★★★★½ (4.5/5) Recommended companion: A notebook and a willingness to sit with mystery. End of piece.
This section is a revelation for Western audiences. Hardy covers the Tao Te Ching (Laozi) and the Zhuangzi , explaining how paradox and non-action are linguistic tools, not logical failures. He then tackles Confucius’ Analects and the Mencius , framing them not as “religion” but as civilizational ethics. The Book of Changes (I Ching) is demystified as both a divination manual and a philosophical commentary on flux. TTC - Sacred Texts of the World
A significant portion is devoted to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), the New Testament, and the Qur’an. Hardy’s strength here is in showing internal diversity: the prophetic anger of Amos vs. the priestly laws of Leviticus; the synoptic gospels vs. the mystical Gospel of John; the Meccan vs. Medinan surahs of the Qur’an. He handles the Qur’an’s textuality with particular care, explaining its oral revelation and the concept of i’jaz (inimitability). ★★★★½ (4
