Reddit mentions of After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters

I’d recommend an incredible book that addresses this exact question from a Biblical point of view.

After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by NT Wright

I'm not very well-versed in universal themes, or in Islam, but I have a few sources that might help you with some of the Christian side of your research:

The Christian Classics Ethereal Library has free PDFs of many primary sources from the early church fathers. Christian belief has taken many different forms over the last two millennia, and seeing some of their unique perspectives might help inspire you.

Also, The Mosaic of Christian Belief covers a lot of the different views held by different Christian groups today. If you're looking for a wide variety of thoughts and positions, it might be a good place to start.

Edit:

For Christian ethics, you might look at N.T. Wright's book After You Believe, or Samuel Wells' Christian Ethics: An Introductory Reader which includes a lot of great selections from different writers throughout history.

Read Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. That's a small, 200 page nutshell of Christianity. Then read After You Believe and Surprised by Hope. That should get you a good rounding of what's all going on in this Christian thing.

If you want to get the head in line with the heart, I'd suggest Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God. It's a massive three volume set that isn't finished yet, but it will certainly help your head.

Took me a second to realize where I've seen this photo before. It was used as the cover of N.T. Wright's book After You Believe. I haven't read it but it's a follow up to his book Simply Christian (eBook only $2.99) which is most excellent for Christians and non-Christians alike trying to get familiar with the basics.

Edit: added links

I'm a little late on this but there is a pretty good book by N.T. Wright (one the foremost contemporary christian authors) called [After You Believe] (http://www.amazon.com/After-You-Believe-Christian-Character/dp/0061730548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398304793&sr=8-1&keywords=after+you+believe)

The book talks about the importance of Christian character and what that means. Basically, so much is made out of getting to the point of accepting Christ but there seems to be a big drop off for people after reaching that point. Wright's book is an explanation of what comes after that conversion moment.

It's not too long and its very well written. You should give it a shot.