God Delusion... What else should I read?

Question

Trying to broaden my horizons by reading. I love religious in school so I thought I would read this as the reviews are decent enough :)

Anyone have any other suggestions for book debating God or that are like the Da Vinci Code but a lot more factual and gives you those interesting facts about symbology and about different Religions.
Also, I would like to become a chartered accountant and study at Oxbridge - are there any book I could read to help me with my future plans to study economics?

Thanks!

Please could you list some book please :)
I am only 14 and I thought I could get a head start.

Answer 1

I cannot recommend any books pertaining to religious apologetics that deals specifically with symbology, as was done in a fictitious manner in the Da Vinci Code. However, having spent much of my collegiate and post collegiate life reading literature pertaining to religious controversies, and the works of philosophers who sought to debunk arguments germane to proving God’s exist, I can recommend quite a few works.

On the Christian/theistic side of the debate, I would recommend reading “An Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh Mcdowell, and “A Case For Faith” and “A Case For Christ” by Lee Strobel. Another popular writer, who is well reputed in the Christian community, for providing defenses for their belief system, is C.S. Lewis. His most notable book is “Mere Christianity”. All three of the aforementioned authors write in an accessible style that the layperson can easily grasp. If you think you can sink your teeth into something more academic, you might want to try looking up the works of Christian apologists like William Lane Craig, Norman Geisler, Hugh Ross or Ravi Zacharias.

Quite frankly, having perused most of the rhetoric of the above-mentioned Christian apologists, I find their polemic ultimately unconvincing, but if you want to get a balanced view of the debate, you need to have at least a passing familiarity with the above-mentioned Christian proponents.

For literature pertaining to arguing against the theistic/Christian position, I would recommend, aside from Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”, Sam Harris’s “The End of Faith”, Christopher Hitchens’ “God is Not Great”. Both works by Harris and Hitchens are written to show the deleterious effects of religious belief, but do not spend a great deal of time refuting religious claims. For that I recommend you read George H. Smith’s “Atheism: The Case Against God.” To me, Mr. Smith’s book is the first and last word on the subject. He makes utter piecemeal of most of the theistic rhetoric used to prove God’s existence. He also writes in a style, and defines abstract philosophical concepts, to make the issues concerning metaphysics and epistemology, that surround debates about God, easily discernable to the uninitiated.

For sophisticated works that promote atheistic argumentation, I would recommend reading Michael Martin’s “Atheism: A Philosophical Justification” and “The Case Against Christianity”. A good compendium of argumentation against belief in God is the book “Critiques of God” by Peter Angeles. He has compiled written work from scholars from different time periods to make the case against belief. Also read Victor Stenger’s “The God Hypothesis”, which makes a systematic scientific case against belief in a supreme and infinite power. Most other works that I have read, approach the concept of God from a philosophical basis. Stenger’s book is the first that I have seen that tries to refute God using scientific principles.

I hope my recommendations help.

Answer 2

Da Vinci Code is useless, fictional gash. If you want a balance read The Dawkin Delusion by Alistair McGrath as well as The God Delusion. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is also very good but it is away from Christianity as its set in India.

Answer 3

Laurence has some great suggestions above. I would add Karen Armstrong's A History of God - she's an ex-nun who writes a great overview of the development of religion over four thousand years.

Also try Daniel Dennett's new book Breaking The Spell - an investigation into how religion came about.

Answer 4

Read Gita
God has created, is running, and will destroy the Universe. God is the Origin and Destination of the Universe. God was, is, will be everywhere, God was never Created and will never die / be destroyed. God is beyond Life and Death. All religions of world teach human way to get close to God. You give your Best, God will give thy Best. Ask God for help and forgive, God will help and forgive you. Pray; Worship and Thank God for everything. Remember wherever there is Happiness in Life, there will be Sorrow. To get Happiness, you must master Sorrow. For Success in Life; Believe in Self and God, Learn from Past, Concentrate in Present, Plan for Future. Have control on, be the master of, not the slave of your body, senses, and mind. Purpose of this Life is to Gain and Share utmost Knowledge and Experience to differentiate and choose Right, Good, God against Wrong, Bad, Devil. Set your Desire level perfect or OK to be brave, no low to be coward, no high to be cruel. You have rights of Survival, Self Defence, and Freedom.

Answer 5

Wow if you wanna go to Cambridge or Oxford you better start reading all the textbooks about economics you can get your hands on as they're gonna expect you to have done a fair bit of background reading on the subject at the tough interview!

Answer 6

his dark materials isnt really realigns but the series is set set in oxford for some of the time i really liked it hope i helped

Answer 7

"god is not great" by christopher hitchens