Talk:Joseph Murphy (author)

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[edit] Abdullah

The Abdullah question In the article, it is claimed that Dr. Murphy studied under a "black Jewish teacher" called Abdullah who taught him all his knowledge...? Sorry, but just HOW believable is that? African Americans sometimes call themselves Abdullah, but Abdullah is a MUSLIM name and definitely NOT a Jewish one! There are Black Muslims, but I have never heard of "Black Jews" (except in Ethiopia, Africa, but still: Abdullah is a muslim name). And why does Dr. Murphy himself NEVER tell any story about this strange "Abdullah guru" ? I have read all of Dr. Murphy's books, and I tell you: there is no such man.

So I am afraid that's some kind of bizarre internet prank. And GOOGLE does not reveal anything about this strange "Abdullah guru" either. Please bring the correct - and verifiable ! - quotation, or erase this curious paragraph.

Thank you, an earnest reader of Dr. Murphy's books. 87.187.58.55 (talk) 15:19, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

I wonder if they are talking about Jospeh M. Murphy, Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, who writes about Santeria and other African religions. Completely different person. -- Low Sea (talk) 22:08, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
OK, looks like it was not Murphy that studied with Abdullah but rather Neville Goddard. Murphy did associate with Goddard so there is some tenative connection between the three but Goddard was Abdullah's student (per his own writings) and there is no citable source that I have found yet that shows Murphy ever even met Abdullah in person. I am removing the paragraph as unverified. -- Low Sea (talk) 22:26, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Work in progress - paragraph needs major rewrite or elimination

It is interesting to note that, in one of his later books "The Truth Shall Set You Free", Murphy casually revealed that the Bible is in actuality a story that contains many psychological and mystical symbolism written by ancient men who understood the creative powers of human thought and imagination. He takes from the book of John, deciphering the symbology and allegory of each story. Whether this knowledge was passed to him from Abdullah or Neville, is uncertain. It is noted that Neville also taught the symbolic stories from the bible in his own lectures. Also Murphy added (as Neville did in his book "Your Faith Is Your Fortune"), that the story of Jesus is also an ancient symbolic story associated with the pagan worship of the Sun.

I have moved the above paragraph here because is uncited and not written in an encyclopedic style. There may be something of value about the beliefs and techings of Murphy to be extracted but this paragraph is not acceptable as written. This paragraph also mentions to Abdullah and Goddard again (see talk section above) which were removed aleaving this mention orphaned. -- Low Sea (talk) 22:39, 16 May 2008 (UTC)