Christianity in Three Books

Last updated on: October 10, 2013 at 3:45 pm by Leah Libresco

Christianity in Three Books 2013-10-10T15:45:24-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rod Dreher has asked his readers, and the internet at large, what three books they would recommend to provide a basic familiarity with Christian theological ideas to someone with little background on the topic. Here’s the challenge as he laid it out.

So, what’s your Religious Literacy 101 Reading List? To restate the rules:

No more than three books on the list.

List them in order of preference.

Keep them restricted to a single religion (i.e., no volumes comparing the various major religions; Stephen Prothero’s “God Is Not One” is good, but not appropriate for this list).

A single *religion*, folks, not subdivisions within religions. Christianity in general, not three books about Catholicism. Islam in general, not three books about Sunni Islam. Etc.

I am totally picking Mere Christianity for the first slot. I know it’s a cliche choice, but it is for good reason. After all, I was once in the position of Dreher’s target reader. I met Christianity wherever it impinged on the political sphere (and through bizarre allusions in weekly debates). I got a copy of Mere Christianity from one of the Christian student groups at Yale that would set up a FREE BOOKS table outside the dining hall. (An excellent ploy). Lewis’s book didn’t convince me that Christianity was true, and I wouldn’t expect everyone to have my neo-Platonist thrill of recognition as he lays out the case for objective morality, but I think most people would get a sense of coherence from the book. I could say that Mere Christianity is a good DM Guide for the faith; once you’ve read it, you can flail about in a slightly organized way and start to ask better questions and make plans.

Ok, and my second choice is, also predictably, Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. If Mere Christianity helps make Christianity comprehensible, Orthodoxy makes it weird again. The first time I read it, I felt like Chesterton was some kind of philosophical Br’er Rabbit, who delighted in paradox and embraced the end of your reducto ad absurdum. So reading this book is a nice way to avoid complacency about understanding Christianity fully and shakes the reader out of the kind of scholarly remove you might experience if you were reading the excellent, but comparatively dispassionate, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Chesterton’s book forces engagement (even if it’s throwing the book across the room) and makes Christianity seem like a live thing to be answered or argued with, not a thing to be studied.

I’m considerably less sure what to pick for my third choice. I think I want a novel, so the reader can see Christianity lived (badly, presumably) instead of explained. And my best guess is The Brothers Karamazov. Like the other two, this is a book I read before I was Christian. In fact, it and Brideshead Revisited were two novels I felt a vague obligation to read after I’d broken up with my Catholic boyfriend, as a way of finishing my due diligence in investigating Christianity. The Brothers Karamazov is long enough to really fall into and be immersed by. It’s one of the books I felt reluctant to finish, because then I wouldn’t still be reading it. To be honest, Russia feels vaguely fictional to me anyway, so it was easy to just plunge into the world the way I might into Narnia. And I’m still not precisely sure how to recommend it, except that it felt a bit like ideas were linking up and gelling in the back of my head while I read it, even if I would have to go back and poke at them later to see what shape they were making.

Two other takes on Dreher’s challenge that I quite recommend: Eve Tushnet and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry.

And I’d be quite interested in reading yours below. (Not restricted to Christianity. Or religions at all. I’d be more interested in people sharing their three books for stoicism than their broader umbrella of atheism, for example).

Reviews/Recommendations

Previous Post

October 9, 2013

Replies on Relationships (with Chaplains and others)

Next Post

October 11, 2013 6 Quick Takes (10/11/13)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was king of Israel during the ministry of Elijah?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jeroboam Ahab Jehoram Joash