A reader sent me an email this week, excerpted below:
... Today, I happily stumbled upon your blog via a web search regarding the possibility of being Christian while not believing in the divinity of Jesus. I have spent the past hour or so looking over your previous posts, and I am finding them most helpful in my current faith journey.
I particularly value your definition of faith as: (i) accepting that a Creator exists and (ii) trusting that, in the end, all will be well. This resonates deeply with me.
... I realize you have not posted much lately, but I hope you can assist me. Could you please recommend: 1) books that reflect your views on Christianity and faith, and 2) a good English translation of the Bible?
(Extra paragraphing added.)
Many thanks to that reader, whose email inspired me to put together the following lists.
(The links below are not "affiliate" links, incidentally.)
Bible
I normally quote from the New International Version, for two reasons: (1) It's fairly readable, and (2) it's a favorite of evangelicals and conservatives --- if I quoted from a more-"liberal" translation, that might give those folks an excuse to discount or ignore the point I'm trying to make.
My own personal favorite Bible is the New Revised Standard Version, especially the HarperCollins Study Bible, which has lots of footnotes and annotations.
I've found useful the NKJV Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. ("NKJV" stands for New King James Version.)
Books
The following list of books is in no particular order, from scanning across my bookshelves:
- Gregg Easterbrook, Beside Still Waters -- a journalist's critical study of the Bible while his wife was a diplomat stationed in Pakistan.
- Nevada Barr, Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat -- a memoir of the author's personal journey to faith; see this short excerpt.
- Geza Vermes, The Religion of Jesus the Jew -- Vermes was born a Hungarian Jew, baptized Catholic at age seven, became a priest, but later returned to Judaism; a professor at Oxford.
- Geza Vermes, The Authentic Gospel of Jesus
- Geza Vermes, The Changing Faces of Jesus
- Richard Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God -- a historical examination of the christological battle between Athanasius and Arius that led to the adoption (and imposition) of the Nicene Creed.
- Bart Ehrman - Misquoting Jesus -- Ehrman, an academic, was an enthusiastic evangelical in his youth but his study of original texts led him away from faith.
- James R. Adams, So You Think You're Not Religious? A Thinking Person's Guide to the Church -- Adams was an Episcopal priest in Washington D.C.
- James R. Adams, From Literal to Literary: The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors -- I just ordered it and haven't read it. In looking up Adams, I saw that he died in 2011, and his obituary in the Washington Post mentioned it.
- Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity -- this is an accessible historical treatment by a sociologist from that professional perspective.
I've omitted some writers whose works I found valuable but that I regard as less accessible, such as:
- John Dominic Crossan, a scholar and former Catholic priest
- Paula Frederiksen, a Boston University professor
- John Polkinghorne, a renowned Cambridge University particle physicist turned Anglican priest, but some of whose science-based arguments I find less than convincing
- A. N. Wilson
- Paul Johnson
I've also omitted writers whom I regard as assuming too many facts not in evidence or being insufficiently skeptical, such as N.T. Wright (conservative) and Marcus Borg (liberal).
Finally, I've omitted various translations of primary sources.
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