10/18/04
BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
Thomas E. Blaylock, Jr., has personally experienced and lived the gambit of western philosophy and religion. He began life in the superstitious and wildly ecstatic religious regions of the Tennessee and North Georgia Mountains. He was saved early in life and in time, joined three different fundamental churches. He was baptized three times each using different formulas. Add to this his twenty-four years experience as a Presbyterian and Baptist minister, and his study of the Cao Dai, Tao and Buddhist religions in the Orient; it seems his HONEST MAN’S PHILOSOPHY has been writing itself.
It is claimed, by his mother, that he spoke his first words at nine months old when he pointed out the window and asked, “What is that?” Since that time, he has never stopped asking “What? Why? How? And When?” When asked if he were an expert on philosophy, his answer was, “No, I am only an expert on wanting to know.”
At Stetson University, in spite of making excellent grades, he continued to stay in trouble with his professors by asking those irritating, and to the point, questions, which are part and parcel of his thinking and interest in life. Three times he was ejected from religion classes for asking questions like, “Can prayer change God’s mind?” And “Where did all the water go after the flood?” The many claims made by religion, politics and business seem to be a personal challenge to Mr. Blaylock and in his quiet questing manner he probes deeply into those claims.
In the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary he faired worse with his professors than he did at the university. Because of his questions, which soon embroiled the whole class in theological, and philosophical turmoil, he was forbidden to speak in a couple of his classes. He was to submit his (on the subject) questions in writing and the professors were supposed to grant him personal time to deal with the specific questions. Though he submitted questions and begged of an audience, it never happened. The professors avoided him like the plague.
Becoming somewhat disappointed with the scholarship of the Baptists, he accepted a call to a Presbyterian Church while still a student and remained with that denomination for eleven years. The Presbyterians were kind, gracious and helpful. The Presbyter encouraged him to answer his own questions and gave him a monthly allowance to purchase the books he wished to study. He soon studied himself out of the Presbyterian Church doctrines, but remained in the church for a while due to the friendship and kindnesses of the members.
Mr. Blaylock served in Vietnam as a Presbyterian Chaplain and made full use of any extra time to speak with priests, monks and leaders there. He spent many long nights asking questions of these Oriental religious leaders and philosophers. In return, he received numerous books, engaged in many deep and eye opening discussions concerning the truth about their religion and philosophies. He was even allowed to participate in a Cao Dai service. That night he had a precognitive dream which saved his life.
In 1974 he left the Presbyterian Church and opened a bookstore north of Atlanta. It was there in 1979 that he began work on the HONEST MAN’S PHILOSOPHY. After many delays and restarts he finished the work in 1989 and like many do, he stored it on a shelf in his office. When he sold his store in December of 1999 to retire, he rediscovered the book, reread it and let some knowledgeable people read it. He was pushed by his friends to publish the work. He put some of it on the Internet and was flooded with request for personal copies.
Mr. Blaylock has
revised and edited the HONEST MAN’S PHILOSOPHY. When he wrote about
leaving the church he said, “I am glad I saved a portion of my life for myself.
I also saved some of me for you.” When you read the Honest Man’s Philosophy,
you will bless the day this book came your way.
If you like hard, to the point questions, about philosophy, morality and religion, and if you like to struggle and find the answers to the major issues of life, you will read and reread the HONEST MAN’S PHILOSOPHY. Few writers have made philosophy as interesting, lucid and challenging, as has Mr. Blaylock. He is available for lectures in 2005.
Thomas E. Blaylock, Jr. was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, October 18, 1931 on the day Thomas Alvin Edison died. The sign he was born under said, “DO NOT DISTURB.” He has been at peace with himself and the world since then.