January's book is Blah, Blah, Blah: Making Sense of the World's Spiritual Chatter by Bayard Taylor. Don't be intimidated by the title, it truly is a great read. I have to admit, I am a little bit of a theology junkie - but by no means am I an expert or sophisticated about theology!!
I chose this book because I wish I had read it a lot sooner in my life. A couple years ago I worked at Applebee's - along side some great, but theologically mixed up folk. One guys stands out in particular. We had some interesting discussions about spiritual matters. Had I read this book before then, I would have be more confident in the biblical worldview (with a better understanding of his worldview) to go deeper in our conversations and encourage him.
The book outlines 6 worldviews (all given fun nicknames):
1. The Haunted Worldview - or the pagan religions that believe that everything around us is filled with spirits. This includes Greek & Roman mythology, fertility religions, Wicca, and tarot cards
2. The Biblical Worldview - people that believe their is one true God and includes Christianity, and Judaism (look out for Quasi-Biblical worldviews that claim to be Biblical, but do not keep with some of the main doctrine)
3. The WYSIWYG Worldview - that's pronounced "Whizzy-Wig" and stands for What You See is What You Get. These are the naturalists that do not believe in a reality outside of nature. Some other names for this group is materialism, Marxism, and Social Darwinism.
4. The Dueling Yodas Worldview - in the spirit of Star Wars, this world view believes there are two equal and opposite forces at work in the world - and we get to choose which one to be on. (This is much different than God v. Satan - 'cause we all know Satan is a big wimp!!)
5. The Omnipresent Supergalactic Oneness Worldview - the name comes from a joke in the movie Ace Ventura, but the beliefs are real. The goal of this worldview is to become "one" with the spirits or the unity of all things. Some religions include Yoga, Kama Sutra, yin & yang, & Zen Buddhism.
6. Designer Religions - these are the people that pick and choose from all worldviews. They are the "spiritual," not "religious" folk.
This is just a general overview - for more info check out http://www.blahblahbook.com/ or just go buy the book (and a highlighter - you'll need it!!)
