Beyond Heaven and Earth

by Steven H. Propp

  Bailey, Alice: (www.alicebailey.org) Some of her many books are The Unfinished Autobiography; Reappearance of the Christ; From Intellect To Intuition; Ponder On This; Glamour: A World Problem; and the Destiny of the Nations.

  Bible Problems: Two excellent books dealing with some “problems” of the Bible are War Psalms of the Prince of Peace by James E. Adams, and How to Enjoy the Boring Parts of the Bible by Philip Rosenbaum.

  Buddhism (see also Jodo Shinshu and Vajrayana): Two important Buddhist Scriptures are The Dhammapada and The Lotus Sutra. A good selection of Buddhist texts is found is E.A. Burtt’s Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. A near “life of the Buddha” by a justly famed Zen teacher is Thich Nhat Hahn’s Old Path, White Clouds. Good general works include The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus, Edward Conze’s Buddhism: Its Essence and Development, The Art of Living (Vipassana Meditation) by William Hart, and Buddhism For the West by Dorothy Donath. A fascinating history of Buddhism in America is How the Swans Came To the Lake by Rick Fields. The Complete Guide To Buddhist America (ed. Don Morreale) contains useful introductions as well as a listing of more than 1,000 places where different varieties of Buddhism are taught.

  Calvinism, Predestination, and Reformed Theology: Very helpful presentations of “debates” between different perspectives are found in Predestination and Free Will (ed. David Basinger and Randall Basinger), and Four Views On Eternal Security. Major theological works are Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, Systematic Theology by Augustus Strong (who is a Baptist), Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, Robert Reymond’s A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination by Loraine Boettner, and The Doctrine of God by Herman Bavinck. Other books include Calvinism: Pure and Mixed by W.G.T. Shedd, The Five Points of Calvinism by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas, R.C. Sproul’s disarmingly candid Chosen By God as well as The Invisible Hand, the short but important booklet is A Predestination Primer by John H. Gerstner, Predestination by Gordon Clark, and The Five Points of Calvinism by W.J. Seaton. A critical Evangelical perspective is found in The Five Points of Calvinism by George L. Bryson. A contentious (but as with all his books, very well-researched and highly interesting to read) history of the Presbyterian Church in America is Gary North’s Crossed Fingers.

  Cao Dai: (www.caodai.org) Cao Dai: Faith of Unity by Hum Dac Bui.

  Catholic: (www.vatican.org & www.americancatholic.org) Absolutely fundamental is of course the Catechism of the Catholic Church; older formulations are found in the Baltimore Catechism No. 3. Books specifically about the afterlife are Your One-Stop Guide to Heaven, Hell and Purgatory by Bill Dodds; Purgatory by Martin Jugie; Purgatory by F.X. Shouppe; Eternal Life by Romano Guardini; and What Do We Know About Our Future? by Stephen Fogelin. Also of great help are the interest are the three books by Father Kenneth Ryan: What Would You Like to Know About the Catholic Church?, What More Would You Like to Know About the Church? and What Else Would You Like To Know About the Church? More conservative but quite excellent at “getting to the point” are the three volumes of Radio Replies by Fathers Leslie Rumble and Charles Mortimer Carty, as well as The Miniature Question Box by Bertrand Conway. General Catholic books include The Catholic Encyclopedia (ed. by Robert Broderick); Catholicism by Richard McBrien; The Teaching of Christ (Ed. Ronald Lawler, Donald W. Wuerl, Thomas Comerform Lawler); A New Catechism—Catholic Faith for Adults; Fundamentals of Catholicism (3 volumes) by Kenneth Baker; and Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott. Much less traditional (but excellent) is Hans Küng’s Eternal Life? Monastic life is discussed in The Genesee Diary by (the justly famed “Wounded Healer”) Henri J. M. Nouwen, The View From a Monastery by Benet Tvedten, Kathleen Norris’s The Cloister Walk, and The Province Beyond the River by W. Paul Jones.

  Cayce, Edgar: (www.edgarcayce.org) Cayce’s own memoirs are entitled My Life As A Seer. Biographies and general works on Cayce include A Prophet in His Own Country and Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet by Jess Stearn, A Seer Out of Season by Harmon Hartzell Bro, There Is a River by Thomas Sugrue, and Venture Inward by Hugh Lynn Cayce (Cayce’s son). Cayce’s many readings are compiled into “Readers,” as well as into “thematic” books such as Edgar Cayce’s Story of Karma; Story of Jesus; On Reincarnation, etc. His readings about

  life after death were compiled as No Death by Hugh Lynn Cayce. Many Mansions is a presentation of Cayce’s teachings on reincarnation and karma by Gina Cerminara.

  Channeling: Excellent general works about channeling are the absolutely essential Channeling by Jon Klimo, The Channeling Zone by Michael F. Brown, Channelers: A New Age Directory by Robin Westen, and With the Tongues of Men and Angels by Arthur Hastings. Other general works (including “How To” books) include A Guide to Channelilng and Channeled Material by Lily Andrews, Channeling: The Intuitive Connection by William H. Kautz & Melanie Branon, Opening To Channel by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer, A Channeling Handbook by Carla Rueckert, Channeling by Kathryn Ridall, and All About Channeling by Ron Scolastico. There are literally thousands of channels who have written/channeled thousands of books, but here are a few: Darryl Anka/Bashar: Bashar: Blueprint for Change. Elwood Babbitt: Voices of Spirit (by Charles H. Hapgood). Rosemary Brown: Unfinished Symphonies (autobiography of woman who claims to be given compositions from Bach, Liszt, Mozart, and Chopin). Eileen Caddy (co-founder of the Findhorn Community): God Spoke To Me, Flight Into Freedom; Findhorn is profiled in The Findhorn Garden by the Findhorn Community. Lee Carroll/Kryon: Don’t Think Like a Human. Barbara Hand Clow: Heart of the Christos. Grace Cooke/White Eagle: The Illumined Ones. Maurice B. Cooke/Hilarion: Tapestry. Benjamin Crème/Maitreya: (www.maitreya.org) The Reappearance of the Christ, Maitreya’s Mission. Emmanuel: Emmanuel’s Book (Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton). Virginia Essene/The Christ: New Teachings For An Awakening Humanity; You Are Becoming A Galactic Human (with Sheldon Nidle). Ron Goettsche/Jason: Down To Earth. Annie Kirkwood/Mary: Mary’s Message To the World; Mary’s Message of Hope. Eric Klein: The Inner Door, The Crystal Stair. Carol Bell Knight: Passing the Torch.

  J.Z. Knight/Ramtha: (www.ramtha.com) J.Z. Knight’s autobiography is A State of Mind; I Am Ramtha (ed. Wes Wait and others); Ramtha: Voyage To the New World by Douglas James Mahr; Ramtha by Steven Lee Weinberg. Dorothy Maclean: To Hear the Angels Sing.

  Michael: (www.michaelteachings.com) Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Messages From Michael, The Michael Handbook by Jose Stevens, The Journey Of Your Soul by Shepherd Hoodwin. Mary-Margaret Moore/Bartholomew: I Come As a Brother. Tam Mossman/James: Answers From a Grander Self. Don and Linda Pendleton/Dr. Peebles: To Dance With Angels. Jach Pursel/Lazaris: (www.lazaris.com) Lazaris Interviews (multi-volume). Ramala: (www.ramalacentre.com) The Revelation of Ramala; The Wisdom of Ramala; The Vision of Ramala Jane Roberts/Seth: The Coming of Seth; Seth Speaks; The Seth Material; The Nature of Personal Reality; Adventures In Consciousness, and many others. A personal biography of Jane Roberts is found in Speaking of Jane Roberts by Susan M Watkins, who also wrote the 2-volume story of Roberts’ ESP class, Conversations With Seth. Kevin Ryerson: (www.kevinryerson.com) Spirit Communication. Ron Scolastico: The Earth Adventure; Doorway To the Soul. Solara: The Star-Borne. David Spangler: Revelation: The Birth of a New Age; The Call; Reflections On the Christ. Ramón Stevens/Alexander: Earthly Cycles. Mary Swainson/Nabraham: Psychic Sense (with Louisa Bennett). Paul Tuttle/Raj: You Are the Answer. Neale Donald Walsch: (www.cwg.org) Conversations With God (Book 1 and Book 2). Ruth White & Mary Swainson/Gildas: Gildas Communicates. Meredith Lady Young/Agartha: Agartha: The Essential Guide, and Agartha: A Journey To the Stars. Critical works include Channeling Into the New Age by Henry Gordon, and (from a Christian perspective) Spirit Channeling.

  Chinese Religion: Chinese Religion and The Chinese Way In Religion by Laurence Thompson, Religion In Chinese Society by C.K. Yang, and Chinese Thought by

  H.G. Creel.

  Ch’ondogyo: (www.chondogyo.or.kr) The Ch’ondogyo Concept
of Man by Yong Choon Kim.

  Christian (General): Good books on different denominations and branches are Frank S. Mead’s indispensable Handbook of Denominations In the United States; the slightly old but still very helpful Religions of America edited by Leo Rosten, and The Protestant Churches of America by John A. Hardon. General books include Robert A. Morey’s excellent Death and the Afterlife, John Baille’s And the Life Everlasting, Billy Graham’s Death and the Life After, and Hereafter by David Winter.

  Christian Science: (www.tfccs.com) Mary Baker Eddy’s works, Science and Health With Key To the Scriptures, Prose Works, and Church Manual are of course the basic works. Robert Peel’s 3-volume biography of Mary Baker Eddy is also important. Other books include Lectures and Articles On Christian Science by Edward A. Kimball. Critical works and studies of Christian Science include God’s Perfect Child by Caroline Fraser, The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy by Martin Gardner, Blue Window by Barbara Wilson, and Christian Science by Mark Twain.

  Church Universal and Triumphant: (www.tsl.org) The Soulless One by Mark Prophet, Climb the Highest Mountain by Mark (while still living) and Elizabeth Prophet; The Science of the Spoken Word, The Lost Years of Jesus, the four volumes of The Lost Teachings of Jesus by Mark Prophet (after his death) and Elizabeth Clare Prophet; and The Great White Brotherhood, The Chela and the Path, and Prophecy For the 1980s by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. A fascinating scholarly work is The Church Universal and Triumphant by Bradley C. Whitsel.

  Confucianism: Master Kung (biography) by Carl Crow, Confucius (biography) by Raymond Dawson, Confucianism by John H. and Evelyn Nagai Berthrong, and Confucianism and Chinese Civilization (ed. Arthur F. Wright).

  A Course In Miracles (Helen Schucman): (www.acim.org) The 3-volume book (text, workbook for students, and manual for teachers) is essential, of course. The story behind it is told by Robert Skutch in Journey Without Distance. Tara Singh has written introductory books, A Course In Miracles: A Gift For All Mankind and How to Learn From A Course In Miracles. The most famous teacher of The Course is naturally Marianne Williamson (a dynamic and very interesting speaker; www.marianne.com), whose A Return To Love is very popular. She has a favorable biographer in Elena Oumano’s Marianne Williamson.

  Death and Dying: Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s books are essential: On Death and Dying; Questions and Answers On Death and Dying; and Death: The Final Stage of Growth. How We Die by Sherwin B. Nulland is an excellent broadly-based work. Philippe Ariés’ book, The Hour of Our Death is a “history of death.” A wonderful “expose” of the funeral industry is Jessica Mitford’s classic The American Way of Death.

  Disability/Quadriplegia: Of course, the standard books by a noteworthy Christian are those of Joni Eareckson-Tada (www.joniandfriends.org): Joni, A Step Further, Glorious Intruder, and many others. (See another of her books under Euthanasia.)

  Early Religion: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Mystery Religions by Samuel Angus, The Soul In Egyptian Metaphysics & The Book of the Dead by Manly P. Hall, and The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, as well as regular history books.

  Eastern Orthodoxy: (www.ocf.org) The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Michael Pomazansky, Catechesis of the Orthodox Church by Apostolos Makrakis, Dictionary of Orthodox Theology by George Demetrakopoulos, The Teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church by Michael Azkoul, and Introducing the Orthodox Church by Anthony Coniaris. A Protestant view on Orthodoxy is Clark Carlton’s The Way.

  Eckankar: (www.eckankar.org) Founder Paul Twitchell’s Eckankar; Eckankar: Ancient Wisdom for Today (no author stated), and Your Right To Know by Darwin Gross.

  Euthanasia: Various perspectives are presented in Euthanasia: The Moral Issues, edited by Robert M. Baird and Stuart E. Rosenbaum (who have edited similarly fine books on other issues), Last Rights? (ed. Michael Uhlmann), Arguing Euthanasia (ed. Jonathan D. Moreno), and Choosing Death (ed. Ron Hamel). Derek Humphrey’s books Final Exit, The Right To Die (a history of the movement), Let Me Die Before I Wake, and Dying With Dignity are very important. Other pro-euthanasia books are (the very controversial) Jack Kevorkian’s Prescription: Medicine, Christiaan Barnard’s Good Life, Good Death, and A Chosen Death by Lonny Shavelson. Critiques of euthanasia include Euthanasia Is Not the Answer by David Cundiff, The Case Against Suicide by William Rauscher, Denial Of the Soul by M. Scott Peck, C. Everett Koop’s The Right To Live; The Right To Die, and John M. Frame’s Medical Ethics. A very powerful Christian voice (see her other books under Quadriplegia) is Joni EarecksonTada’s When Is It Right To Die? Also of great interest is Deadly Compassion, the story of Ann Humprey’s (2nd wife of Derek Humphrey, author of Final Exit) suicide and criticism of her ex-husband.

  Falun Gong: (www.faluninfo.net) The founder Li Hongzhi’s books Zhuan Falun and Falun Gong are essential. A good book on their persecution in China is Falun Gong’s Challenge To China by Danny Schechter.

  Freemasonry: (www.co-masonry.org) An essential book is The History of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey. Critiques by former Masons include The Deadly Deception by Jim Shaw & Tom McKenney, and Freemasonry: The Invisible Cult In Our Midst by Jack Harris. Conservative Christian critiques abound, such as The Truth About Masons by Robert Morey.

  Ghosts/Poltergeists/Haunted Houses/Apparitions: Apparitions and Survival of Death by Raymond Bayless, Science and the Spook by George Owen & Victor Sims, The Poltergeist by William G. Roll, ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists by Loyd Auerbach, Poltergeists and the Paranormal by Philip Stander & Paul Schmolling, The Poltergeist Experience, On the Track of the Poltergeist, The Haunted House Handbook by D. Scott Rogo, Haunted Houses USA by Dolores Riccio & Joan Bingham, Haunted Houses by Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn, Houses of Horror by Richard Winer, True Experiences With Ghosts (ed. Martin Ebon), Ghosts Around the House by Susy Smith, Yankee Ghosts by Hans Holzer, and Ghosts Around Us by Brad Steiger. The Borley Rectory is covered by Harry Price in The Most Haunted House In England. The “Amityville Horror” (original book by Jay Anson) is debunked in The Amityville Horror Conspiracy by Stephen Kaplan.

  Gurdjieff: (www.gurdjieff.org) Gurdjieff’s books include Views From the Real World, Meetings With Remarkable Men, and Beelzebub’s Tales To His Grandson. Books about Gurdjieff and his work are The Gurdjieff Work by Kathleen Riordan Speeth, Gurdjieff by J.G. Bennett, and Our Life With Mr. Gurdjieff by Thomas de Hartmann.

  Hare Krishna/ISKCON: (www.iskcon.org) A biography of the founder is Prabhup?da by Satsvarupa D?sa Goswami. Swami Prabhupada published his translations of many Hindu works such as the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, the Srimad Bhagavatam (the devotional classic to Krishna, in about 20 volumes), and the Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta. Swami Prabhupada’s many original books include Krsna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, The Nectar of Devotion, The Nectar of Instruction, The Science of Self-Realization, The Path of Yoga, The Path of Perfection, The Journey of Self-Discovery, Krsna Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System, The Scientific Basis of Krsna Consciousness, Beyond Birth & Death, Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers. Generally sympathetic portrayals include Inside the Hare Krishna Movement by Mukwanda Goswami, Hare Krishna In America by E. Burke

  Rochford Jr., Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna (ed. Steven Gelberg), The American Children of Krsna by Francine Jeanne Daner, and The Hare Krishnas In India by Charles R. Brooks. A critical perspective is The Strange World of the Hare Krishnas by Faye Levine. A Christian critique by a former member is Marvin Yakos’s The Roaring Lion of the East. The unfortunate (and criminal) direction some leaders took after Prabhupada’s death is described in Monkey On a Stick by John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson, and Betrayal of the Spirit by Nori J. Muster.

  Heaven: Heaven: A History by Colleen McDannell & Bernard Lang; A History of Heaven by Jeffrey Burton Russell.

  Hell/Conditional Immortality (see also Universalism): The traditional perspective is articulated and defended in Repent Or Perish by John H. Gerstner, Hell On Trial by R
obert A. Peterson, and The Doctrine of Endless Punishment by W.G.T. Shedd. Several “debates” of the issue are found in Four Views On Hell (ed. William Crockett) and Two Views Of Hell by Edward Fudge and Robert A. Peterson; the growing controversy among conservative Christians is chronicled in The Battle for Hell by David George Moore. Of conservative Christians who have led the pack in reconsidering the traditional notions are Le Roy Edwin Froom’s massive Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers and Edward Fudge’s The Fire That Consumes. Other “anti-endless punishment” books are Evangelical Essentials by John Stott and David L. Edwards, The One Purpose of God by Jan Bonda, Hans Urs Von Balthasar’s Dare We Hope ‘That All Men Be Saved’?, If Grace Is True by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland, The Inescapable Love Of God by Thomas Talbott, John Wenham’s Facing Hell, Neil Punt’s Unconditional Good News, The Nature Of Hell by the ACUTE group, What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell? by Randy Klassen, Rescue: God’s Promise to Save by Peter Lewis, Roy Clements, and Greg Haslam, The True Image by Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Michael Green’s Evangelism Through the Local Church, and What Does the Bible Say About Hell? (by the Radio Bible Class).

  Hinduism: The most important (and popular) Hindu scripture is the Bhagavad-Gita (I use the translation by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood). The classics are the Rig Veda, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. A very helpful summary is The Holy Vedas by Bibek Debroy and Dipavali Debroy, who also edited a 19-volume edition of the Puranas. A good summary/abridgement of the Srimad Bhagavatam was done by Swami Prabhavananda. And of course, zillions of editions (many rather sleazy) of the Kama Sutra exist. A wonderful short book is The Hindu View of Life by Radhakrishnan. The teachings of Sri Ramakrishna—a modern Hindu “saint,” and deeply and genuinely spiritual man—are collected in various editions of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna; works about him and his movement are the Life of Sri Ramakrishna, and The Disciples of Ramakrishna by Advaita Ashrama. General works include Hinduism by K.M. Sen, Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda, and Hinduism: Questions & Answers by Swami Harshananda.