Recommended Reading



   Over the last 20 years or so, I have purchased (and read!) all of the following books. They cover a wide range of issues that arise in Christian belief and theism. Unlike Christians, I will not impose a type of medieval censorship and I am happy to recommend books with which I do not agree, either wholly or partly: I am happy to credit visitors with the common sense and the reason required to make the necessary judgements.
    The following publications should be available from the larger book retailers and those selling secondhand books.
    To avoid lengthy entries, I have only stated the first named author/editor.


Religious Right: The Greatest Threat to Democracy (2011), A. E. Alexander

The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry (2015), Michael J. Alter

Critiques of God: Making the Case Against Belief in God (1976), Peter A. Angeles

Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence (2005), Hector Avalos

Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Ethics of Biblical Scholarship (2013), Hector Avalos

The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics (2015), Hector Avalos

Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists (2003), Ed. Edward T. Babinski

Supernatural Hypocrisy (2011), Kelli Jae Baeli

Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist? (1992), Dan Barker

Godless (2008), Dan Barker

God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction (2016), Dan Barker

Fundamentalism (1981), James Barr

Escaping From Fundamentalism (1984), James Barr

The Religion Business. Cashing in on God (2012), 'Ben' Bennetts

The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates (2016), Howard Bloom

Close Encounters with the Religious Right (2000), Robert Boston

The Most Dangerous Man in America? (1996), Robert Boston

Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought (2002), Pascal Boyer

Behind the Scenes (1997), Yves Brault

Deadly Blessings (1991), Richard J. Brenneman

Self-Contradictions of the Bible (2015), William Henry Burr

Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? (1997), Tim Callahan

Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl (2010), Susan Campbell

On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt (2014), Richard Carrier

Jesus from Outer Space: What the Earliest Christians Really Believed about Christ (2020), Richard Carrier

The Mind of the Bible-Believer (1994), Edmund D. Cohen

The Hallelujah Revolution (1995), Ian Cotton

Why Evolution is True (2010), Jerry A. Coyne

Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible (2016), Jerry A. Coyne

Why I Believed: Reflections of a Former Missionary (2008), Kenneth W Daniels

Leaving Fundamentalism (2008), G. E. Dann

The Blind Watchmaker (2006), Richard Dawkins

The God Delusion, (2007), Richard Dawkins

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (2010), Richard Dawkins

The Ape-man Within (1996), L. Sprague de Camp

Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives Civilisation (2012), Stephen Cave

The Jesus Puzzle (2005), Earl Doherty

Challenging the Verdict (2001), Earl Doherty

Blind Faith. Confronting Contemporary Religion (1995), Chester Dolan

Nonbelief and Evil (1998), Theodore M. Drange

The Christ Myth (rep. 2012), Arthur Drews

Natural Atheism (2004), David Eller

Atheism Advanced: Further Thoughts of a Freethinker (2008), David Eller

The Dark Side of Christian History (2007), Helen Ellerbe

Lost Scriptures (2005), Bart D. Ehrman

Lost Christianities (2005), Bart D. Ehrman

Misquoting Jesus (2007),Bart D. Ehrman

Whose Word Is It? (2008), Bart D. Ehrman

God's Problem (2009), Bart D. Ehrman

Jesus Interrupted (2010), Bart D. Ehrman

Natural Atheism (2004), David Eller

The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (2002), I. Finkelstein & N. A. Silberman

Jesus: Mything in Action, Vol. I (2017), David Fitzgerald

Jesus: Mything in Action, Vol. II (2017), David Fitzgerald

Jesus: Mything in Action, Vol. III (2017), David Fitzgerald

The Myth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and How It Grew (2001), Milton L. Forbes

Creationism's Trojan Horse (2007), B. Forrest

Black Sheep: My Journey from Evangelical Christianity to Atheism (2019), Cassie Fox

The Unauthorized Version (2006), Robin Lane Fox

Marjoe (1973), Steven S. Gaines

The Jesus Hoax (1974), Phyllis Graham

The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism (2014), A. C. Grayling

101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History (2002), Gary Greenberg

Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion (1993), Stewart E. Guthrie

Prophecy and Politics (1989), Grace Halsell

Forcing God's Hand (1993. Rev. 2003), Grace Halsell

The Not-So-Intelligent Designer: Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent Design Does Not (2016), Abby Hafer

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (2006), Sam Harris

Letter to a Christian Nation (2007), Sam Harris

Holy Hatred (1995), James A. Haught

Holy Horrors (2003), James A. Haught

Gospel Fictions (1990), Randel Helms

Selling Satan (1993), Mike Hertenstein

In Pursuit of Satan (1991), Robert D. Hicks

God is Not Great (2007), Christopher Hitchens

Sources of the Jesus Tradition (2010), ed. R. Joseph Hoffman

Jesus in History and Myth (1986), ed. R.J. Hoffmann

The Illusion of Certainty: How the Flawed Beliefs of Religion Harm Our Culture (2017), James T. Houk

Charismania: When Christian Fundamentalism Goes Wrong (1997), Roland Howard

Jesus Wars (2010), Philip Jenkins

The Atheist Debater's Handbook (1983), B. C. Johnson

I Had to Say Something (2007), Mike Jones

Atheism: A Reader (2000), S. T. Joshi

A History of the End of the World (2007), Jonathan Kirsch

Doubting Jesus' Resurrection (2009), Kris D. Komarnitsky

A Universe From Nothing (2012), Lawrence M. Krauss

The Illusion of Immortality (1990), Corliss Lamont

Walking Away from Jesus - Leaving Christian Conservative Evangelical Fundamentalism (2013), Robert Laynton

God Doesn't; We Do: Only Humans Can Solve Human Challenges (2012), James A. Lindsay

Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith (2009), William Lobdell

Why I Rejected Christianity: A Former Apologist Explains (2006), John W. Loftus

Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (2010), ed. John W. Loftus

The End of Christianity (2011), ed. John W. Loftus

Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails (2014), John W. Loftus

Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion (2016), John W. Loftus

The Case Against Miracles, (2019), John Loftus

Why I Rejected Christianity: A Former Apologist Explains (2006), John W. Loftus

Biblical Nonsense (2005), Jason Long

The Unholy in Holy Scripture (1997), Gerd Ludemann

Who Wrote the New Testament? (1996), Burton L. Mack

Atheism and the Case Against Christ (2012), Matthew S. McCormick

Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (2009), Robert S. McElvaine

In the Beginning. A Scientist Shows Why the Creationists Are Wrong (1984), Chris McGowan

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy (1995), Dennis McKinsey

The Mythmaker's Magic: Behind the Illusion of "Creation Science" (1993), Delos B. McKown

The Case Against Christianity (1991), Michael Martin

The Impossibility of God (2004), ed. Michael Martin

The Improbability of God (2004), ed. Michael Martin

The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (2006), Michael Martin

Ministry of Greed (1988), Larry Martz

Don't Call Me Brother (1989), Austin Miles

Setting the Captives Free (1990), Austin Miles

Atheist Universe (2006), David Mills

The Myth of Persecution (2013), Candida Moss

The Soul Fallacy: What Science Shows We Gain from Letting Go of Our Soul Beliefs (2019), Julien Musolino

Philosophy & Atheism (1985), Kai Nielsen

The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World (2018), Catherine Nixey

In Defence of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism and Islam (2008), Michael Onfray

The Origin of Satan (1995), Elaine Pagels

The Age of Reason (rep. 2013), Thomas Paine

God and the Burden of Proof (1990), Keith M. Parsons

The Nativity: A Critical Examination (2012), Jonathan Pearce

Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (2017), Jonathan MS Pearce

Beyond An Absence of Faith: Stories About the Loss of Faith and the Discovery of Self (2021), Jonathan MS Pearce

Tower of Babel (2000), Robert T. Pennock

Unintelligent Design (2003), Mark Perakh

Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism (2007), ed. A. J. Petto

Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1996), Robin Le Poidevin

The Jesus Debate (1999), Mark Allan Powell

Deconstructing Jesus (2000), Robert M. Price

The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man (2003), Robert M. Price

Reason-Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? (2006), Robert M. Price

The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-Four Formative Texts (2006), Robert M. Price

Beyond Born Again (2008), Robert M. Price

The Case Against the Case for Christ (2010), Robert M. Price

The Christ-Myth Theory and Its Problems (2012), Robert M. Price

Jesus is Dead (2012), Robert M. Price

The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul (2012), Robert M. Price

Killing History: Jesus in the No-Spin Zone (2014), Robert M. Price

Deciphering the Gospels: Proves Jesus Never Existed (2018), R. G. Price

The Empty Tomb (2005), ed Robert M. Price

American Jesus (2004), Stephen Prothero

Live From the Gates of Hell (2000), Jerry Reiter

Bad Girls and Boys Go to Hell (or Not): Engaging Fundamentalist Evangelicalism (2012), Gloria Neufeld Redekop

One Jesus, Many Christs (2009), Gregory J. Riley

The Myth of Nazareth: The Invented Town of Jesus (2013), Rene Salm

Why Atheism? (2000), George H. Smith

Animal Liberation and Atheism (2014), Kim Socha

Forgiven (1989), Charles E. Shepard

How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science (2000), Michael Shermer

Why Darwin Matters (2006), Michael Shermer

Atheism: The Case Against God (1994), George H. Smith

The Theory of Evolution (2008), John Maynard Smith

Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy (2008), David Ramsay Steele

Not by Design: The Origin of the Universe (1988), Victor J. Stenger

God: The Failed Hypothesis (2007), Victor J. Stenger

God and the Folly of Faith (2012), Victor J. Stenger

Imagine There's No Heaven: How Atheism Helped Create the Modern World (2014), Mitchell Stephens

Science and Earth History (1999), Arthur N. Strahler

Salvation For Sale (1988), Gerald Thomas Straud
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The Gospel Time Bomb (1994), Lowell D. Streiker

It Ain't Necessarily So (2001), Matthew Sturgis

The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David (2006), Thomas L. Thompson

Creation's Upside-Down Pyramid (1994), Lee Tiffin

New Testament Lies (2006), Daniel T. Unterbrink

The Changing Faces of Jesus (2001), Geza Vermes

The Bad News Bible (1995), David Voas

The Illusion of God's Presence: The Biological Origins of Spiritual Longing (2016), John C. Wathey

The Jesus of the Early Christians (1971), G. A. Wells

Did Jesus Exist? (1975, rep. 1987), G. A. Wells

The Historical Evidence for Jesus (1982, rep. 1988), G. A. Wells

Religious Postures: Essays on Modern Christian Apologists and Religious Problems (1988), G. A. Wells

Who Was Jesus? A Critique of the New Testament Record (1989), G. A. Wells

The Jesus Legend (1996), G. A. Wells

The Jesus Myth (1999), G. A. Wells

Can We Trust the New Testament? (2004), G. A. Wells

Cutting Jesus Down to Size: What Higher Criticism Has Achieved and Where It Leaves Christianity (2009), G. A. Wells

God Hates You, Hate Him Back (2009), C. J. Werleman

Unintelligent Design (2007), Robyn Williams

How Jesus Became Christian (2009), Barrie Wilson

How to Get Rich as a Televangelist or Faith Healer (2008), Bill Wilson

Leaving the Fold (2006), Marlene Winell

The Evolution Of God: The origins of our beliefs (2010), Robert Wright

The Jesus the Jews Never Knew (2003), Frank Zindler

Seeing through Christianity: A Critique of Beliefs and Evidence (2014), Bill Zuersher

Christ's Ventriloquists (2012), Eric Zuesse