SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR STUDY GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS
FCT Authors
Linden, William M. (FCT)
“The Historical Jesus for Beginners: A Primer on Contemporary Religious Scholarship” (2008)
Yaeger, Bruce (FCT)
“Wrestling Brothers: Rethinking Religion-Science Relationships” (2018)
Jost, Michael (FCT)
”Jesus Before Christ” (2013) - Managing Editor, Les Switzer, FCT Executive Director published after the death of the author. Available on Kindle only.
FCT Speaker Authors
Spong, Bishop John Shelby
“Unbelievable : Why Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith
Today” (2018)
“Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy” (2017)
“Eternal Life: A New Vision” (2010)
“A New Christianity for a New World” (2009)
“Sins of Scripture” (2005)
Borg, Marcus
“Days of Awe and Wonder: How to be a Christian in the 21st Century” (2018)
“Convictions” (2016)
“Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time” (2015)
“The Heart of Christianity” (2009)
“Reading the Bible Again for the First Time” (2009)
Crossan, John Dominic Crossan
“Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept The Original Easter Vision” (2018)
“How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian” (2016)
“The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary MessagOf the Lord’s Prayer” (2011)
“Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography” (2009)
“In Search of Paul: How Jesus’ Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire With God’s Kingdom” (2009)
Horsley, Richard
“Jesus and Magic: Freeing the Gospel Stories from Modern Misconceptions” (2014)
“In Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance: (2008)
“Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea” (2007)
“The Liberation of Christmas: The Infancy Narratives in Social Context” (2006)
“Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Mark’s Gospel” (2001)
Levine, Amy-Jill
“Jesus for Atheists” – to be published in November 2019
“Jesus for Everyone, Not Just Christians (2019)
“Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (2015)
Participant Study Guide (2018)
“The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (2007)
Meyers, Robin
“Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus” (2009)
Newberg, Andrew
“Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief”
Rieger, Joerg
“Jesus vs Caesar: The People Tired of Serving the Wrong God” (2018)
“No Religion but Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology” (2018)
“No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics and the Future” (2009)
“God and the Excluded: Visions and Blindspots in Contemporary Theology” (2000)
“Globalization and Theology: Horizons in Theology” (2010)
Seeliger, Wes
“Western Theology” (available through FCT free or donation – price varies online)
Taylor, Bron
“Dark Green Religion: Nature, Spirituality and the Planetary Future” (2010)
“Civil Society in the Age of Monitory Democracy” (See online courses at www.brontaylor.com)
Other Recommendations
Ruth Seeliger:
“Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of Religion and American Politics”
Matthew Avery Sutton and Darren Dochuk, Editors
Book conceived by Amanda Porterfield from articles written by the 2007 Young Scholars in American Religion project, compiled in 2012 at SMU
“Sapiens: A Short History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari (2013) - Helps to put religion in perspective
Wes Seeliger would recommend:
“Bending History: Selected Talks by Joseph W. Mathews” by John Epps (2005)
Epps described Mathews as “a radical churchman in the 20th century who started a global movement of renewal of the church and local communities over forty nations”
Linden, William M. (FCT)
“The Historical Jesus for Beginners: A Primer on Contemporary Religious Scholarship” (2008)
Yaeger, Bruce (FCT)
“Wrestling Brothers: Rethinking Religion-Science Relationships” (2018)
Jost, Michael (FCT)
”Jesus Before Christ” (2013) - Managing Editor, Les Switzer, FCT Executive Director published after the death of the author. Available on Kindle only.
FCT Speaker Authors
Spong, Bishop John Shelby
“Unbelievable : Why Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith
Today” (2018)
“Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy” (2017)
“Eternal Life: A New Vision” (2010)
“A New Christianity for a New World” (2009)
“Sins of Scripture” (2005)
Borg, Marcus
“Days of Awe and Wonder: How to be a Christian in the 21st Century” (2018)
“Convictions” (2016)
“Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time” (2015)
“The Heart of Christianity” (2009)
“Reading the Bible Again for the First Time” (2009)
Crossan, John Dominic Crossan
“Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept The Original Easter Vision” (2018)
“How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian” (2016)
“The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary MessagOf the Lord’s Prayer” (2011)
“Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography” (2009)
“In Search of Paul: How Jesus’ Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire With God’s Kingdom” (2009)
Horsley, Richard
“Jesus and Magic: Freeing the Gospel Stories from Modern Misconceptions” (2014)
“In Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance: (2008)
“Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea” (2007)
“The Liberation of Christmas: The Infancy Narratives in Social Context” (2006)
“Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Mark’s Gospel” (2001)
Levine, Amy-Jill
“Jesus for Atheists” – to be published in November 2019
“Jesus for Everyone, Not Just Christians (2019)
“Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (2015)
Participant Study Guide (2018)
“The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (2007)
Meyers, Robin
“Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus” (2009)
Newberg, Andrew
“Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief”
Rieger, Joerg
“Jesus vs Caesar: The People Tired of Serving the Wrong God” (2018)
“No Religion but Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology” (2018)
“No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics and the Future” (2009)
“God and the Excluded: Visions and Blindspots in Contemporary Theology” (2000)
“Globalization and Theology: Horizons in Theology” (2010)
Seeliger, Wes
“Western Theology” (available through FCT free or donation – price varies online)
Taylor, Bron
“Dark Green Religion: Nature, Spirituality and the Planetary Future” (2010)
“Civil Society in the Age of Monitory Democracy” (See online courses at www.brontaylor.com)
Other Recommendations
Ruth Seeliger:
“Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of Religion and American Politics”
Matthew Avery Sutton and Darren Dochuk, Editors
Book conceived by Amanda Porterfield from articles written by the 2007 Young Scholars in American Religion project, compiled in 2012 at SMU
“Sapiens: A Short History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari (2013) - Helps to put religion in perspective
Wes Seeliger would recommend:
“Bending History: Selected Talks by Joseph W. Mathews” by John Epps (2005)
Epps described Mathews as “a radical churchman in the 20th century who started a global movement of renewal of the church and local communities over forty nations”