100 Books Like The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God

This book by James Stump is a landmark work that contains the best amalgam of philosophy, science, and theology that I have come across.

I was strongly moved by the many discussions of the role of change (exemplified by biological evolution) in our world. Stump discusses how science itself, as much as the subjects of scientific enquiry, changes and ties this in with the theological implications of biblical/scientific interactions.

The book covers a great deal of ground as the chain of the title weaves into the problem of evil, the origins of humanity, the definition of the soul, and a lot more. It is all beautifully written and highly accessible, as well as accurate and thorough throughout.

Many readers will know the author from the high-quality podcast, “The Language of God.” Reading this book, one can almost hear Stump’s melodious voice as he discusses the science of God’s creation with… show more.

Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell, presents the historical reality of the relationship between science and faith as complementary, and not in conflict, as the modern mythology of atheism holds.

He then makes a detailed, comprehensive, yet accessible case for the reality of a divine mind behind the creation of the universe and of life. 

The three areas Meyer focuses on are the Big Bang beginning of all matter and energy, the extremely well-tuned values of the cosmological and other physical constants (without which life would be impossible), and the unique complexity of the genetic code as the information system in all of life. 

The arguments are compelling, and this book is a great example of how science refutes the claim that there is no scientific evidence for God, a claim that is still being made by atheists. This book leaves no doubt that the God hypothesis is… show more.

Michael Guillen, a well-known science reporter and broadcast journalist, has published an exciting and easily understood book about how science, especially physics, supports the idea of a divine creator of the universe.

Guillen, a former atheist and skeptic of Christianity, found his worldview turned around by his scientific studies. 

This book is beautifully written and absolutely accessible to everyone, including those with no training in physics or other sciences.

The author describes his own journey to faith through his science and answers all the questions a reader might have about the truth of the evidence. His faith shines through all the pages of this book and it is a must read for anyone interested in the harmony of science and Christian faith.

Today's popular narrative, based on advancements in science, is that it all happened by natural, random processes.

Melissa Cain Travis points to powerful evidence that the opposite is true—that cosmology, astronomy, biochemistry, and other disciplines strongly support what she calls "The Maker Thesis," which explains the origin, rationality, and intricacy of nature and the human mind's capacity to comprehend it.

Our universe is made up of numerous complex systems of order that both interact and coexist with each other as if in a carefully choreographed dance. Follow along on a fascinating journey about how the structure of nature and the mind of man resonate in ways that point to a Maker who fully intended the astounding discoveries being made in the natural sciences today.

Letters from a Skeptic was the first book about religion that I read in my journey to faith.

The book consists of an actual correspondence between Edward, a skeptic, and Gregory, his son, a pastor. Reading this book as a skeptic myself, I resonated deeply with the objections raised by Edward. But time and time again, I was surprised at the thoughtfulness of Gregory’s responses. I wasn’t completely convinced at first reading, but I was intrigued enough to read further.

I have read this book three times. 

As a Christian and a lifelong reader of historical fiction and of books on Christianity, I loved this book and couldn’t put it down.

“Theophilos” is the mysterious addressee of Luke’s Gospel. O’Brien imagines him to be the adoptive father of Luke. In the novel, Luke becomes deeply absorbed in the stories that people who knew Jesus personally tell him and decides to chronicle them as a historian. Theophilos travels to Palestine to try to rescue Luke from the “madness” of Christianity.

The book is an extraordinary feat of historical and psychological imagination. While replete with breathtaking episodes, it is, generally speaking, not fast-paced – one often stops to ponder a sentence, or a reflection – yet it is also a thriller.

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.

This madcap story involves a militant Christian and a militant atheist who decide to fight to the death over the question of the existence of God. The trouble is that no one in the world will let them do it. When I first read it, much as I enjoyed the two central combatants and their repeatedly baffled zeal, I was even more delighted by the framework of the novel. The Ball and the Cross begins in a spaceship containing a mad scientist named Lucifer and a holy monk named Michael. The theological-cosmological setting seems clear, but this is not a twee presentation of the battle of the angels (cf. Revelation 12:7–10). These two have rich personalities and Michael in particular had a huge impact on me regarding the proper depiction of goodness.

This is a wonderfully mind-expanding book which gently takes the history of philosophy that you think you know and turns it on its head. Most of the great critics of Christianity – Spinoza, Voltaire, Tom Paine, they’re all here – were not really, it turns out, atheists trying to tear it all up: they were idealistic, reforming believers who weren’t satisfied with churchy orthodoxies and wanted to purify religions that they thought had become corrupted. That made them maybe even fiercer in their criticisms, and it certainly meant they had unleashed forces they couldn’t control. But it means the moral force that drove anti-religious criticism during the Enlightenment was the desire, not to destroy religion, but to perfect it.

Augustine's Confessions is an extraordinary book, but it is not always an easy one! Readers looking for help in understanding its brilliant author can do no better than to turn to Peter Brown's biography, first published in 1967. It is a beautifully written, lucid, and illuminating study of Augustine's life and thought, the best possible guide to both the man and his world. In an Epilogue added for the forty-fifth-anniversary edition, Brown discusses what he and other scholars have learned in the decades since he first wrote the book, and how his ideas about Augustine have changed, demonstrating the curiosity and openness that are the hallmarks of a great scholar.