In your opinion what is the book every adult person should read, and why?

I think everyone should read the Eric Von Danken books.They seem to answer our past better than a lot of the professionals.Two more books ;The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, and my all time favorite is Illusions.
1. The Von Danken books get you to want to read more  and do more research.
2. Cosmic Power makes you think,and look at yourself .
3.Illusions is an intertaining book about a reluctant Messiah, no it's not dry , it will keepyou reading.

Good question, Sorrow

I love books, I truly do. I even hug them!  
Sometimes, they just jump off the shelf into my hands
just when I  need them.
I heard that books go to Heaven too, and I like that
thought...  a lot.

My favorite Author is Ruth Montgomery.
She was ahead of her time with her Automatic writings.  
I picked up "A Search for the Truth" in my teen years,
because that is really what I was doing... *searching.
Searching for something to believe in. I was hooked.

"The World Before" was fascinating history, and the
"World Beyond" I couldn't put down. "Strangers among us"
seems to getting more recognition now. There are others.
I look for her books in second hand book stores, and buy them all.
So I can share.  Although there are other great writers since...
somehow I always find my way back to her books...  
I love Ruth Montgomery. Can ya tell?


P E A C E
Evie        

Some people would argue the bible as the most important book you should read...

For lots of dfferent reasons.

What do others think?

If one is a Christian, then I suspect the Bible is the most important book.  In other religions, other books might may make more sense, such as the Koran for Muslims, etc.  Granted, not every religion may have a must read book.  Still, there is probably one book that distills the essence of the belief structure, even if it is not sanctioned as such. The beliefs of the neo-heathen faith of Asatru, based on the pre-Christian traditions of Northern Europe, are best communicated in the Poetic Edda, a compilation of short poems of the Gods and Heroes of Scandinavia.  But is there one book that transcends all belief barriers?  Hmmm, a tough one. While the Gospels of the New Testament offer a compelling code of conduct, others will some of those codes of conduct unsuitable, to be sure.  We may all be from one species, but we are richly diverse (to say the least) which makes that one book hard to find.

I suppose a book that specifically interacts across faith barriers would be best for that (stated in the last paragraph, not necessarily the topic at hand...) purpose.  For instance, a book about, say, Christians and Muslims, would potentially be important for both those groups.  Especially since there is history of the two groups not getting along.  Can we learn something from history and in the process about ourselves (collectively)?  Absolutely.  Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it (attributed to George Santayana, not my wisdom).  The Crusades of the Middle Ages offer ample opportunity to examine the interaction of Christian and Muslim.  A long sad tale of ineptitude, avarice and designs of conquest, infrequently sprinkled with heroism or compassion.  In that the Crusades are not much different from contemporary life where world leaders (and we can be critical of more than just US president Bush here, there is plenty of blame to spread around) follow their own self-serving agenda and not the needs and betterment of the people.  I only have one book on the Crusades on my bookshelf, Dungeon, Fire & Sword by John J. Robinson.  And there is an interesting passage there, to be sure, concerning the end of the Second Crusade and the surrender of Jerusalem to Saladin (Muslim ruler).  There were many Christians in Jerusalem who, naturally, wanted their freedom from the Muslims (usually the captured would be sold into slavery) and to earn that freedom, the Christian leaders would have to pay a ransom.  In this case it was huge, 30000 dinars (which emptied the official treasury of Jerusalem), which paid for about 7000 people but still thousand more were sold as slaves, and they were herded up by their Muslin overlords and...

The patriarch Heraclius (note: Of Christian Jerusalem) paid the ten dinar ransom for himself and a few servants, then left the city with a small caravan carrying a fortune in rare carpets and silver plate, riding without emotion past columns of the poor being marched into slavery.  Saladin's brother, by contrast, was so moved by the pitiful sight that he asked for the right to free a thousand Christian captives as compensation for his services in the campaign, a request that was promptly granted.  Saladin himself decided to free all of the aged, both men and women.  For any women who had been ransomed or freed, he promised to release any husband or father who was being held captive.

A powerful scene of greed and compassion.  Having been taught as a youth that the Muslims were the menace to civilized society and that the Crusaders fought to restore lawful and Christian (i.e. compassionate) order, I learn that wasn't always the case (some Crusaders were good to be sure, and some Muslims bad) and a simple history text from school rarely teaches well.  The dates of history (which we are forced to remember) teach us little, it is the people and humanity of history that makes it interesting (despite the education system's best effort to bore us to tears) and often we can be rewarded with gems like the one above that challenge preconceptions and display beautiful signs of compassion.