Reddit mentions of Don't Know Much About the Bible: Everything You Need to Know About the Good Book but Never Learned

Hey, there. As someone who's been where you are and left the Christian faith for decades before returning, I'll share my two cents. Something that helped me was moving away from thinking of Christianity as a set of rules I had to follow to ensure I went to "the right place" after I died. Yes, there are inconsistencies in the Bible. That's because it's not one book; it's many books arranged together over a period of centuries. Those inconsistencies are a result of a community of faith wrestling with what it means to be God's people, and making a record of their understanding of that at given points in time. I found that learning about how the Bible came together, and what believers believed about it, helped me to come to a greater appreciation of it, and ultimately, to faith in Christ. There are lots of readable books that talk about the Bible's history. Here's a popular one. Learning about God's word isn't scary; God wants us to ask questions! That's why God's gifted us with reason. The only faith worth having is an examined one. The fact that you're asking is, I think, a sign that you are craving deeper relationship with God.

So, if Christianity isn't about rules for who's in and who's out, what is it about? While everyone has to work that out for themselves, for me, the answer is trust and relationship: in Christ, through the Holy Spirit who he has sent to guide us, and with others. I consider my own faith in Christ to be the greatest gift I've ever received, all the more precious because I have to continue to wrestle with what it means. I've found the only way I can live the way Christ calls me to live is in the Church, as part of his body. I had to leave my childhood church, because it was very rule and fear based. Finding a church based in love and relationship has helped me grow in faith immensely. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk more. You're engaged in holy work, and the difficult, painful questions are the most important ones.

This book:

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-Much-About-Bible/dp/0380728397

I read it in an earnest attempt to more fully understand my religion. At the time I was a Christian who argued vehemently against atheists.

But reading the Bible and reading about the Bible and putting it back into context lead me away from faith in the Bible. The problems that I previously ignored before became clearer and just started piling up until it broke.

It really helped me get over some deep-seated internal struggles I was having and I've felt much better ever since.

Don't Know Much About The Bible - http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0380728397/

Skeptics Annotated Bible - http://skepticsannotatedbible.com

Man Seeks God: Flirtations with the Divine
It goes into Abrahamic religions, and then goes outside of them too. For a broader perspective.

*Edited to add - Don't Know Much About the Bible I was taking several undergraduate classes about the bible, and was listening to this at the same time. Its not as in depth, but it was really good, and pretty accurate to what I was hearing in class. I found it really interesting, and the book on tape is really good!

IMHO your best bet is a book that explains the most popular and common stories in the bible

---so you will have some CULTURAL LITERACY without reading the dull boring bible.

suggestions would be:
Don't Know Much About The Bible or even

The Complete Idiot's Guide To The Bible

i enjoyed this and it also has an audio book.

It isn't for everybody -- it discusses the history behind the the stories, possible errors in translation, etc.

I have. I saw some others mention it as well, but reading the bible won't give you much more understanding of Christianity. To get a better idea of it's relationship to the modern world, take a look at the book: Don't Know Much About the Bible.

Yeah, but make sure it has literary footnotes - lots of them - they clear up a lot of stuff theists and atheists alike miss.


Also, I really recommend this book