How to go about learning about Christianity for someone from a non-Christian background?
Upvote:2
Religion raises a lot of emotions and is hard to deal with objectively. As a result, there is very little material that does not 'preach' - either to bring you into the fold or to show you how wrong Christianity really is.
You appear to be interested in learning the Bible stories, rather than understanding the theology that ties these stories together, so I did a search. I have not read the following book, so can not actually recommend it, but it may fit the bill: Bible Stories for Adults, by James Morrow
"Morrow unabashedly delves into matters both sacred and secular in this collection of short stories buoyed by his deliciously irreverent wit."
Upvote:6
A very readable overview of Christian history may be found in Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley.
A deeper dive into more recent history is Eerdman's Handbook to Christianity in America.
For a good overview of the common beliefs shared by a majority of Christian groups, try Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
For a somewhat polemical take on the contributions of the Catholic church, try How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods.
The last book I will cite I have not read, but comes well-reviewed:
David Daniell. The Bible in English: Its History and Influence. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003. xx + 899 pp. $40.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-300-09930-0. The following review should make it clear how comprehensive is the author's study of the impact of the English Bible on English culture: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=9709
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