# Non-Evangelical book for Christians **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 10, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044 "2024-11-10T20:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jebbilene](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jebbilene/32/3414_2.png) [@Jebbilene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jebbilene)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/1 "2024-11-10T20:53:21Z")
Not sure if this should go here or in Cafe Society. It’s a bit political so I put it here. My early 20s daughter is exploring new ideas, which is good, and normal (right?). We are an atheistic, very left-wing family, so a lot of her new ideas are horrifying for me, e.g. she is happy about Trump winning. She says she is ‘into god now’, and showed me her newest book, called _What On Earth Am I Here For_, by an Evangelical Baptist called Rick Warren. I am not a Christian, but I know there are branches of Christianity that focus more on love and kindness, and are less misogynistic and homophobic than Evangelical Baptists. Is there a book I could give her that talks more about the nicer side of Christianity? She is not a big reader, so nothing heavy. I know that she has to find her own path, but I don’t want to just sit and watch as people fill her mind with poison. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/2 "2024-11-10T21:12:43Z")
Of the evangelical Baptists, Warren is the best you’re gonna get. _Need to Know, a guide to the Christian life_ Gary Millar Seems like a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/3 "2024-11-10T21:20:21Z")
If she is in a largish city, there should be a Unitarian Universalist Church, which is about as far as you can get from evangelism and still be Christian. They sometimes tend toward woo, but it’s far better than the hate machines ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/4 "2024-11-10T21:29:42Z")
I asked a female theologian / pastor / activist I recently befriended on Twitter if she had any book ideas: > [@](#): > > Yes I do! Ann Lamott’s “Traveling Mercies” > > Really all of hers are good but that one is fantastic ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/5 "2024-11-10T21:37:54Z")
I have a friend who is a minister who also likes her. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/6 "2024-11-10T21:38:01Z")
I like the _Chronicles of Narnia_, but that may be more traditional than you are comfortable with. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/7 "2024-11-10T21:40:09Z")
Unitarian Universalism is not a Christian Church–for one thing, they don’t believe in the Trinity–although it draws some of its beliefs from Christianity. [https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/beliefs/christianity](https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/beliefs/christianity) I recommend _Mere Christianity_, by C. S. Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/8 "2024-11-11T01:25:37Z")
Not a book, but try the Slacktivist blog. A pretty drastically different interpretation of Evangelicism. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/9 "2024-11-11T02:53:18Z")
> [@Jebbilene](#): > > I know that she has to find her own path, but I don’t want to just sit and watch as people fill her mind with poison. _Get here out of this cult as soon as you can!_ By “cult”, I don’t mean Christianity or religion in general (about which I have mostly neutral views in general) but a ‘church’ such as Evangelical ~~Baptist~~ Trumpism and a ‘leader’ like Rick Warren who have elected to worship this false idol as their godhead, instead of, you know, the Abrahamic God mentioned a few times in their Holy Bible. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/10 "2024-11-11T14:36:00Z")
> [@Jebbilene](#): > > Is there a book I could give her that talks more about the nicer side of Christianity? She is not a big reader, so nothing heavy. There have been whole libraries’ worth of books written about “the nicer side of Christianity.” Including, but certainly not limited to, some written from a perspective that at the time would have been labeled “Evangelical.” I’m not sure what that label connotes nowadays, but in the past it included non-toxic Christians who actually tried to follow the teachings of Christ (Jimmy Carter, for example). > **[Jimmy Carter and the Challenge of Identifying Evangelicals](https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/472772/jimmy-carter-challenge-identifying-evangelicals.aspx)** > > Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been identified as an evangelical for most of his public career, but defining exactly what that means today faces a number of challenges. Anyway, I could probably come up with quite the list of good Christian books, but I hesitate to make specific recommendations for someone I don’t know who is “not a big reader.” It might make sense to go with something recent, that is relevant to today’s political climate. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/11 "2024-11-11T15:39:23Z")
I asked my friend who is an ordained minister (and a voracious reader) and she responded with this: > What comes up for me are several authors who write good, open-minded, material-Richard Rohr (The Universal Christ, and Falling Upward are two.) Also Marcus Borg (The Heart Of Christianity comes to mind). Rachel Held Evans was a young woman raised in a hardcore Evangelical environment in Dayton, TN (The Scopes Trial town). She evolved in her theological views after 9/11, and wrote several books before her untimely death at 37 in 2019. (I’m still a little miffed at God about that one). “Searching For Sunday” was particularly good to me. C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, and perhaps other works would be good. He was an atheist, and came to believe in Jesus after his own experience with grief, and life experiences. > > Diana Butler Bass is a great writer, too. A People’s History of Religion, and Christianity After Religion are brief histories of the church in America and the world. She also writes some very spiritual books like “Grounded” and “Grateful.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/12 "2024-11-11T16:16:01Z")
This might not be a good fit for someone who’s “not a big reader,” but I’ll throw it in any way. Why not go to the source? What I’ve seen mentioned so far is about Christianity both as a factor in society and from a more theological POV. I’m not suggesting reading the whole Bible. But Mark is not that hard and fairly short. Instead of someone telling you what is in the book and adding their own spin on it, read the actual thing and form an opinion from that. _The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God._ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/13 "2024-11-11T17:47:11Z")
I’ve sent a message to the two most religious, happiest, kindest Christians I know. One’s a pastor for an Evangelical Lutheran congregation (don’t be fooled by the name - evangelism is supposed to mean “spreading the Good News about Jesus”), the other is an Episcopalian deacon (a deacon is a lay person who does religious work in the community.) The Evangelical Lutherans and the Episcopalians are two of the most liberal branches of Christianity in the U.S. Between them I’m sure they’ll have some suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/14 "2024-11-11T18:00:50Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Why not go to the source? > > What I’ve seen mentioned so far is about Christianity both as a factor in society and from a more theological POV. > > I’m not suggesting reading the whole Bible. But Mark is not that hard and fairly short. Instead of someone telling you what is in the book and adding their own spin on it, read the actual thing and form an opinion from that. You know, the Bible is kind of…inconsistent, and I mean that in the literal, _Rashomon_ inspired sense of the term. If the o.p.’s daughter is “not a big reader”, then maybe the solution is go do directly to the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and listen to an explanation from the eponymous man himself: [Interview with Jesus [George Carlin]](https://youtu.be/Q5QKik9TGqY?si=KzBaLl2cbWsAqnqr) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/15 "2024-11-11T18:10:52Z")
There’s the whole genre of Catholic Apologetic writer’s engagement with 20th C. themes: G. K. Chesterton, Grahame Greene, Anthony Burgess, and Flannery O’Connor. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/16 "2024-11-11T18:37:07Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You know, the Bible is kind of…inconsistent, Yeah. And that makes it such a fun read: plot holes big enough to push through genocide, infidelity, incest and whatnot. Not much of that in the NT though, even though that too is rife with… inconsistencies. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/17 "2024-11-11T18:40:31Z")
This might not be what you’re looking for at all, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. Thomas Jefferson once wrote a book called _'The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth_’ a.k.a. _‘The Jefferson Bible.’_ _“Thomas Jefferson’s effort to extract what he considered the pertinent doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by the Four Evangelists. Using a razor, Jefferson cut and arranged selected verses from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in chronological order, mingling excerpts from one text to those of another in order to create a single narrative.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/18 "2024-11-11T19:56:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You know, the Bible is kind of…inconsistent It ought to be common knowledge (but maybe isn’t) that the Bible is a _collection_ of writings, by various different people, for various different audiences, composed in various different times and places, in various different styles and genres, for various different purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/19 "2024-11-11T20:15:23Z")
So you’re saying… it ain’t necessarily so? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044/20 "2024-11-11T21:32:45Z")
[“Say say say…say it isn’ so!”](https://youtu.be/_R5xIdXwNMk?si=wcrGaoRdG6fAlkvs) Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-evangelical-book-for-christians/1010044.md?page=2)