In addition to Mere Christianity here are a few more worth checking out. Despite the need for faith there is far more evidence for Christianity then I ever knew until recently. These are just a few of the resource that have helped me.

GodQuest

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Stealing from God

The Language of God

The Fingerprint of God

I have put them in the order I would recommend reading but they are all great resources.

Another good resource for spiritual journeys are church small groups. A number of larger churches often have weekly groups or 6-8 week meetings geared for new believers and seekers. All the resources in the world are great by my journey was more shaped by talking through these things then anything else.

Glad to hear where your journey has brought you. I will be praying that God helps you find the resource and people you need to fill in the gaps.

> they're literally the same thing

No, they're not. This excellent, short article very clearly differentiates between the Allah of the Muslims and the God of the Christians.

Also, I take the following information from the book Which God? Jesus, Holy Spirit, God in Christianity and Islam by Mark Durie. It's an EXCELLENT resource for clarifying this issue of whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and it's a quick-read at 160 pages. I hope it is a blessing to you and to anyone who reads this.

YWHW and Allah

The Bible|The Quran

--|:--
YHWH is God's name 'forever'. (Exodus 3:13-15)|Allah is God's name (The Quran)
Evil is not from YHWH, but wilful rebellion against YHWH. YHWH is the author of good, not evil. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 92:15; 1 John 1:5)|Allah is the author of both good and evil. (Q91:7-10). (See also this Muslim website explaining the same)
YHWH can make Himself present with and in people and places: this is distinct from His omnipresence. (Exodus 33:14-15; Joel 2:27-29)|Allah is everywhere at once, but nowhere in particular: he indwells nothing. (Q2:109;; Q4:126)
YHWH is Holy, and His followers should be holy too. (Leviticus 19:1-2)|The holiness of Allah is rarely referred to in the Quran: it appears to be a minor or secondary attribute of Allah (Q59:23)
Human beings are created in God's image and should seek to be like Him. (Genesis 1:26-27; Ephesians 5:1-2)|Nothing in creation is like Allah, and people must not seek to be like him. (Q4:48). No human attribute may be associated with Allah, and when people use the same words to describe humans and Allah, this is merely a figure of speech.
YHWH loves sinners and reaches out to His enemies in love. (Exodus 34:5-7; 1 John 4:19)|Allah will typically hate those who hate him, and love those who obey him, and he wants people to follow him in this. He is however under no obligation to love and can love or hate whoever he chooses. (Q3:31-32)
YHWH is faithful to His word, which is unchanging, and He does not lie. (Numbers 23:19). Although God can and often does make conditional promises - including covenants - His inherent faithfulness is not dependent upon human faithfulness, but reflects His utter Holiness. (Hebrews 6:17-19; Malachi 3:6)|Allah acts as he pleases and is the 'best of schemers' (Q3:54); he can, without impugning his perfection, abrogate (change or undo) something he has said earlier and replace it with a contradictory word. (Q16:101). He is not obligated to follow his covenants, nor does he obligate himself to people in any way. (Q17:86).

#Jesus and Isa

The Bible|The Quran

--|:--
Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem , and Joseph was with Mary at the time, (Luke 2)|Isa was born in an isolated place, and Mary was alone under a date palm (Q19:22-25).
Jesus was both a Jewish rabbi, and also the Son of God (Mark 10:51, Matthew 16:16).|Isa was a Muslim prophet (Q3:84-85).
Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom of God: He brought no book (Mark 1:14-15).|Isa received a book of revelation from Allah known as the Injil (Q5:46).
Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life on the third day after his death (The Gospels and the Epistles).|Isa did not die on the cross (Q4:157). On judgement day he will bear witness against Christians and Jews for believing in his death (Q4:159).
Jesus will return to judge all humanity (Matthew 16:27)|Isa will return to destroy Christianity, and all other religions. He will implement the sharia of Muhammad for all (The Hadith collections, including Sahih Muslim).
Jesus' name means 'YHWH is salvation' (Matthew 1:21).|The name Isa has no meaning in Arabic and neither can it be fully explained as a borrowing from any other known language.
Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 16:16), a term which means 'anointed one.' This was a title used of kings (1 Samuel 16:13, Psalm 89:20, Psalm 89:38).|Isa is referred to as the Masih (Q3:45) but Islamic scholars cannot agree on what this title means.
Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-45).|Isa taught that those who die fighting for Allah will inherit paradise (Q9:111). Allah commands warfare against Christians and Jews until they surrender and pay the 'Jizya' tribute (Q9:29).
Jesus is the 'way, the truth and the life': no one can come to God except through Him (John 14:6)|Christians who seek to follow Isa but reject Muhammad and his message will be condemned to hell (Q98:6).

#The Holy Spirit and the Ruh al-Qudus

The Bible|The Quran

--|:--
There is only one Holy Spirit, the life-giving presence of the living God, and this is referred to repeatedly throughout the Bible. The Holy Spirit is not a creature or any kind of angel.|There seem to be three distinct 'spirits' associated with Allah in the Quran. One, the holy spirit or Ruh al-Qudus, is the angel Jibril (or Gabriel: see Q19:17-19; Q2:87, Q2:97, Q16:102; Ibn Ishaq). Another 'spirit' is a metaphor for the creative word of Allah (Q4:171). There is also a 'spirit' which is the life-giving breath of Allah (Q15:29).
There is a great deal of information about the Holy Spirit in the Bible|When people asked him, Muhammad stated that only a little knowledge has been given about 'the spirit' (Q17:85).

VIDEO:
5 minute video from Oxford philosophy professor. Great setup for the following.
https://vimeo.com/138076932

BOOKS:

Most of these are written in a beginning to intermediate style. However, they accurately reflect the scholarly work on the topic. If you want the academic works, let me know.

https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Jesus-Gary-Habermas-ebook/dp/B01GKLSI8S/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1525454337&sr=8-4&keywords=gary+habermas

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Resurrection-Jesus-Gary-Habermas-ebook/dp/B001QOGJY0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525454337&sr=8-1&keywords=gary+habermas

https://www.amazon.com/Guard-Students-Thinkers-Guide-Christian-ebook/dp/B00U894IGA/ref=la_B001IOH3GQ_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525454627&sr=1-6

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LUJDNE/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Jesus-J-Ed-Komoszewski-ebook/dp/B001QOGJXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525454914&sr=8-1&keywords=Reinventing+Jesus

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QOGJVI/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Reliability-New-Testament-Evangelical-ebook/dp/B01MSUCJ66/ref=pd_sim_351_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FNH5CSR0J6AF3B88HMS9&dpID=51heGflFcaL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

https://www.amazon.com/Dethroning-Jesus-Exposing-Cultures-Biblical-ebook/dp/B007V91I7M/ref=pd_sim_351_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FKG1E1KYR46C9H9DDSQ5

https://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-God-Incarnate-Richard-Swinburne-ebook/dp/B003554IXM/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1525456309&sr=8-3&dpID=51WkknIrkbL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

INTERNET:

Reasonable Faith is probably one of the best sources there is. William Lane Craig has two PhD's. One on philosophy and the other in theology. He is a well respected scholar who brings his professional work to lay audiences. On his site you will find podcasts, readings, debates, videos, question of the week, etc. It just happens that this week's question is related to the topic of Jesus' resurrection.

https://www.reasonablefaith.org

Starting with podcast 14 Dr. Craig begins his assessment of the Resurrection.
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-2/s2-doctrine-of-christ/

Here is the complete podcast which is excellent!!! After listening to this you'll know more than most.
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-2

1.) One could still pray and attend Church. According to Christianity, there's nothing wrong with becoming Christian simply because one wants to go to heaven. Read the story of The Prodigal Son. Atheists don't understand that the point of Christianity is to be with God forever.




2.) One does not lose everything if one is Christian and wrong because we won't even know it because we'll be dead. Think about your own mortality. If atheism is true, then we won't even know it in a few decades because we'll just be gone into oblivion. If Christianity is true, then a Christian will go to heaven and an atheist will go to hell forever.


Moreover, various Pew research studies show that Christians are happier and give more to charity than atheists do. Pascal was arguing that Christians would have had better lives overall and this is still supported by the social sciences.



https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/31/are-religious-people-happier-healthier-our-new-global-study-explores-this-question/ft_19-01-31_wellbeing_activelyreligiouspeople_4/

https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Religious-Americans-Give-More/153973


3.) If you study the various religions you can find a lot of evidence for Jesus. Here's a great book that goes into it.

https://smile.amazon.com/Taking-Pascals-Wager-Evidence-Abundant/dp/0830851364/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=pascals+wager&qid=1558289513&s=gateway&sr=8-1


4.) By looking into the evidence. Check out the book above that I just linked.


5.) Nope. According to the dominant religions of our time, being an atheist is one of the worst things you can be because one rejects God and chooses hell. When atheists say "but I'm a good person" I tend to LOL because most people greatly overestimate how good they are.

How brave of you to bring up Harry Potter!

It has already been demonstrated to be the Word of God via thousands of fulfilled prophecies and its harmony with science.

Church people don't agree because many of them use the Bible to fit their own needs.

Funny that you assert the Earth revolves around the Sun without giving any evidence. Modern science shows us that the Church and the Bible were right; the Earth in the center of the universe. Proof - http://www.amazon.com/Galileo-Was-Wrong-Scientific-Geocentrism/dp/0977964051/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381344247&sr=8-2&keywords=galileo+was+wrong+the+church+was+right

I started reading Art Lindsey's book about Lewis apparently Lewis never forgot anything he read. Now That is a gift.

Brian Davies has two newish books out that might be good introductions for new readers:

https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Aquinass-Summa-Theologiae-Commentary/dp/0199380635

https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Aquinass-Summa-Contra-Gentiles/dp/019045654X/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V1847DWGWW9T2DA32J9E

I highly recommend this book

I'll second these suggestions. GK Chesterton is the bombdiggity. His book Orthodoxy really influenced the way I look at the world and religion, and I'd recommend it to anyone in a second.

And I think there are few modern books that compare to the writings of the church fathers, in substance or style. By now, there are very few issues that come up that have not already been considered by the Church.

By Design -- Jonathan Sarfati (actually anything by Sarfati)

The Ultimate Proof of Creation -- Jason Lisle

Here's an interesting book from Diogenes Allen, who was a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and a very tough-minded sort of Christian, and not one for easy answers:

https://www.amazon.com/Theology-Troubled-Believer-Introduction-Christian/dp/0664223222

>Here is another debate book between an apologist and a counter-apologist. http://www.amazon.com/God-Godless-Christian-Controversial-Questions/dp/0801015286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373127972&sr=8-1&keywords=god+loftus

Do you know if it's any good? The user ratings + the unknown authors has me not-excited. :-/

Newman expresses this opinion in his most famous work, the Apologia Pro Vita Sua.

> 5. And thus again I was led on to examine more attentively what I doubt not was in my thoughts long before, viz. the concatenation of argument by which the mind ascends from its first to its final religious idea; and I came to the conclusion that there was no medium, in true philosophy, between Atheism and Catholicity, and that a perfectly consistent mind, under those circumstances in which it finds itself here below, must embrace either the one or the other. (Norton, p. 156; Penguin, p. 182)

He reiterates later in the book that "there are but two alternatives, the way to Rome, and the way to Atheism", and "Anglicanism is the halfway house on the one side, and Liberalism is the halfway house on the other."

By the way, if you've never read "Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales About Joseph Smith and Brigham Young" by Hugh Nibley, I highly recommend it. Especially the last of the works in the book, ""The Myth Makers: The Case of Joseph Smith v. The World." It blows pretty much every argument that's been made against Joseph Smith out of the water, using the accusers own arguments.

http://www.amazon.com/Tinkling-Cymbals-Sounding-Brass-Collected/dp/0875795161

This comes to mind, but I won't recommend it for the sole reason that I haven't read it so I don't know if it fits your criteria. It appears to have more of an ID bent rather than a specific age-of-the-earth focus (as indeed much creationist research naturally does).

I knew about Slick and saw his debate with Matt and matt's debate with Sye Ten Bruggencate but I have to check
out the rest.


I also found:a piece on Why I De-Converted from Evangelical Christianity and another one and also

a book which I couldn't find to read.

One or Two: Seeing a World of Difference by Dr. Peter Jones.

Try this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Universe-Way-Hugh-Ross-ebook/dp/B00CFKX6H2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396066373&sr=8-1&keywords=why+the+universe+is+the+way+it+is

https://www.amazon.com/Theistic-Evolution-Scientific-Philosophical-Theological/dp/1433552868

Here is another debate book between an apologist and a counter-apologist. http://www.amazon.com/God-Godless-Christian-Controversial-Questions/dp/0801015286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373127972&sr=8-1&keywords=god+loftus

>The fact that Christianity borrows from and draws on and repackages elements from other myths (just as Judaism before it did) demonstrates that Christianity is fictional.

This might be the most refuted criticism of Christianity ever.

Great overview with 11 linked articles

Mark Foreman's classic lecture

Five basic assumptions underlie parallel allegations:

1. Parallels between Jesus Christ and pagan deities can be found in any mystery religion.
   
   
2. Terms used of the Christian message just as naturally fit pagan gan religions.
   
   
3. Parallels indicate wholesale dependency.
   
   
4. Fully developed mystery religions existed before the rise of Christianity.
   
   
5. The purpose and nature of key events are the same in each of these religions.
   
   The composite fallacy.
   
   By combining features from various mystery religions, a unified picture emerges that shows strong parallels with the gospel. The only problem is, this unified religion is artificial, a fabrication of the modern writer's imagination.
   
   The Terminological Fallacy
   
   Examination of the thirteen-point list of parallels between Jesus Christ and pagan deities ties shows a conscious pattern around the life of Christ that is stated in explicitly Christian terms. This in itself should raise red caution flags that Christian vocabulary is being manipulated. This improper redefining of terms to prove a point is the terminological fallacy.
   
   Dependency fallacy
   
   This occurs when interpreters believe that Christianity borrowed not only the form but also the substance of the mystery religions and turned this into a new religion. But how one defines dependency is absolutely crucial.
   
   Dependence can be used in two ways. A strong dependency would mean that the idea of Jesus as a dying and rising savior-god would never have occurred to early believers if they had not become aware of it first in pagan thought. A weak dependency may mean that the followers of Jesus used common religious terminology to tell their story in a way understandable in the Hebrew and Greek cultures, or they simply may have used language that was coincidentally parallel to other religions,
   
   Secondly, those who press for parallels and dependence often ignore the universal similarity of human experiences that underlie specific cultural forms. In his carefully researched article, "Methodology in the Study of the Mystery Religions and Early Christianity," Metzger observed, "The uniformity of human nature sometimes produces strikingly similar results in similar situations where there can be no suspicion of any historical bridge by which the tradition could have been mediated from one culture to the other." All religions appeal to universal human needs and desires.
   
   The Chronological Fallacy
   
   First, there is so far no archaeological evidence today of mystery religions in Palestine in the early part of the first century. Norman Anderson asserted, "If borrowing there was by one religion from another, it seems clear which way it went. There is no evidence whatever, that I know of, that the mystery religions had any influence in Palestine in the early decades of the first century.
   
   Second, the first-century Jewish mind-set loathed syncretism. Unlike like the Gentiles of this era, Jews refused to blend their religion with other religions. Gentile religions were not exclusive; one could be a follower of several different gods at one time. But Judaism was strictly ly monotheistic, as was Christianity.
   
   The Intentional Fallacy
   
   When one examines the purpose and nature of the mystery religions versus the purpose and nature of Christianity, huge differences surface.
   
   Christianity has a linear view of history-history is going someplace. But almost all mystery religions have a cyclical view of history linked to the harvest-vegetation cycle. The Christian proclamation offered genuine purpose in life, while the mystery religions looked at life as "a circular movement leading nowhere."
   
   The mysteries (excluding Mithraism) had five characteristics in common:
   
   
6. At the core of each mystery was the annual vegetation cycle in which "life is renewed each spring and dies each fall.
   
   
7. Each cult made "important use of secret ceremonies or mysteries, often in connection with an initiation rite ... every mystery religion also `imparted a "secret," a knowledge of the life of the deity and the means of union with him."'
   
   
8. The focus of the myth of each mystery was on the deity's victory tory over something. This could be a return to life or conquest quest over his enemies.
   
   
9. Doctrine and correct belief had little importance.
   
   
10. "The immediate goal of the initiates was a mystical experience ence that led them to feel they had achieved union with their god....
    
    But what set Christianity apart was
    
    (1) its insistence on historical credibility, which the mysteries didn't even pretend to have, versus the "going nowhere" view of the vegetation cycle;
    
    (2) Christian proclamation of the gospel as accessible to all people;
    
    (3) its insistence on right belief instead of emotional frenzy; and
    
    (4) the centrality of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the coming resurrection of believers.
    
    source
    
    The argument in the OP is a great deal of rubbish and pseudo-facts.