books

recommended reading

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recommended books on topics related to reason & belief

These are some of the books I have found most useful and challenging in writing rnb. While I have tried to read a wide variety of viewpoints, I have been most influenced by, and therefore recommend, those whose authors have expertise in a particular subject and have a reasonably open attitude to faith. For books related to each topic, see the reference pages for that topic.

  • Paul Davies is a physicist and author. His The Mind of God is getting a little old now but is still a good and challenging read on the apparent intricate design of the universe.
  • Brain Story by Susan Greenfield is a fascinating account of the current understandings of how our brains operate. More colourful "coffee table" book than textbook, it is therefore easy to read.
  • Alister McGrath is a formidable historian at Oxford University (he has recently moved - I'll update this soon). His "The Twilight of Atheism" is a historian's assessment of the rise and (in his view) the current decline of atheism in western thought and culture. McGrath is an impressive writer and thinker, and I would expect his other books would also present well-researched and powerful arguments.
  • Francis Collins is the head of the Human Genome Project to map the human gene. In "The Language of God" he shares how his insights into biology mesh with his faith.
  • Jesus: a Historian's Review of the Gospels by Michael Grant is a comprehensive and unbiased examination of the historical status of the accounts of the life of Jesus from a historian who specialised in the period of the Roman Empire. He applied the same approach to historical analysis as he used in all his other studies, and, even though he was not a believer, he concluded that most of the recorded stories and sayings of Jesus can be considered historical.
  • "Science and Christian Belief" by John Polkinghorne: a well-respected particle physicist turned priest uses scientific thinking to explore the core of christian belief. Polkinghorne is so well qualified and well-read in science, philosophy and theology that I imagine any book of his would be well worth reading, but expect to think hard and be challenged!
  • Three books by Aussie historian John Dickson - The Christ Files (how historians know what they know about Jesus), A Spectator's Guide to Jesus (the life and teaching of Jesus) and A Spectator's Guide to World Religions (even-handed and sympathetic explanations of the basic beliefs of the five major world religions) - are all easy to read yet academically reliable books by a christian author who has succeeded in being fair-minded and gentle (= non-pushy).
  • Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe by eminent cosmologist Martin Rees, is an interesting description of some of the evidence that the universe is incredibkly fine-tuned for life.
  • Bede's Library book reviews - Reviews of books from a range of different viewpoints on history, religion, science and philosophy - part of James Hannam's excellent and comprehensive website.

reason & belief also likes ....

  • Australian novelist Tim Winton writes sympathetically of ordinary Aussie battlers, often living on the edge, just holding on to their self respect and values. I can't recommend him too highly. My favourites are That Eye The Sky (my all-time favourite novel), An Open Swimmer and The Turning, but Cloudstreet is probably the most popular. Tim has won many awards, and has been voted most popular Australian writer in several polls. Watch out for his new novel, Breath.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a masterpiece, a wonderful portrayal of life in a small town in the southern states of the US. The film is (for once) a worthy adaptation, with a superb performance by Gregory Peck.
  • Dandelion Wine by celebrated fantasy writer Ray Bradbury can easily fool you into thinking it is an offbeat fantasy, when it is in reality much more imaginative than that. A smalltown boy with a fertile imagination observes and experiences life in a way that no-one else could.
  • J R R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and The Last Battle (and the rest of the Narnia series) by C S Lewis have meant so much to me over the years. The films are worthy, but lack the subtlety, humanity and characterisation of the books. C S Lewis's Mere Christianity was a great influence on me in my youth.
  • Sometimes a book for children is just the right thing to read. My favourites are Jane of Lantern Hill by L M Montgomery (both a story of a child escaping the confines of a repressive upbringing and a shrewdly-observed portrayal of life on Canada's Prince Edward Island in an era now long gone), and Arthur Ransome's books of children and their holiday imaginations (my favourites are We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea, Swallows and Amazons, Winter Holiday and The Big Six).
  • Like half the world, I have fallen under the spell of the Harry Potter books by J K Rowling. I like her inventiveness and imagination (some of my favourite ideas are the marauder's map, dementors and patronuses, horcruxes, Luna Lovegood, the mirror of erised, the room of requirement, and the connections between Harry & Voldemort) and feel some scenes are truly epic (for example, the time travel sequence in "The Prisoner of Azkaban", the graveyard episode in "The Goblet of Fire" and most of "The Deathly Hallows"). These are books you can return to again and again, like all great books. My personal favourites are "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and "The Deathly Hallows".

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