Books like Testing Prayer — picked by fans

I read this one when I was trying to check out the best arguments for the existence of God—at a time when I was skeptical that any of them could convince me.

A pastor named Tim Keller told me to read this book. Hart is an Eastern Orthodox theologian, and he operates at a pretty hardcore level; this one is not exactly beach reading. But I have to admit, I found it oddly gripping—it’s unusual that I can listen to dense theology on audiobook, but I did with this one.

Hart’s basic point is that most atheists make a category error when they attack the existence of God because they have totally the wrong idea of the God that most religious people believe in.

He shows why they have it wrong, and along the way he gives you this brilliant account of the history of Western science and how it… show more.

He is so hilariously good at swearing!

That’s a major reason I love this book: Francis Spufford raises profanity to a high art, and he does it in a book that is, ostensibly, about Jesus.

A Christian friend recommended this one to me, and I bought it and let it sit on the shelf for a long time before I finally picked it up. Then I read it in maybe three sittings, because it’s silly and profound at the same time. (Also it’s short and carries you along—this is a good one to stick in your bag and read a couple pages at a time whenever you are at a bus stop.)

Spufford is mainly a novelist, and his aim here is not to convince you that Christianity’s fact claims are true. (Although he does think it’s all true.) Instead, he’s explaining the way the Christian picture of God and… show more.

I read this book during a very intense summer a few years ago when I was trying to figure out if Christianity could possibly be true, and how a nerdy secular academic like myself could even begin to ask that question.

I found a kindred spirit in Sheldon Vanauken. In this memoir set mainly in the 1950s, he tells the story of how he took a sabbatical from his teaching job at a little college in Virginia to go to Oxford with his wife. Neither of them was religious at the time. In fact, the first part of the book is a very intense (some might say: cloyingly sentimental) account of their romance, when they basically worshipped each other instead of a deity.

If you’re like me, you’ll want to shout “get a room already” and throw the book at the wall during the first few chapters. But I’m glad… show more.

Tanya (T.M.) Luhrmann tried to do the impossible.

She set out to describe what happens when Christians say God talks to them—and she wanted to do it in a way that makes Christian readers think “huh, she kind of gets us, even though she’s not one of us” and makes nonbelievers think “Oh! Maybe those people are not as crazy as I thought.”

She basically succeeds, and as a result, this book is one of the few accounts of the so-called “Christian Right” that does not drive me up the wall with condescension and reductionism. 

Luhrmann spent four years doing fieldwork in Vineyard churches, an evangelical Protestant denomination that, if you are not one of them, may score fairly high on your craziness scale. These people put their hands in the air during worship, sit at the kitchen table talking to God, and think God gives them predictions and advice… show more.

This is the book I recommend to any clients or friends struggling with their anxiety. It’s a unique take on how anxiety has been understood throughout history and how it can impact us, told as Sarah goes on her own journey to discover how to live with the condition.

It’s beautifully researched, and I could see myself and my own beliefs about anxiety challenged and understood in so much of the text. My own copy is dog-earned, highlighted, and worn down due to multiple readings and referencing. A must-read! 

This culturally rich book, written by an Indigenous Medicine Woman, guides you through a different set of paths you can walk on your healing journey. For many, these traditions will be new and unfamiliar, but they are universal in their focus on honoring both oneself and one’s roots, in this case, one’s ancestors and Ancestral guides.

From an early age, art seemed magical to me. Through books, paintings, music, etc. I found I could delve beneath the surface of my existence and grow closer to real life. Art can be more than entertainment, more than inspiration, it can be a magical act that can help us all. I know this to be true from my own experience and I write books and make art with this intention. Jodorowsky believes this too and prescribes artistic acts as therapy in a way that is totally audacious, moving, and often hilarious.

Tina Zion is the real deal. A fourth-generation medium, she teaches how to be a medical intuitive. Her premise is that we all have this ability. I agree with her. I also like the ethics she teaches. Becoming a Chakra Detective, similar to a medical intuitive, but using the chakra system primarily as its interface, we do need to become detectives because… no two of us are alike. Ever. This is why I suggest you start at home, with yourself, before you attempt to help others with their chakras. Working through your own patterning from the past, your own present biases and blind spots, and your future fears and worries with the chakras is not only possible, it’s phenomenal… if you’ll do the work.

Witchcraft offers a path for incorporating Magickal ritual into a healing practice. When we experience trauma, we fragment our spirit and these disconnected parts become our shadow selves that block the manifestation of our deepest desires. This is what happened to me and why I weave together Magick and retrieving lost parts of our souls. Only when we come to wholeness with the deep healing practices found in Soul Retrieval can we reclaim these splintered aspects of self and focus all, not merely part, of our energy onto creating the life of our dreams. Soul Retrieval helped me address my mental wellness and release suffering, which has in turn given me a magick touch for manifestation.

I felt a kindred spirit in Robin Rose Bennett, author of Healing Magic, when I interviewed her for an article in SageWoman Magazine. She has her own school, WiseWoman Healing Ways-Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit Teachings. We passionately agree that respectfully connecting with the unique conscious spirits of the plant world as the foundation of Green Witchcraft. Healing Magic emphasizes that the rote memorization of plant’s attributes is not nearly as imperative as humbly communicating with herbal allies, especially when asking for their healing powers of self-care and wellness. This book teaches a path to connect with the emotional intelligence of the natural world that will in effect bolster the healing powers of connection and personal Magick.