Gods are Warned Not to Hinder Dead King on His Way to Heaven . . 49 A Censing Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Wall of Mortals: The Coffin Texts (2180 BC to 2050 BC) . . . . . . . . . 50 In Death a King Become Part of the Osiris . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Description of Afterlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Speech By the Sun God, Re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Wall of Mortals: God in African Traditional Religions . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Chapter Digest (250,000 to 2000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Notes from History (2000 to 1000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Holy Wall: The Vedas Earliest Hindu Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Messages from Vedas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Song of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 An Invokation of Lord Agni (Fire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Holy Wall: The Tanakh Jewish Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The Ten Commandments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Messages from Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Holy Wall: The Avesta Zoroastrian Scripture (~1100 BC) . . . . . . . . 73 Messages from Avesta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Wall of Mortals: Epic of Gilgamesh (~1800 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 The Great Flood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Wall of Mortals: The Egyptian Book of the Dead (~1500 BC) . . . . . . 77 Book of the Dead: Judgment After Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Wall of Mortals: The Great Hymn of Aten (~1350 BC) . . . . . . . . . . 79 Wall of Mortals: Enuma Elis (~1100 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Chapter Digest (2000 To 1000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4 God Gives Us Religions (2000 to 1000 BC) . . . . . . . . . . 55

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5 God of Prophets, Philosophers, and Poets (1000 BC to 1 AD) 83

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Notes from History (1000 BC to 1 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Holy Wall: The Upanishads A Hindu Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Messages from Upanishads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Ten Commandments of Hinduism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Four Yogas (Four Paths) of Hinduism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Holy Wall: The Bhagavad Gita The Most Sacred Hindu Scripture . . . . 96 Messages from Gita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Holy Wall: The Agamas Jain Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Messages from Agamas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Five Mahavratas (Great Vows) of Jainism . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Holy Wall: The Tripitaka - Buddhist Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Messages from Tripitaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 The Eightfold Path of Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The Ten Precepts (Dasa Sila) of Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Holy Wall: Tao Te Ching Taoism Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Messages from Tao Te Ching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Holy Wall: I Ching and Lunyu Confucianism Scripture . . . . . . . . 106 Messages from I Ching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Messages from Lun Yu (Analects) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Wall of Mortals: (1000 BC to 1 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 God Within Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Gods of Ancient Greece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Chapter Digest (1000 BC to 1 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

6 God Speaks (1 to 1000 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Status Update (1-1000 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (1 to 1000 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Holy Wall: The Bible Christian Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apostles Creed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Four Pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Messages from Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Holy Wall: The Quran - Muslim Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Five Pillars of Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven Basic Beliefs (Amantu) of Muslims . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ten Commandments of the Quran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Messages from Quran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Holy Wall: Kojiki and Nihongi Shinto Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . Messages from Kojiki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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125 127 131 131 132 132 134 135 135 135 138 142 142

Messages from Nihongi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Holy Wall: Gods Mood Swings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Belligerence and Benevolence: The Dilemma of Content and Context 144 War and Peace in Hindu Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 War and Peace in Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 War and Peace in Quran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 War and Peace in Atheism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Wall of Mortals: (1 to 1000 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Chapter Digest (1 to 1000 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

7 God of Believers, Unbelievers, and Mystics (1000 to 1700 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Status Update (1000-1700 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (1000-1700 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Holy Wall: The Guru Granth Sahib Sikh Scripture . . . . . . . . . . Three Pillars, Five Virtues, and Five Evils of Sikhism . . . . . . . . Messages from Guru Granth Sahib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: (1000 to 1700 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God and Mysticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God of Hindu Mystics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God of Jewish Kabbalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God of Christian Mystics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God of Muslim Sufis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Does God Exist? The Big Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Serious Proofs and Disproofs of Gods Existence . . . . . . . . . . Flippant Proofs and Disproofs of Gods Existence . . . . . . . . . Chapter Digest (1000 to 1700 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 171 175 175 175 178 181 181 181 181 182 203 203 206 208

8 God is Dead (1700 to 1900 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Status Update (1700-1900 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Notes from History (1700 to 1900 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Holy Wall: The Book Of Mormon Mormon Scripture . . . . . . . . . 217 Messages from the Book of Mormon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Holy Wall: The Kitab-I-Aqdas Bahai Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Messages from the Kitab-I-Aqdas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Holy Wall: The Womans Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Messages from Womans Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Wall of Mortals: (1700 to 1900 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 God in U.S. Constitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Chapter Digest (1700 to 1900 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
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9 God is Back (1900 to 2012 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Status Update (1900-2012 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (1900 to 2012 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: (1900 to 2012 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ten Commandments of Atheism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God and Pledge of Allegiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trial of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God and Billboard Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God and a Comedy Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God and the Holocaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Humanist Manifestos and God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Man Who Sued God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God in the White House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interfaith Dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nostra Aetate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On Hinduism and Buddhism: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On Moslems: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On Jews: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On Non-Discrimination: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Where is God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God in Different Faiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Common Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Good Without God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Digest (1900 to 2012 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (Era of Nobel Prize, 1901-2012) . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: God of Nobel Scientists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: God of Nobel Poets, Philosophers and Statesmen . . . The Final Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (Mysteries of Childhood) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: Childrens Handwriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letters to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 273 282 302 304 308 311 324 328 333 337 339 342 342 342 342 343 343 344 345 347 351 352 355 357 358 370 378 382 385 387 389 391

10 God of Nobel Laureates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

11 God of Children and Teenagers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

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Wall of Mortals: Teenagers Scribbles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 Harry Potter and God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

12 God Gives Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes from History (Face to Face With God) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wall of Mortals: Interviews with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Unusual Interview with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Interview With God by a Black Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Dialogue Between God and Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Interview With God by an American Journalist . . . . . . . . . An Interview With God by a New Zealander . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 403 404 404 405 407 407 408 410

13 God of Computers, Bloggers, and Twitterers . . . . . . . . 411

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Notes from History (The Era of Computers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 Wall of Mortals: God In Web, Blog And Tweets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 God Goes Virtual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 Haiku God (http://haikugod.blogspot.com/) . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Gods E-Mail to Teens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 Gods Blog (http://bigoldgod.blogspot.com/) . . . . . . . . . . . 421 My Sons Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 No God #1 Trending Topic on Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 Holy God Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 Atheist Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Ten Commandments of the Church of Google . . . . . . . . . . . 425 Does God Tweet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 Chapter Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

14 God of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Does God Have a Future? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Same or a New God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A New Paradigm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geographic Luck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 433 433 435 436 436

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Personal Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honest Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Religious Pluralism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overlapping Consensus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dignity of Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compassionate God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charter of Compassion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography and Recommended Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index of Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index of Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

437 437 438 439 440 440 441 443 451 453 455

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PREFACE

his book was thirteen years in the making.

In the fall of 1999, I had a vision of assembling under the cover of a single book all that men and women have uttered about God during the past five thousand years. I hoped that it would help us overcome our prejudices, most of which were born out of unfamiliarity. That same year, I finished reading Samuel Huntingtons 1996 classic, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. The realist in me was terrified by the prospects Huntington portrayed. But the poet in me rebelled and wandered into the wondrous world of imagination, for I believed what Albert Einstein once said: Imagination is more important than knowledge. I hypothesized that God, a universal force present in the consciousness of all humans, can become the unifying force for our world if we can deepen and widen our understanding of God. I imagined a Friendship of Civilizations, which can be nurtured by connecting the dots of all religions that found expression in the words of the men and women of all centuries and all continents. However, I didnt want to write a scholarly tome with lengthy interpretations of the words of historical men and women; rather, I planned to capture their true voices by quoting them directly and create a living history by arranging the quotes chronologically. My ambitious project progressed slowly over the next two years, as I pored over thousands of pages of scriptures as well as ancient and modern literature. To my great satisfaction, a fascinating story of the fundamental unity in human thought patterns on God started to emerge in my mind. Different religious scriptures lost their individual isolation, and I came to realize that the multifarious human words on God, written over a period of five thousand years, carry not merely information, but a transcendent harmony that unites all of humanity. Then, suddenly, came the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, instantaneously changing the whole world. God and religion took center stage in human interactions, after a nearly hundred-year lull in the face of unprecedented advancements in science and technology during the twentieth century. We had come to believe, at the end of the millennium, that religious fundamentalism and religious wars were things of the past. However, the tragedies of September 11 grotesquely challenged that belief. The human voice of violence submerged Gods voice of compassion and thrust the entirety of humanity into an endless debate about the the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of different religions. It alerted us to a grim reality: the potent danger of closing our minds to religions and cultures not our own. This book tells a story of God, who transcends all religions and cultures and binds all humanity in a luminous unity of truth through the words and ideas of God and humans.

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It is my earnest hope that this book will help open billions and billions of windows in our minds, for peaceful coexistence through a deeper interreligious understanding. I also hope that every page of this book will give you something worthwhile to enjoy and ponder. El Dorado Hills, California December, 2012

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READERSS GUIDE
WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR? 55 Anyone who is interested in discovering the transcendent harmony among all religions 55 Anyone who is interested in a spiritual journey through the minds of God, man, and woman 55 Anyone who is interested in world peace and interfaith dialogues 55 A professor who is interested in building the next generation of interfaith leaders 55 A community leader who is committed to nurturing mutual respect among followers of different religions WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR READERS? 55 Instant access, in a single volume, to all significant thoughts on God 55 Mind-boggling perspectives on God in Chapter 8 (God is Dead), Chapter 9 (God is Back), Chapter 10 (God of Nobel Laureates) and Chapter 11 (God of Children and Teenagers) 55 Eye-opening comparison of all major religions 55 Fascinating juxtaposition of socio-political background and human thoughts on God 55 Inspiring new ideas for creating a Friendship of Civilizations in Chapter 14 (God of the Future) HOW IS THIS BOOK ORGANIZED? Each chapter consists of the following sections: Status Update provides a summary of Gods status in the corresponding historical period covered in the chapter; Notes from History highlights the key socio-political events during the historical period so that a reader can connect a quote with its historical background; Holy Wall presents Gods spoken words from scriptures that were revealed during the historical period; Wall of Mortals presents humans words on God, uttered during the historical period; and Chapter Digest presents a summary of the postings on the Holy Wall and the Wall of Mortals. In addition, the Coffee Break interspersed throughout the book provides interesting information, insights, and tidbits. All quotes are arranged in chronological order, according to the birth year of the quoted person. HOW TO READ THIS BOOK? It is not expected that a reader will plow through this book page by page in a sequential manner. Rather, this book is designed to be read randomlya page, a few quotes or a xvii

chapter at a timeto allow for contemplation and maximum enjoyment of different human perspectives on God. If you are interested in my motivation for writing this book, then do not skip the Preface. If you were to read only one complete chapter, then I would recommend the first, which tells a fascinating and inspiring story of the evolution of interfaith dialogues. If you enjoy poetry, then read Gods Song of Myself in Chapter 2; in this collage poem, you will find almost all human conceptions of God through the ages. Those of you who are inspired enough to make a change in the world must read the last chapter, which contains new ideas for creating a Friendship of Civilizations. Five thousand years of evolution of human thought on God is subdivided into thematic chapters and historical periods so that a reader can choose on the basis of chapter title or time frame. You must read the Status Update at the beginning of each chapter to fuel your curiosity about the milestone events of the corresponding historical period. If you are interested in the socio-political background of human thoughts on God, then you must read the Notes From History. If you are interested in a summary of the evolution of human thought on God in a specific historical period, then read Chapter Digest at the end of the corresponding chapter. The quotes in the book are arranged in chronological order according to the birth year of the quoted person to preserve the historical continuum in the book. To break the monotony of reading quote after quote, I have interspersed, throughout the book, numerous Coffee Break notes to heighten your appreciation and enjoyment of the preceding or following quotes; you can, if you wish, simply flip through the book and pick any of these breaks for your reading pleasure. In addition, I have included several one- to two-page sections on a few fascinating topics to demonstrate how God has influenced our lives and thoughts in myriad ways; this unique feature is found in no other published book. HOW TO USE IT AS A TEXTBOOK? This book can be used as a textbook for a full-semester introductory college course on general religion or comparative religion. There are fourteen chapters in this book; one chapter can be covered each week in a 14-week semester course. Students can be asked to synthesize the quotes of a particular historical period covered in a chapter and relate those quotes with the socio-political events and circumstances presented in the Notes from History section. They can be asked to identify and analyze the thought patterns of people living in different geographies and following different religions. Assignments can also be given to explore various themes across the timelines of history; example themes are (i) Evolution of God in the minds of early to modern scientists; (ii) God as seen by mystics of different religions; (iii) Religion and violence; (iv) Atheism and violence; (v) God and woman; and (vi) God in modern society. Source materials for these topics are available in the Coffee Breaks and one- to two-page special sections in the book. Students can also be asked to write term papers on special topics by utilizing the materials provided in the book and the relevant source materials listed in the bibliography.

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CHAPTER SUMMARY

Chapter 1 God, Man, and Facebook begins with the story of a momentous event that took place in Chicago, USA, on September 11, 1893. This chapter takes the reader through an intellectual journey by raising several significant questions about God, and ends with a note of laughter about the whole notion of defining God in words. Chapter 2 Gods Song of Myself starts with the story of Goddess from the caves of Germany, and then goes on to chronicle many other stories, including the story of the still-unending search for the God Particle by the best scientists of our days. This chapter contains excerpts of a fascinating dialogue on the truth and the divine between two Nobel Laureatesone a poet and the other a physicistfor readers to decide who was right. The chapter ends with a brand new idea: a collage poem entitled Gods Song of Myself and composed by juxtaposing quotes from scriptures and humans to describe a transcendent identity of God. This poem captures the essence of God through 5,000 years of written words.
first written expressions on God in ancient Egypt. It answers questions such as, What did the humans of antiquity think about God, kings, and the afterlife, and how similar are those thoughts to the current thinking in modern religions? God Gives Us Religions (2000 BC to 1000 BC) starts with the story of scriptures of the earliest known organized religion, Hinduism, then travels through the scriptures of other pre-Christian religions to capture their central messages. The chapter reveals surprising similarities among the messages within the holy scriptures of Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the monotheistic philosophy of Pharaoh Aten.

Chapter 3 God is Born (250,000 BC to 2000 BC) traces the birth of God through the

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 God of Prophets, Philosophers, and Poets (1000 BC to 1 AD) weaves a fascinating tapestry of colorful thoughts from prophets, philosophers, and poets when early human civilizations were simultaneously emerging in Greece, India, China, Rome, and the Middle East. The human struggle with the choice between reason and belief that began in that historical period is evident in the selected quotes. Chapter 6 God Speaks (1 AD to 1000 AD) is primarily concerned with two major religionsChristianity and Islamwhich appear to be at odds with each other today. It shows that there is great similarity between the central messages of these two religions, and that Muslims are commanded by God to believe in Jesus as a prophet. A comparison of the ten commandments of Christianity and Islam provides additional insights into the common ground between the worlds two largest religions. Chapter 7 God of Believers, Unbelievers, and Mystics (1000 AD to 1700 AD) captures the varieties of human expressions, from atheism to pantheism, amidst revolutionary changes in science, art, and society throughout the world. Diverse opinions about God culminate in the war between science and religion that reaches its peak when Galileo is forced to recant his scientific theories that are at odds with the Christian church. The words of the mystics in this chapter provide deep insights into human spirituality.
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CHAPTER TIMELINE

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Chapter 8 God is Dead (1700 AD to 1900 AD) is a colorful journey into human minds, where men and women are busy rediscovering their self-worth and morality without reassurances and dictates from Heaven. We find that God is almost banished from human intellectual life in the West, while Eastern thinkers are wrapped in mysticism. The chapter contains excerpts from the Womans Bible, written by mere mortals to denounce the patriarchal interpretations of the Holy Bible.
shining as a bright ray of hope over the ruins of two global wars, numerous genocides, and multiple regional conflicts that caused the loss of more than 160 million human lives in the twentieth century. We make the surprising discovery that belligerence is not the monopoly of a single religion, through a comparison of scriptures from the three major faiths. This chapter ends with a discussion on interfaith dialogues, which have been gaining momentum as intellectuals realize that God Divide must be a bridge among nations and cultures.

Chapter 9 God is Back (1900 AD to 2012 AD) documents the glorious return of God,

Chapter 10 God of Nobel Laureates attempts to answer popular curiosity about the beliefs of the best human minds in science, art, and politics. The difference of opinions among these Nobel laureates on the topic of God is indicative of the humanness of these earthly gods. Chapter 11 God of Children and Teenagers is a fascinating chapter that takes us into our childhood, and makes us sometimes cry and sometime laugh at the utter simplicity and genuineness of childrens expressions about God. This chapter ends with a discussion of Harry Potter and God. Chapter 12 God Gives Interviews puts God face to face with humans and provides answers to some intriguing questions from a colorful group of interviewers: a Black girl, a Muslim poet, an American journalist, and a free-thinking citizen of New Zealand.
of computers, where free spirits roam in their own glory and show unusual courage in ridiculing God. God also shows infinite tolerance by not sending a massive bolt of lightning to shut down the global network of computers. As a result, fake gods proliferate in the blogosphere, write e-mails to teens, and establish the Church of Google with its own ten commandments, all within a very few years of the Internet revolution.

Chapter 13 God of Computers, Bloggers, and Twitterers takes us into the new world

Chapter 14 God of the Future takes a closer look at our differences and similarities, and argues for a God of Love as the God of the future. We are encouraged to think about whether humanity can chart a new course for the future by accepting the proposed new paradigm of peaceful coexistence.

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