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<span><span>Four Testaments</span><span> brings together four foundational texts from world religions—the </span><span>Tao Te Ching</span><span>, </span><span>Dhammapada</span><span>, </span><span>Analects of Confucius</span><span>, and </span><span>Bhagavad Gita</span><span>—inviting readers to experience them in full, to explore possible points of connection and divergence, and to better understand people who practice these traditions.</span></span>

<span><span>Contents</span><span><br><br>Foreword by Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Harvard Center for Study of World Religions <br><br>Illustrations<br><br>Acknowledgments<br><br>Prologue: </span><span>Four Fingers and a Thumb - Tao Te Ching, Analects, Dhammapada, Gita, and Avesta </span><span><br><br></span><span>Book One </span><span><br></span><span>From the Foundations of the Earth to Our Common Spiritual Ancestors</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>East and West Meeting at the Altar of Religion </span><span>by Cyril Glass</span><span><a href="https://www.google.ca/search?tbo=p&amp;tbm=bks&amp;q=inauthor:%22Cyril+Glass%C3%A9%22"><span>é</span></a></span><span><br><br>Exordium: </span><span>What We Once Knew</span><span>, by Karl Friedrich Geldner<br><br>Preface: </span><span>Why the Z Factor Matters</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="1">
<li><span>Through the Mists of Time: </span><span>Vedic and Semitic Prehistories Connecting East and West</span></li>
<li><span>A Priest Becomes a Prophet: </span><span>Commissioned at the River</span></li>
<li><span>A Chance Meeting at the Crossroads of History: </span><span>A Prelude to the Babylonian Interface between Proto Vedic and Proto Semitic Religions</span></li>
<li><span>The Silk Route: </span><span>The Axis of the Axial Age</span></li>
<li><span>The Extant Avesta: </span><span>A Few Pieces of the Jigsaw Puzzle</span></li>
<li><span>The Fraternal Twins of World Religion: </span><span>Monism for Monotheists</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Two</span><span><br></span><span>The Taoist Testament</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>Magi in China and Intellectual Ferment in Eurasia at the Middle of the First Millennium</span><span>BCE </span><span>by Professor Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese, Philadelphia University<br><br>Preface: Magic and iMagination<br></span></span>
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<ol start="7">
<li><span>Tao Te Ching: </span><span>translated by Victor H. Mair</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Three</span><span><br></span><span>The Confucian Testament</span><span><br><br>Introduction:</span><span> Innovation vs.</span><span>Tradition </span><span>by Jacqueline Mates-Muchin, Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai, Oakland<br><br>Preface: </span><span>Fireworks East and West</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="8">
<li><span>The Analects: </span><span>translated by James Legge</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Four</span><span><br></span><span>The Buddhist Testament</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>The Indian Origins of Buddhism </span><span>by Professor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Oxford <br><br>Preface: </span><span>King Akbar’s Perfect Religion</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="9">
<li><span>Dhammapada: </span><span>translated by S. Radhakrishnan</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Five</span><span><br></span><span>The Hindu Testament</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>Reciprocal Illumination</span><span> by Professor Arvind Sharma, Birks </span><span>Professor</span><span> in Comparative Religion, McGill University<br><br>Preface:</span><span> With Notes from Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="10">
<li><span>Bhagavad Gita: </span><span>translated by Gandhi</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Six</span><span><br></span><span>The Z Factor</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>Eastern Influence in Western Texts</span><span> by Dr. David Bruce<br><br>Preface: </span><span>New Frontiers in Scriptural Studies</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="11">
<li><span>Israel in Exile: </span><span>God as Israel’s Only Redeemer</span></li>
<li><span>Up from the River Again, With a Promise of Paradise: </span><span>Jesus as a Zoroastrian Saoshyant, the Redeemer of the World</span></li>
<li><span>Chinvat Bridge – The Final Judgement: </span><span>Zoroastrian Scriptures and “Previous Revelations” Corrected in the Quran</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Book Seven</span><span><br></span><span>The Dead Zee Scrolls</span><span><br><br>Introduction: </span><span>Digging Through Time </span><span>by Professor Richard Freund<br><br>Preface: </span><span>A Model for the Twenty First Century</span><span><br></span></span>
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<ol start="14">
<li><span>Among the Ruins: </span><span>Tablets and Cylinders </span></li>
<li><span>From Aurel Stein to Mary Boyce and Beyond: </span><span>Controversies in the Twentieth Century</span></li>
</ol>
<span><span>Epilogue: The Resurrection of Zoroaster: A Prophet for the Twenty First Century<br><br></span><span>Dancing on the Edge of Tombs: More Treasure Than Anyone Imagined</span><span><br><br>Appendix: Images of the Original Eastern Testaments<br><br>Preface to Images: </span><span>The Edict of Cyrus and the Chinese Cuneiform Bones</span><span> by E. K. Eduljee<br><br>Bibliography<br><br>Index<br><br>About the Editor<br><br>About the Contributors</span></span>

<span><span>Brian Arthur Brown </span><span>is an independent scholar and a United Church of Canada minister. He is the author or editor of several books, including the award-winning </span><span>Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel, Quran</span><span> and </span><span>Noah’s Other Son</span><span>.</span></span>

<span><span>Introduces readers to the basics of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism</span></span>