Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

For whatever reason I recently became interested in the history/origin of Christianity. I am mainly interested from the point of view of a non-believer, i.e. I am not a religious person and do not wish to be after I learn about it. Actually, for background on what I'm looking for, it was this thread in SMP that piqued my interest.

Some brief shopping at amazon led me to these books. Let me know if you have any experiences with them or could recommend me some better ones. Lastly, I would like to add that I have no desire to wade through textbook like takes on religion. Lively, non-boring books are ideal:

Mere Christianity: Seems like the standard Christian book. I don't know anything about it but I assume it is preachy, and that is a bad thing for me.

The Rise of Christianity: looks good

Jesus for the non-religious: title seems fitting for me

God is not great: looks okay. I probably agree with the writer in theory, although I'm not sure if I'm looking for a book that just bashes religion.

thoughts?

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

Ken's Guide to the Bible is pretty amusing.

I actually read a pretty decent chunk of the Bible with this guide next to me. Cured me forever of any lingering religious tendencies.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

I don't know that I'd call Mere Christianity "preachy." Like most of Lewis's works, it attempts to make a strong, rational case for belief in Jesus. Whether you find the arguments compelling is another story, but I doubt that you'd feel preached at if you read it. However, I don't think it's at all what you're looking for.

If you want a non-biased look at a lot of this stuff, I'd read Kenneth Davis's "Don't Know Much About the Bible." It should have a lot of the info you're looking for, and it's pretty easy to read.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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The "Unabridged" note on top is pretty funny. I picked this book up in a Barn's and Noble and because it was so slim decided to wait until I had time for a cop of coffee so I could read the whole thing inside the store.

I think I could finish it while the coffee is still hot.

~ Rick

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

There are some interesting fictional accounts of Jesus's life that are worth considering - I do believe the historical character of Jesus is an interesting one, but these fictional accounts are worth a look once you know a little about the history of Jesus, the Jews at this time, and the Roman world at this time.

Specifically:

The Last Temptation of Christ - Katzasos (sp?)
King Jesus - Robert Graves

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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The "Unabridged" note on top is pretty funny. I picked this book up in a Barn's and Noble and because it was so slim decided to wait until I had time for a cop of coffee so I could read the whole thing inside the store.

I think I could finish it while the coffee is still hot.

~ Rick

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It's an easy, quick read...but brilliant nonetheless.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy and see why Dom loves this book so much.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

http://www.kingdomnow.org/withinyou.html

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU- Leo Tolstoy. Its in the public domain so you can read it at the above link.

I'm a non-believer and I greaty admired this classic.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy and see why Dom loves this book so much.

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@ "Letter to a Christian Nation". I thought we had a book review thread 6 months or a year ago about it, but can't successfully search it.
I found it an important book. It challenges the beliefs of 85% of the USA, probably more in the rest of the world. And if you challenge a belief.....you're gonna get some hate. I mean look what they did to Jesus....

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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The "Unabridged" note on top is pretty funny. I picked this book up in a Barn's and Noble and because it was so slim decided to wait until I had time for a cop of coffee so I could read the whole thing inside the store.

I think I could finish it while the coffee is still hot.

~ Rick

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It's an easy, quick read...but brilliant nonetheless.

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The other reason I skipped on it for now is that it seems to be more of a follow on to The End of Faith (which wasn't on the shelf).

~ Rick

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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@ "Letter to a Christian Nation". I thought we had a book review thread 6 months or a year ago about it, but can't successfully search it.

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I think this is the thread you're looking for.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

The best book I may have read on religion is A History of God

The problem with the book is that it is very dense, with a lot more detail about a lot of religions than you might want. But many sections are fascinating. And Armstrong does a nice job of articulating a theory of how conceptions of God have changed according to the needs of the time.

I encourage anyone to read it, with the caveat that there are probably some parts that you will want to breeze through.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

Confessions - St. Augustine

Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens is the best book on the subject I've ever read. Sam Harris' The End of Faith is a close second.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

Bertrand Russel - Why I am not a Christian.

This was a really influential book in my life 10 or so years ago.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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Bertrand Russel - Why I am not a Christian.

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seconded.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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Bertrand Russel - Why I am not a Christian.

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seconded.

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yeah, I just read it a few days ago and found it interesting, although if I were a believer I don't think it would be enough to convince me otherwise (or even get close).

It's a lecture you can read here: http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

christian books: i like joyce meyer's stuff.

rick: your pm box is full! empty it!

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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christian books: i like joyce meyer's stuff.

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So does the United States Senate Committee on Finance.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

yeah i saw that on cnn. did they bust her? that's too bad...

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

They gave her people a deadline for turning over financial info. These things are always slow.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

http://www.misticismo.blogger.com.br/torah.jpg

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

Try The Bible

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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Try The Bible

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edit: try Mark, Luke and Acts.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

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Try The Bible

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Seconded

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

If history is what interests you then read what some of the historians of the period like Tacitus and Josephus.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs was a nice read.

Re: Recommend me books about Christianity/Religion
 

"Searching for God Knows What"

Donald Miller