I nominate Sufjan Stevens or Paul Robeson’s versions of Amazing Grace and Tom Waits’ Down There By The Train. So what do you recommend?
Doobie Brothers’ Jesus is Just Alright.
“People Get Ready” is a good one. The version I like best is by Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck.
Another one from Tom Waits - Jesus Gonna Be Here
Arlo Guthrie, Last Train.
O Holy Night as sung by Michael Crawford. I just think it’s a beautiful song.
I’m an atheist (as most define the term) and I LOVE a lot of religious music.
My favorite Christmas Carol is O Holy Night. Sacred Harp (that link is for the audio and not the irrelevant video) puts me into a near trance (in a good way), as does Hildegard von Bingen . I love mournful spirituals (“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”, Conversation with Death) to rollicking gospel (Great Gettin’ Up Morning) to reflective (I want Softly and Tenderly [begins about 30 seconds into] played at my funeral even though I’m not Christian) to Celtic (Be Thou My Vision. My favorite Amazing Grace is the Blind Boys of Alabama House of the Rising Sun arrangement (does anybody know if that arrangement is theirs or somebody else’s [David Cook’s perhaps]?).
Anyway, religious music (so long as it’s not Pat Boonified or operatic or too “blasting pipe organ” packs a wallop. I like music that is transcendent whether it’s religious, rap, show tunes, or made by crickets.
Scooped on the second post. I love that song.
I plan to arrange for Amazing Grace to be bagpiped at my funeral.
No singers, though.
One of my favourite scenes in *My Darling Clementine * is the one where the townsfolk are walking toward the unfinished church and singing Shall We Gather at the River. A wonderful moment in a wonderful film.
If it’s written in Latin, you might be less likely to be distracted by the words. Mozart’s “Lachrymosa” (from his Requiem) and “Ave Verum Corpus” are beautiful, even if you don’t know what the Latin translates to. I’d add Durufle’s “Ubi Caritas” to the list, too.
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
Check out the film “Say Amen, Somebody” a documentary about the “Father of Gospel Music” Thomas A. Dorsey and and singer Willie Mae Ford Smith. Amazing film and wonderfully enjoyable even though I have no interest in the message the singers sincerely wish to convey.
Johnny Cash did a lot of religious songs, and even when he’s all fire and brimstone I’ve a hard time not liking it. Maybe that’s when I do like it, actually. It’s like the the delighted shudder the hyenas in Lion King get when someone says Mufasa. When the Man comes around is a favourite. 16 Horsepower are sort of in the same vein - they’re sad, their horses are dying and all hell’s a-comin’. Both 16 Horsepower and Johnny Cash have recorded fabulous versions of Wayfaring Stranger. Nick Cave’s Into my arms is another gem.
“Come to the Sabbath”, “Black Funeral”, and just about everything else by Mercyful Fate.
Hey, you didn’t specify which religion! 
Bach’s church cantatas. You know how they say that the Devil has all the best music? Bollocks. God has Bach!
Judy Henske singing Wade in the Water
16 Horsepower playing anything – their music is something you’d hear in a Rocky Mountain ghost mining town, sung on a street corner by a bunch of hellfire-and-brimstone preachers. It’s wonderful and frightening. I saw them play live three times and each time my soul was shaken to its core. Awesome stuff. Haw is from their first EP, Hutterite Mile is from their last album, and Poor Mouth is live.
Like Grammanaut said, Johnny Cash is great when he busts out the hellfire – God’s Gonna Cut You Down gives me the shivers.
Add me to the list of people without faith who also likes Johnny Cash’s religious songs.
In addition, I don’t think my status as a non-believer should prevent me from liking the Rev. Al Green or the Staple Singers.
Down To The River To Pray, Alison Krause’s version. Of course, she could sing anything and make it seem sacred.
Do Kiss’s backwards messages to the Devil count?
I like almost everything that Hank Williams recorded.