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YeshuaRedeemed

I say yes. I read other religious books all the time, just to understand comparative religion better.

Polaris95

Of course. While I'll admit I haven't read the Bible yet, I would like to in the near future. Whether the Bible doesn't allow Christians to read other religious books, I don't know, but it would be a very stupid and ignorant position to take.

AlofRI

I would say it would be impractical not to. 
I won't claim to be a student of religion, by any means. I've read and have had people try to convince me to follow the Bible. Actually, the most convincing argument was by Charlton Heston. His documentary, The Bible, was (with his voice), far more convincing than any of these TV charlatans of today OR earlier. But, alas, I'm just not convinced …. even swayed, that the stories are true. If the "actual" author would only show up, tell me which "version", if any, are correct. Actually which book or scroll is correct, which religion, again, if any, is correct, I would change my mind. Instead, S/HE/IT 'don't show …. I don't believe. I'll go with science.

MayCaesar

As a scientist, I have gotten to read a lot of scientific books and articles. In my opinion, the best way to truly understand something is to expose yourself to as many descriptions of that something as possible - by as many authors as possible.

Reading just one or two sources, coupled with the prior ignorance, will make you agree with the authors simply because you are not knowledgeable enough to reasonably disagree with them. Reading a dozen sources, on the other hand, will make the flaws in each author's reasoning stand out, as one group of authors will avoid the flaws in another group's reasoning.

In addition, often something a lot of people say does not really seem to make sense, but once someone says it in a way that "clicks" with you, you start understanding everything - and those "clicks" sometimes are all that separates our ignorance from understanding.

I do not see how it should be different in religion. You should not read other religious books "just to see what's in them"; you should read other religious books to build up your own interpretation of religion. You should not be a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Buddhist; you should be [insert your name here] who has his/her own opinion on everything.

GwynneMa

Yes i would say having a deep understanding of other religions would be a good thing.  That said, for a point of argumentx religions that deal in the Satanic or Occult would probably be discouraged.  The argument being, if you are Christian you believe that Satan is a real entity that means you harm, and you risk opening a figurative door for him to enter your life