A Truthful and Compassionate Alternative to Religion


RESEARCH RESOURCES IN BOOKS

I have many books that I have used to learn more about religion, atheism and humanism. It will take me a while to list them all, but here is a start:


GOD - Evidence Pro/Con

Has Science Found God?

By Victor J. Stenger, © 2003 - Stenger examines the evidence for God, gods and the supernatural from a scientific standpoint and concludes that none of them exist.


GOD: The Failed Hypothesis

By Victor J. Stenger, © 2007 - Building on his book Has Science Found God? Stenger examines various hypotheses for God and again concludes that science shows that God does not exist.


JESUS - Evidence Pro/Con

Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth

Bart D. Ehrman, © 2012; Though an agnostic, and perhaps even an atheist, Ehman believes that Jesus did exist and presents his evidence for his position. He examines the views of writers who believe that the Jesus of the Bible is based in mythology.


How Jesus Became God; The Exaltation of A Jewish Preacher from Galilee

Bart D. Ehrman, © 2014; Ehrman examines the evidence for how Jesus came to be considered a god.


When Jesus Became God; The Struggle to Define Christianity During the Last Days of Rome

Richard E. Rubenstein, © 1999; Rubenstein examines the embrace of Christianity by Constantine in the 4th century and the decision that Jesus was God.


The Case for Christ; A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

Lee Strobel, © 1998; Strobel interviews multiple persons in gathering evidence for the existence of the Biblical Jesus Christ.


Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All

David Fitzgerald, © 2010; Fitzgerald examines ten reasons he believes that Jesus was a myth. This book is praised by Earl Doherty, Robert M. Price and Richard C. Carrier, all respected atheists.


AFTERLIFE - Evidence Pro/Con

Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

By Bart D. Ehrman, © 2020 - This is a comprehensive history of the idea that there is an afterlife, mainly an analyis of the various concepts of heaven and hell and how they evolved over time. He makes no conclusion that any afterlife exists.


ATHEISM

Atheism: The Case Against God

George H. Smith; © 1980; Smith examines the evidence propounded that a supreme being (a god) exists and concludes that it is irrational to the point of absurdity and that it cannot have any place in the life of modern and rational humans.


HUMANISM

The Philosophy of Humanism

Corliss Lamont; © 1949, 1957, 1965, 1982, 1990, 1992 & 1997; This book is an extensive look at the secular humanist philosophy; it has gone through many editions; Corliss Lamont died in 1995 at the age of 93 so certain portions are somewhat dated; the book is available free for downloading in PDF format


FREETHOUGHT/FREETHINKERS

Book Title

Author, Copyright & Brief Description


SECULARISM/SECULARIZATION

Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society

Isabella Kasselstrand, Phil Zuckerman & Ryan T. Cragun, © 2023; The authors discuss secularism, Secularization Theory and whether society is becoming more secular.


RELIGIOUS & NON-RELIGIOUS

Book Title

Author, Copyright & Brief Description


RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM

Money, Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

Katherine Stewart; © 2025; Stewart investigates the rise of the anti-democratic movement in the United States by a coalition of ultra-wealthy conservative donors, conservative think tanks, and far-right religious organizations which all work together to undermine democratic institutions and replace them with autocracy.


How to End Christian Nationalism

Amada Tyler; © 2024; Tyler is a Christian who supports the separation of church and state. She believes that Christian Nationalism is counter to the teachings of Jesus and that Christian Nationalism perpetuates white supremacy. As the title indicates, it is a "how to" book.


Preparing for War

Bradley Onishi; © 2023; Onishi is a religion scholar who is concerned about the blending of white grievance politics with evangelicalism. He goes into the history of white Christian nationalism and thinks that the riots at the US capitol in January of 2021 were the logical outcome of years of a subculture's preparation for war.


The Flag and the Cross

Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry; © 2022; This book is about White Christian Nationalism and its threat to American Democracy; Gorski is a Professor of Sociology at Yale University; Perry is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma.


The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American

Andrew L. Seidel; © 2019 & 2021; Andrew Seidel is a constitutional attorney who works for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He does not think that the United States was founded on Christianity, contrary to what the Christian Nationalists aver.


The Power Worshippers

Katherine Stewart; © 2019; Stewart believes that the religious right has masqueraded as a social movement for much too long. Rather their true intent is to wage a political war on the norms and institutions of American democracy.


The End of White Christian America

Robert P. Jones; 2016; This book was written before Trump's first presidency. At that time, Jones thought that white Christians lacked their former political and social clout. He specifically goes into what he believes is the end of a white Christian strategy, objections to gays and gay marriage and racial segregation.


Kingdom Coming

Michelle Goldberg; © 2006; Goldberg goes into what she believes is the growing influence of dominionism - the doctrine that Christians have the right to rule nonbelievers - that is threatening the foundations of democracy.


RELIGION

Book Title

Author, Copyright & Brief Description


HOW THE MIND WORKS

Did Man Create God? Is Your Spiritual Brain at Peace with Your Thinking Brain?

David E. Comings, M.D., © 2008; This is an extensive (656 pages) examination of the brain and how it relates to spirituality. Comings is a physician, neuroscientist, and behavior and molecular geneticist who has written or edited many scientific articles and books and has held leadership positions in his fields

Why We Believe in god(s); A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D., with Clare Aukofer, © 2011; Thomson is an evolutionary psychologist who examines the evolutionary drivers of religion. The book's forward is by Richard Dawkins.