Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service on “The Newness of Life”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier on Sunday, April 5, 2026 at 11 a.m. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.
VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:
1. What Easter Means to Unitarians by Phillip Hewett, 1987, 394 HEW.
2. The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur, 2005, 270.1 HAR
From LibraryThing: “A radical, ground-breaking examination of the role of ancient myth in the origins of Christianity, challenging the idea of the Gospels as historical truth – it will change the way many think about religion, faith, history, myth and belief.”.
3. For Christ’s Sake by Tom Harpur, 1986, 232.9 HAR
From LibraryThing: “This radical book reveals the real, historical Jesus – and reminds us what he actually said. Who was Jesus Christ? Was he God in human form? Was he the divine Son of God, conceived by a virgin, who came down to earth to found the one true religion? This is what the Church has been preaching since the Middle Ages, but the Church’s portrait is a far cry from the Jesus Christ described in the New Testament. For Christ’s Sake is Tom Harpur’s classic study of what the Bible actually tells us about Jesus. Controversial and radical, in that it goes to the roots of what is known, Harpur’s book strips away the mythology about Jesus to reveal a man whose message is still fresh and relevant today.”.
4. The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus by Earl Doherty, 1999, 232.9 DOH
Gift of Arthur Hughes and signed by the author. From LibraryThing: “… A full and comprehensive survey of the question through an examination of the early Christian record, canonical and non-canonical, from Q to the Gospels, from the earliest Pauline epistles to the second century apologists, along with Jewish, Gnostic, and Greco-Roman documents of the time. The philosophy of the era, its religious expression in the pagan mystery cults, fascinating glimpses into the historical background of the period, an in-depth consideration of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, are only some of the additional topics covered in the book. A richly-detailed, highly lucid and entertaining account of how Christianity began without an historical Jesus of Nazareth, who came to life only on the pages of the Gospels. …”.
5. Life After Death by Tom Harpur, 1991, 202.3 HAR
The Julian Fears Library. From the hardcover edition, shown in LibraryThing: “Is there life after death? … For thousands of years religions the world over have taught that life does not end at death. … Medieval Christendom was rife with graphic, “eye-witness” descriptions of heaven and hell. In the West today, many people claim to have seen or heard from the dead; others have “remembered” past lives while under hypnosis. Still other have experienced “death” and have returned with remarkably similar stories to tell. Yet sceptics, agnostics, and atheists have challenged or rejected the notion of an afterlife, arguing that there is no proof of it whatsoever. Who is right? In Life After Death, Tom Harpur, … takes a fresh and wide-ranging look at the question. … And the evidence he meticulously assembles points unfalteringly towards one, logical conclusion: “Death is very much like birth. It is the traumatic but essential passage into a new phase of life.” …”.
6. A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life by Howard Thurman, 1999, 921 THU
Beacon Press publication. From LibraryThing: “A spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.; the first black dean at a white university; cofounder of the first interracially pastored, intercultural church in the United States, Howard Thurman offered a transcendent vision of our world. This lyrical collection of select published and unpublished works traces his struggle with the particular manifestations of violence and hatred that mark the twentieth century. His words remind us all that out of religious faith emerges social responsibility and the power to transform lives.”.
7, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall, Douglas Adams and Gail Hudson, 2021, 304 GOO
Donated by Elizabeth Murdoch. From LibraryThing: “… Jane Goodall, the world’s most famous living naturalist, and Douglas Abrams, the internationally bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy, explore through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope”: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit. …, The Book of Hope touches on vital questions, including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? What is the relationship between hope and action? …”.
8. Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power by Joanna Macy, 2022, 303 MAC
From LibraryThing: “The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, the depletion of oil, economic upheaval, and mass extinction together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. …”
9. Myth and Ritual in Christianity by Alan W. Watts, 1971, 230 WA
Beacon Press publication. From LibraryThing: “… Using the lens of the “doctrine of mystical tradition”, Watts explores the development of church doctrine in relation to the procession of seasons and finds, contrary to many contemporary critics, that Christianity cultivates virtue and promotes living in the now.”.
10. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today by Margot Adler, 1981, 299.93 ADL
From LibraryThing: “… Margot Adler attended ritual gatherings and interviewed a diverse, colorful gallery of people across the United States, people who find inspiration in ancient deities, nature, myth, even science fiction. In this revised edition, Adler takes a fascinating and honest look at the religious experiences, beliefs, and lifestyles of modern America’s Pagan groups.”.
11. In Stillness, Renewal: Meditations, by Jacob Trapp, 1983, 242 TRA
Gift of Petrt Aaloe and Ann Rieger.