Christianity: Some Basic Reading

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This reading list is intended for Evangelical or otherwise Protestant Christians who've never thought much about their faith, and suddenly find that they need to start thinking about it more seriously. These books will not make you an expert on anything; they are just an introduction. However, each of them is as helpful as a short and inexpensive book can be without 'dumbing down'. Most are less than 200 pages, and easy to read, but parts of each will require you to concentrate. Why not start a journal to record your questions, or read them with friends in a book club, or through an email discussion list?

Page Contents

1. Thinking and Writing
2. Reading the Bible
3. Theology and Apologetic
4. Church History

1. Thinking and Writing

If the reason you need to understand your faith better is that you are taking a course, then a quick introduction to thinking and writing in general will magnify the effect of any other reading that you do.

A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston (87 pages).

This is a book about making good arguments, and recognizing bad ones, whether your own or those of other people. It contains useful advice on structuring an essay, and shows what works and doesn't work in simple logic, argument by example, appeals to authority, and cause and effect.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White (105 pages).

This book explains how to write in a simple and easy-to-understand manner, so that you make your points forcefully and are not misunderstood. It will also help you to avoid many common mistakes involving punctuation, grammar and spelling.

2. Reading the Bible

How to Read the Bible For All It's Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart (265 pages)

This book shows you how to read the different kinds of writing found in the Bible -- letters, narratives, Gospels, parables, the Law, the Prophets, Psalms; from books of Wisdom to the book of Revelation. What should you look for in each kind of book, and how can you avoid common mistakes in working out what they mean?

Making Sense of the New Testament: Three Crucial Questions by Craig Blomberg (189 pages)

Three of the first questions which strike a reader of the New Testament are whether and in what ways it is historically reliably, how Paul relates to Jesus (did Paul found Christianity?), and how, in general, the New Testament can be applied to Christian living. Blomberg treats each of these questions.

3. Theology and Apologetic

The Knowledge of The Holy by A.W. Tozer (160 pages)

What is God's 'omnipotence'? 'Holiness?' 'Immanence?' And what do they mean in 'everyday life' -- if there is such a thing? In this, the most worshipful and enraptured introduction to theology ever written, you will find a memorable and very practical outline of God's nature and character.

Letters From a Skeptic by Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd (191 pages)

A Christian thelogian (Greg) and his non-Christian father (Edward) exchange a set of letters about Christianity. In less than 200 pages it manages to at least a glance at most of the interesting arguments for and against faith. As such debates go, this is a gentle introduction to the field.

4. Church History

It is impossible to understand the Christian faith, or where your own church fits in the bigger picture of history, or why other denominations believe some different things to yours without understanding Church History.

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce N. Shelley (520 pages)

Yes, 520 pages. That's not bad for 2,000 years! This is the shortest and friendliest 'big picture' history that you will find. Think of it as 3 books: the growth of Christianity to AD 590 (160 pages), the Dark and Middle Ages through The Reformation to AD 1648 (150 pages) and the development of the modern world (210 pages). Maps and diagrams help to put things in perspective, but the author's storytelling is the strength of the book.