(Part 2) Top products from r/Catacombs

First off, welcome to the forum! You're going to really enjoy your time here. I've experienced such incredible spiritual development thanks to all the folks here. There's a pretty good diversity of theological perspectives, which is really helpful to gaining a comprehensive understanding of God and the Christian faith

Second, you are not alone in your skepticism. I was an atheist for most of my life and still consider myself to be a skeptic. It can be overwhelming when you hear about all the miracles and the alleged contradictions in the Bible. Focus on one battle at a time. It is healthy to have doubts. An unchallenged faith is a weak, superficial one. Feel free to ask any questions and we will be happy to answer them to the best of our ability.

Third, historically, you are not alone in your doubts. Many famous Christians had doubts - including individuals in the Bible. Even after the apostle Thomas saw all of Jesus' miracles and followed Jesus for several years, he doubted whether Jesus had risen from the dead! Mother Theresa went through what is known as a "Dark Night of the Soul" for decades. Martin Luther thought himself so unworthy of God's love that he spent 6-8 hours a day repenting and still thinking he was unworthy.

So, do not fret about your doubts! They are a natural, healthy aspect of a sincere faith. I wish you well and look forward to engaging in discussion with you

PS: As an intro to the Christian faith, I recommend C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.

If you want some resources which address the difficult problems of Christianity, I highly recommend William Lane Craig's podcasts at Reasonable Faith.

Furthermore, check out "Convince Me Now" podcast on Itunes! Also, there are tons of atheist vs. Christian debates on youtube. I recommend William Lane Craig and also NT Wright!

It just strikes me as so watered down. It seems to lose so much of the original beauty and some of the harsh language found in other copies. Like thephotoman said, it is trying to straddle the middle ground between the original and the figurative.

That said, I don't think it's terrible. It's not good for critical study or for any deep theological work but if you're somewhat new to the faith or you simply don't have much of an interest in theology then I think it's okay. You can be a great Christian without much interest in theology. If you're following the teachings of Christ, believe Him to be God and pretty much everything else in the Apostle's Creed then you're in good shape. If a complex understanding of the Bible serves as a stumbling block but something presented a bit more simply helps you then more power to you. That's probably the reason why it has such popularity. I just would sincerely discourage anyone from using the NIV as a tool of apologetics or theology.

Also John, since you enjoy Bible history you should check out this book by Alister McGrath. It's kind of a dry read at times but it's really fantastic.

What other reddits do you surf?
I moderate /r/RATS, /r/Louisiana and /r/OpenChristian. I also read a lot in /r/SquaredCircle, /r/SRSBusiness, /r/SRSDiscussion, /r/polyamory, /r/woahdude and I've been dipping back into /r/Christianity a bit lately as well.

What do you do in your free time?
I read. I reddit. I smoke my pipe and drink my cocktails. I watch pro wrestling. I cuddle. I toy around with making jewelry (trying hammered wire recently) or playing with polymer clay. I'm considering this thing they call "ex ur size" or some such. It involves riding on a bike that goes nowhere. I understand I can read or watch TV while I do it, so I figured what the heck.


What do you read?
Right now I'm going back and forth between The History of White People and A Canticle for Leibowitz. Before that I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. the most powerful book I've read in the last few months was Silence by Shusaku Endo. You should read it. And then you should read Lamb because you'll need something a bit more jovial. But not until after you've sat with it a while.

What do you watch?
Ring of Honor Wrestling, WWE, Leverage, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother.

Do you Blog?
Yup, though not regularly enough to develop any sort of readership.

Do you game?
I just got my first console since the original NES when I was in junior high. It's a Wii. Every once in a while I'll play Mario Kart of do something on the Wii Fit.

Do you play a musical instrument/sing?
I make noise periodically. I want to do more.

What are your favorite movies?
Absolute number one favorite? Hedwig And the Angry Inch. The only tattoo I have is from that movie. Other favorites include The Big Lebowski, Pump Up The Volume, The Wrestler, Shortbus, Dangerous Beauty, Walk The Line.

What is some favorite music?
My absolute favorite band is Over the Rhine. Behind them, tied for second place, you'll find Boris, the Cure, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. Also up there are Kris Kristofferson, Mischief Brew, the CrimethInc band called Requiem (there are lots of bands called Requiem), The New Orleans Bingo Show. The list goes on for days.

/u/unheeding has made an excellent suggestion. I really like how Macullough weaves in the Israelite history as essential to understanding the Christian history. If I might widen the variety here, however, if by only a little bit:

Justo Gonzalez is fantastic. He has a two volume, recently re-edited series on the history of Christianity called The Story of Christianity. Here's Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Gonzalez also has a short book that focuses on the history of Christianity through the development of doctrines called A Concise History of Christian Doctrine which, as far as I can gather is a much condensed version of the another three volume set that I've never read. Gonzalez is fun, approachable, and honestly a really good read.

I am also in the middle of Christianity: A Social and Cultural History and it is quite good so far, though I've not gotten into it quite so much as Gonzalez.

I am also in the middle of an Old Testament history book for my Hebrew Bible course called Understanding the Old Testament which has a really exciting philosophy of doing history and I'm really into it. This book has me at least as excited as Gonzalez, but Anderson's approach is a very responsible one which still evokes power and mystery revolving around the development of the Hebrew canon as well as those things that we simply cannot know, even if we can try to take a really good shot at it.

I hope this helps.

The Other Side of Pastoral Ministry by Daniel A. Brown. It was a major influence on me when I was a charismatic evangelical pastor (as the author is) and it's still as relevant now that I'm an Orthodox deacon.

Bottom line: Statistically the average family stays a member of a given congregation for around seven years. (That includes the lifers and the butterflies who never settle.) We all want to grow the Church: Will you settle for an increasing number of butts in pews or an increasing influence in your community? Is that the meaning of a commission to make disciples?

Or will we concentrate on the individuals whom God has given us, bless them personally, and ensure that their time under our spiritual care is highly profitable to their soul, that they are more conformed to Christ than ever before, and that the person who moves on from our congregation or city is not the person who arrived?

This book doesn't major on ridiculously pat answers or bullet-lists. What it does is unpack the approach a pastor needs to have if his goal is to pastor - i.e. be a shepherd - in the flock God has given him. Anybody can be a preacher, trainer, teacher, administrator, or a face on a big screen. All you need is talent. But a pastor is someone who invests his time, heart and soul in developing Christian character in his congregation, one human being at a time.

If you're looking for an answer from the fundamentalist point of view, I can't help you.

However, if logical is truly what you are after, I bid you come and learn from one of the great theologians of the 20th century in Tillich's The Courage to Be.

Thanks for excerpt... I'm also reading N.T. Wright (for the first time but not the last).

A very recent book called How God Became King. He is such a deep and thought-through thinker. Very inspiring and eye-opening book.

I'm looking forward to reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334803636&sr=8-1

Also check out this article: http://blog.acton.org/archives/11693-review-how-the-byzantines-saved-europe.html

Byzantium, in brief, was the pinnacle of European civilization prior to modern times due to its location and strength. While surviving for a millennium, the empire had intimate contact with other cultures and traditions, as well as a long history of recording and transmitting ancient texts. While the Franco-latins were busy de-Christianizing the west and the Catholic Church subverting Christian doctrine and culture to their theocratic hegemony, Byzantium flourished and sustained itself as Christian Rome. Consider the following: No other region or society has had three successive stages of history. Western Europe has ancient, medieval, and modern. The rest have ancient and modern. The latter being characterized by western hegemony since the so-called "Holy Roman Empires". Food for thought!

The early church all accepted these Jewish beliefs, is what I'm trying to say (with the modification of Jesus' resurrection before everyone else). All early church doctrine revolved around resurrection, and the restoration of the world, coinciding with the rolling out of God's Kingdom. And that's all this article is exploring.

Look, there've been books written on this that outline every permutation of afterlife conceptions. If you're really curious, go read this, and watch this.

Dan Kimball's book is pretty good; but I'm sorry to say that our own personal suspicions about this group are likely to be endorsed by our own confirmation bias- try and clear your head. I couldn't.

Have you read Basil Pennington's "Centering Prayer"? A good book that might set you on the right track.

First and foremost, read books that will nourish your soul. If you are not being fed by the Bible and other books, your soul can shrivel and you'll be of no help to anyone.

Get The Pastor: A Memoir and The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson. This guy can flat out write. I'd also second the Keller votes and put Francis Chan on the list, especially The Forgotten God. Also, the last one I'll put is The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Hardcore stuff there.

Reminds me also of the story of the Vanaukens (http://www.amazon.com/A-Severe-Mercy-Sheldon-Vanauken/dp/0060688246).

Frankly, I'd prefer a scenario in which I don't have to die first... :/