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BRILLIANT GODS, a five-volume cycle, begins with an essay about Greek Polytheism, the ancient religion still valid today. Each of the other books tells a moral tale focusing on a single goddess or god. ORACLE AND SUN is the final volume. For more than a thousand years, a god spoke to humans at Delphi. Through his Oracle, Apollo gave good counsel and answered every sort of question. Some of his answers were clear; some ambiguous; all were taken seriously. Delphi was called the navel of the earth. In the fourth century after Augustus, a new religion captured the Roman Empire. Its priests valued faith more than reason and obedience more than autonomy. Certain that theirs was the only true belief, believers burned pagan books, murdered pagan teachers, and closed down the Oracle forever. Well, not quite forever. For just over twelve years now, Apollo has been in touch. ORACLE AND SUN is a guidebook to his new sanctuary in California. It takes you on a tour of the grounds and buildings. It quotes related passages from an ancient philosopher. It repeats a number of responses given by the new Oracle. It invites you to come to Mount Tamalpais with questions of your own.

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9781477519509

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From the age of ten I tried to reconcile what I learned in school with what I learned in church. Science gave me a convincing way to understand physical reality. A Christian upbringing gave me inspiring stories that saw the world in a wholly different light. Although each approach was compelling in its sphere, the two often disagreed about matters of fact. One could not believe both at once. At Oberlin, at Berkeley, and in the college towns that followed, I wondered if this conflict might be irresolvable. Two things looked to be certain. The scientific model, while always evolving, values a single method consistent across cultures. By contrast, religions vary widely in their notions of evidence as well as in their claims. I began to compare the paths to religious truth, first looking west, then east. In the 1970s I took my first trip to Greece, visiting many classical sites and collections. Back home, I paid more attention to mythology. In museums, I sought out classical art. I devoured books on ancient religion. I returned to Greece for research. Forty years later, I know that scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge can exist amicably together, each reinforcing the other, because they have done so before. Such a conclusion derives from scholarship but even more from direct experience of the art, architecture, and literature of the Greeks.

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