Last Updated 2021-05-23

People from all walks of life are wise and have attained wisdom and happiness without study.  That’s not the case for me; I study a lot, and my studies have shaped my opinions in The Hunt for Happiness and other writings; they have shaped my life.

Some of my studies have been a happenstance – the first was a book that literally fell into my hand while browsing, James Kugel’s How to Read The Bible.  Others, notably Philo and Josephus, I selected because of Cecil B. DeMille’s introduction to his epic film The Ten Commandments and his disclosure of sources (Spoiler alert: you can study until the cows come home and not find the story in that movie – it does not come directly from any ancient texts).  Two came from a dare to read Killing Jesus and Zealot.  

The most, however, are a pattern of studies from early times to the beginning of Islam towards the end of understanding why we of the Western World have become who we are.  And I have focused on ancient writings more than on modern authors interpreting the writings.  The wisdom of the ages has not changed much, you see.  We are much as we were more than 2,000 years ago.  Technology and Science are radically different, the people are not.

As I share posts about what I find, it seems only proper to disclose what I’m reading to come to those conclusions.  That’s what this post is for, and I will update it periodically.

Below is a list of my studies to date.  Dates ending in an asterisk are current studies, all others are complete.  The dates used are for the earliest date in the study at which time the text as we have it was in final form.

Last Updated: 12/9/21