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....