Moderator TABA Posted August 1, 2023 Moderator Share Posted August 1, 2023 This community keeps a list of recommended books that has grown over the years, with more and more choices for those questioning Christianity and those who have already rejected it. There are two main sections: Leaving Christianity has lots of reasons why doing just that makes sense. Philosophy has reading suggestions for other guides to living a good life, no deity needed! Are there any that our deconverted members would like to especially recommend, or add to the list? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator Hierophant Posted August 1, 2023 Super Moderator Share Posted August 1, 2023 God: An Anatomy The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TABA Posted October 11, 2023 Author Moderator Share Posted October 11, 2023 I started this topic earlier this year as part of a Refresh of our FAQ section. I posted it in the FAQ section itself, forgetting that regular members couldn’t post there. Duh! So now I’m moving it here temporarily so members can actually contribute. So, what books would you recommend for somebody who is questioning their Christian beliefs, or is already somewhere in the deconversion process? Please tell us a little about your choices and maybe how they helped you. Ideally, add links to the books - or I can add those for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Weezer ◊ Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Anything by Bart Ehrman. A Little History of Religion, by Richard Holloway. A quick, easy to read history. Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari. A long read, but great for understanding mankind (including some about religion). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Bart Ehrmans "Heaven and Hell, a history of the afterlife" In this book Bart explains how the theologies of Hell and Heaven were developed over time. He also shows how other faiths in the region contributed to these theologies. If you are stuck on the prospect of being thrown into Hell this would be a very good book for you to read. Indoctrination can have lasting effects on the mind and Hell is a horrible doctrin to shake sometimes after believing in it for so long. But once you see it was all made up from other faiths and grafted in with a Jewish spin it is really nothing to worry about. Hell nor Heaven actually exist. DB Heaven-Hell-Afterlife-Bart-Ehrman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Bart Ehrmans books "Forged" and/or "Forgeries and Counter Forgeries" Dr. Ehrmann wrote "Forged" more for the general public. And wrote "Forgeries and Counter Forgeries" more for the world of scholarship. But both are available for anyone to purchase. I decided to give the latter a try and was very glad I did. I haven't read "Forged" but to my understanding I probably got everything it had to offer and more. In Forgeries and Counter Forgeries he spent several chapters showing the criteria and methods he used in his writing analysis. After three chapter of this I skipped ahead to his findings. In these books he shows how much of the new testament. Especially the Epistles of Paul were Forged by later writers trying to promote their various theological ideals. They wrote these Forgeries in the name of the apostles so that their theology would have authority. It is a very interesting book. And for me to discover that almost half the epistles of Paul were not only not written by him, but written years after his death was very eye opening. He goes over some of the other books that were Forged as well. Like 2 Peter. This book was actually written in response to the fact that Christ had not come back before the apostles died as was in scripture in Christ's own words. This book effectively kicked the theory of Christ's second coming down the road for another 2000 years and is still keeping it going today. But it was not even written by Peter. In this book he goes over the accept epistles that were actually written by the apostles and shows the very big differences in theology that are in the Forgeries. At the time I read this it was very early in my deconversion and I was astonished. Information is power and had I had this I formation years ago I would probably have never believed. The Christian church truly is built on false foundations. DB https://www.amazon.com/Forgery-Counterforgery-Literary-Christian-Polemics https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/forged-writing-in-the-name-of-god_bart-d-ehrman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 In the Christian world I came across a book called; "Fox's Book of Martyrs" it heralds all the accept Christian Martyrs that died over the centuries in the name of Christ. Now I know that most of these stories can't even be verified. But there is a non-Christian counterpart to this book. It is Christopher Hitchin's "God is Not Great". In this book he covers the countless death toll that Christians inflicted upon the world during their rise to power. Convert or die should be etched into the covers of the leather bond book we call the bible. Because the bible was used to justify mass genocide the likes that would make Hitler look like a Saint. If it weren't for the fact that it was based on Christian antisemitic views that Hitler promoted his brand of Genecide. Effectively just piling more bodies on the mass grave the Christian church and its teachings were already accountable for. DB https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/god-is-not-great-how-religion-poisons-everything_christopher-hitchens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 On 8/1/2023 at 5:24 PM, Hierophant said: God: An Anatomy I second this one. I haven't read any of the "Incredible Shrinking son of man" but I have read some of this one and it is a very good book going into detail How the belief in God/God's evolved over time and even showing significance in scripture I had no idea was significant until I started reading it. Like the scripture that talks about the earth being God's footstool, and when she covers the beliefs about God's body parts over time. It is very informative and well written. DB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Other writings I would suggest reading are various archeological studies, Geological studies, space studies, or other studies of the sciences and compare them to the realities the bible depicts in its narrative. Ask yourself, is the physical evidence that we have unearthed through the sciences reflective of biblical cosmology? The short answer is going to be no. But a good apologist will do their best to explain all that way. But how many road blocks can someone be confronted with before one finally smacks someone in the face and they can't ignore it anymore. That's pretty much what happened to me. Made apologetics for myself to remain faithful until there was finally something I just couldn't accept or explain away. DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
☆ DarkBishop ☆ Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Dr. Bart Ehrmans: "Armegeddon, what the Bible really says about the end" If you were like me, and in a fundamentalist Christian church. You probably heard preacher talk about the "end" from time to time. Reading out of the book of revelation and expounding future events and what it is talking about. Well they were all ignorant and or full of shit. But thankfully Bart Ehrman a world renowned biblical scholar wrote a book explaining what the author of revelation was talking about and what he believed was about to happen during the reign of Nero almost 2,000 years ago. In this book you will find out that the only thing revelations is, is a book of failed prophecies written by a false prophet, just like Jesus. DB Armageddon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Weezer ◊ Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 On 10/17/2023 at 1:59 PM, DarkBishop said: the only thing revelations is, is a book of failed prophecies written by a false prophet, HA! I say it was written by someone who was strung out on drugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ Weezer ◊ Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 GODS OF THE BIBLE: A new interpretation of the Bible reveals the oldest secret in history. By Mauro Biglino Here is what I got from the book. Biblino indicates that the writings that eventually became the Jewish holy writings, and then eventually part of our Old Testament, were originally "history" books. They were writings that people of the time made about what they had been told, and what they observed. Through the ages of hand copying, translations, and revisions, they were transformed into a religion of fear. Biglino must be a good translator. The story goes that he was hired by the Vatican to translate ancient texts for them, but after translating several writings, they fired him. The translations were undermining christianity. Probably the biggest problem was that the word "Elohim" did not indicate a singular "God". It "is not a proper name, but the designation of an individual within a larger group". The ancient writings seem to indicate there were several human like gods who created humans, and ruled over the world in that area. They lived to be very old, as did the early people in the bible story, but were not immortal. Biglino has some very good arguments for what he is proposing. And it seems to fit with some unusual words and phrases in the Bible. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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