Atheists...........Christians............?

Question

If I were wanting to become an atheist, would books would you suggest?

If I were wanting to become a Christian which books of the Bible would you recommend.

Both sides welcome. I hope this is somewhat of a different question.

Answer 1

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, two people can read the same book and draw completely opposite conclusions about God and Judaism or Christianity.

Take Judges for instance. It starts out well enough. People are living in their various tribes, without a central government. Whenever an outside threat appears, God inspires a hero to stand up and take care of the problem. But about half way through, some of the judges start making some poor decisions. With each chapter it gets worse and worse, till by the end you can barely stand it. Some will say, "With all that mayhem and stubborn stupidity, THAT's a holy book?" Others will nod and say, "The author was obviously showing what happens when everyone goes off and does their own thing instead of listening to God." The books only seem to confirm opinions already formed.

I guess the most indefensible book might be Joshua, which chronicles the Israelite conquest of Canaan. Most anyone who isn't Israelite doesn't fare too well in the book. Chances are the Israelites wouldn't have looked very good in THEIR books if they'd survived. Leviticus has some bizarre laws in it that would have made perfect sense at the time they were written. 1 Samuel tells the story of Saul, a king who didn't get it right. 2 Samuel tells of David, a king who did, for a while. And the books of Kings are full of feuds and vendettas among the various kings of Israel and Judah and their antigonizing prophets. That's kind of off-putting unless you recognize the bad and good examples. The post-exilic prophets, Haggai, Zecharaiah, Obadiah and Malachi are downright xenophobic, urging the breakup of marriages and the exiling of spouses and children that weren't pure Jewish. In the Christian scriptures, stay away from Revelation. Even life-long Christians have a hard time dealing with all that ambiguous, ominous symbolism.

The best books for promoting Christianity would be the gospels, especially Mark and Luke. Mark is a little starker and scarier, but his is the first written account of the great reformer, Jesus (outside of the brief, non-biographical allusions in Paul's letters). Luke makes Jesus available to the whole world, not just Jews, portraying a man of compassion, outreach and self-sacrifice. Matthew is a little too concerned with how to run a church and wouldn't be my first choice. Neither would John, who had time to develop a whole theology around Jesus that apotheoses and mystifies him too much for the beginner. The best book from the Jewish scriptures might be the latter chapters of Isaiah, from 40 on, but some context may be necessary to understand it well.

Answer 2

Isaac Asimov said the best way to become an atheist was a thorough knowledge of the Bible( or something like that...you can Google the exact quote yourself)

"Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H. Smith is a bit heavy on the philosophy, is very good

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins (refutes god's existence from a biological perspective)

"Atheist Universe" by David Mills

"The End of Faith" by Sam Harris

"God: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor Stenger (refutes god's existence from a physics perspective)

"Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett.

"God is not great: How religion poisons everything" by Christopher Hitchens


all of these books examine the various arguments for the existence of god, and thoroughly trash them, there is some overlap, because there are a limited number of arguments that theists have managed to put together, but it is interesting how each of the books takes a different tack.

Any of them would be good introduction

Answer 3

If you truly want to become a Christian and follow Christ, who died for your sins so you can have eternal life, you must read Genesis, for it is the foundation of all that is to come later in the Bible regarding the need for a Savior. Best to read the whole Bible from start to finish...an easy 4 chapters a day takes about a year but don't just pick a couple of books from it to read, you'll never get the whole picture or message of eternal life. Make a commitment to read it before deciding your future....surely you can afford that little time when your eternal soul may be in jeopardy.

Answer 4

So many of the atheist texts put forward by others above are really helpful. Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins are particularly relevant to our contemporary situation.

I'd add one more: Atheist Manifesto, by Michel Onfrey.
This is an easy to digest, yet spicy, look at the three monotheisms. It's part deconstruction of those religions, and part poetic call to become free of even "secular Christian ethics" and to instead establish a new completely human, completely secular ethichal framework. His writing on the origins of the three religions is surprisingly full of novel insights.

Answer 5

As a Christian I would suggest the bible, and any bible-study book. Sometimes the bible is hard for people to fully understand, and by reading bible study books while reading the bible, helps new members understand easier.

Answer 6

"Why I Am Not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell was a simple, but good read. Of course, it doesn't rule out all religions, just raises some issues within Christianity.

Actually, reading up on human biology and the brain helped me on my way to ending up atheist. I recommend anything by Steven Pinker (about the brain and human behavior) and Antonio Demasio (who attempts admirably to explain consciousness).

Happy readings.

Answer 7

To become an atheist, you should read the bible, try to understand it, do not rationalise it and read it FULLY.

To become a christian, you should read the bible, try NOT to understand it, but believe whatever it wrote is true, rationalise everything that seems impossible and read the passage as recommended by your friend, pastor and priest. Reading it fully is not recommended, you might achieve opposite effect.

Answer 8

The book that has been responsible for more people becoming atheist is the bible. I think once people actually read the bible in full and study it in detail it becomes so very clear that this is merely a book of parables. It was never intended to be taken literally.

Answer 9

For starters, if you wanted to become a Christian, I wouldn't recommend books of the Bible. You should not read the Bible until you learn how to read it. But I have a whole list of books that you should read if you want to become a Christian.

Answer 10

For the atheist perspective, there is a good video series on youtube called atheism 101.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxF12cpLyhM

For the Christian perspective, the book of Revelations is the last book of the Bible and it wraps things up nicely.