Secular bible a "not part of a quarrel," says author A.C. Grayling.
Grayling's "The Good Book: A Humanist Bible" is the author's envisioning of what the Bible would have looked like if the compilers had "focused instead on assembling the non-religious teachings of civilization's greatest thinkers," according to CNN's Belief Blog.
Grayling wrote the book using over a thousand texts derived from several hundred authors, collections and traditions. Humanism is a philosophy that relies on human reason as an alternative to religious belief.
Grayling, who has been dubbed a "velvet atheist," due to his relatively casual stance on atheism (as opposed to authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, both of whom Grayling counts as friends) patterned the almost 600-page book on the style of the Bible, with double columns, chapters and short verses.
The book's final chapter features a secular version of the Ten Commandments: "Love well, seek the good in all things, harm no others, think for yourself, take responsibility, respect nature, do your utmost, be informed, be kind, be courageous: at least, sincerely try."
Grayling told CNN that the book is "not part of a quarrel. It's a modest offeringanother contribution to the conversation that mankind must have with itself."
More than 16% of Americans say they are unaffiliated religiously, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
