The best Protestantism books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

You can also look at the BCP online to get a feel for the service if you’re nervous about heading to a new church (I get nervous and like to scope out the BCP and also their website).

If you want to read more about the Episcopal Church, I would recommend Walk in Love

Rest assured if the Priest gave you absolution, your sins are forgiven.

Keep going to regular confession and lead a Sacramental Life.

I can back to the church 2 years ago after being gone sine 1983. The first confession I went to I really messed up, there were some sins that I could not verbally confess. I went back next week and confessed more and after the third time I was able to confess out loud what I could not before. Don’t be surprised, the last thing the Enemy wants you to do is confess your sins. You were right to ask for God’s help. Ask your Guardian Angel to help you. This is why God gave us one to protect us. Work on your relationship with them.

I suggest the following book

Check this out: Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance by Neal Lazano

PM me if you need someone to talk to. If you would like I will pray for you.

Since everyone is saying everyone else is wrong, both you and /u/TheBlackBear are wrong (well, sort of). They (the party, not necessarily Republican voters) only care about two core things:

1. Making the rich richer.
2. Pushing white evangelical Christian nationalism.

Not everyone in the party cares equally about these two things, but those are the two core drivers that the modern Republican party are built upon. Everything else-- including all the things that /u/TheBlackBear refers to, as well as the racism, homophobia, and misogyny-- follow from those core ideals.

I'm just reading the book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation and it really does a good job of tracing both the history of white evangelical Christian nationalism and shows the effect that they have had and are having on our national policies. Their ultimate goal is to make the US a Christian theocracy. Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States is another good book on the subject.

While nothing these two books cover started with Trump (Jesus and John Wayne traces it's roots back to the Eisenhower administration), it's hard to truly understand the Trump presidency without understanding these forces. It's really far more terrifying then it even appears on the surface.

I recently read Jesus and John Wayne and it brought all kinds of flashbacks from growing up in Baptist churches.

This was a very helpful book for me when I went through my adult confirmation class. It’s easy to read and explains a LOT about the Episcopal church. 💖

https://www.amazon.com/Walk-Love-Episcopal-Beliefs-Practices/dp/0880284552

Here is a brief overview.

If you wanna go for a deep dive, this book provides a historian’s look at the history the religious right. I’m still reeling from it, though I don’t know if it would be as interesting to those who didn’t grow up in that world.

If you're interested in reading the dialogue between the the theologians at Tubignen and Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople, you can find a translation of the letters on Amazon. Oddly and unfortunately, it doesn't contain a copy of the Augsburg Confession which was sent to Constantinople. Some excerpts can be found here, but be aware that this website tends towards the traditionalist end of the spectrum.

If you're interested in learning more about how that change came about (it was entirely on purpose, by the way), I recommend "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by historian Kristen Kobes du Mez. She lays out in great detail how the White Evangelical Church in America turned what had been a peaceful and sacrificial religion into a voting bloc that supported Donald Trump in the space of two generations.

Sounds a LOT like the book, "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation ". It's relatively short, easy to see and paints a clear picture of their viewpoint.

If you want to study this in depth then you might read about the correspondence between the early Lutherans and Patriarch Jeremiah II regarding the Augsburg Confession, which you can read about in this book. You can also read about the EO Synod of Jerusalem in 1672 which rejected the Protestant teaching.

It really boils down to the solas. EO never held to sola scriptura and considers it a source of error. Protestantism doesn't exist without some form of it.

I've heard that this book is a good overview of early Protestant-Orthodox conversations.

Luther was just appealing to the idea of a Greek Orthodox Church to show that there were non-Roman Churches out there to give himself legitimacy. He hadn't actually considered their doctrines. He was just so convinced that he was right that he assumed non-Roman Churches would agree with him. When later Protestant scholars actually corresponded with the Orthodox on theology it did not go so well because they discovered that they were actually in agreement with nobody but themselves.

You're thinking of correspondence that happened between Lutheran theologians and Constantinople after Luther's death:

https://www.amazon.com/Augsburg-Constantinople-Correspondence-Theologians-Confession/dp/0916586820

Great question, I’m interested in this as well. “Jesus and John Wayne” was an excellent read somewhat related to your question. A good book of reflection on how we’ve gotten to where we are today.

This isn't directly about abortion, but there's a good book called "Jesus and John Wayne" that talks about how horrible toxic ideas of masculinity became a driving force in evangelicalism. It might be useful in a "know the enemy" way.

If you weren't paying attention during the 70's when the SBC took over the GOP, or during the Tea Party days, or the rise of Trump, a great book to get into is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Well worth the $10 at Amazon.

Made me happy to see them cite Kristin Dumez - @kkdumez multiple times in this one. For anyone raised in fundamentalist evangelicalism in the US, Jesus and John Wayne is a required purchase.

A good crash course in basic beliefs is Walk In Love by Shobe & Gunn. I haven’t finished it yet and I’m also new (3 months) to being Episcopalian. But I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far.

I'm a convert (complicated religious background with some trauma).

Our priest used this book for this year's Episcopal 101 class and it is very clear and easy to understand: https://www.amazon.com/Walk-Love-Episcopal-Beliefs-Practices/dp/0880284552

I hope you are able to connect with a church in your area. If you aren't able to attend in person, the priest generally will be able to visit you in home to administer the Eucharist. I'm not sure what could be arranged to baptize you, but I'm sure first the priest will want to meet, answer your questions.

These are both imperfect, but these books are really helpful for a newcomer on liturgy, polity, history, and theology.

Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practices https://www.amazon.com/dp/0880284552/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2GTZF0X1V1R4S1MCJHY0

The Ultimate Quest: A Geek’s Guide to (The Episcopal) Church https://www.amazon.com/dp/0819233250/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4N7N0G8CHGVD6FT55QXR

It's White Evangelical Christianity. It's exactly what they want.

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-John-Wayne-Evangelicals-Corrupted/dp/1631495739

The Lutherans sent the Augsburg Confession to the then-Patriarch of Constantinople, who replied to them three times. You can find their letters in this book and some excerpts here.

Another great book on the subject - specifically focussed on the evangelical wing that has been most engaged with politics - is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

Yep, these two books should be required reading:

Jesus and John Wayne

&

Moral Politics

These are two that I found of value in when first learning about Unitarian Universalism.

"A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism" by John Buehrens - This is a wonderful introduction to UU.

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"Testimony: The Transformational Power of Unitarian Universalism" by Meg Riley - This is a great collection of stories from people whose lives have been transformed by Unitarian Universalism. It gives you an appreciation for just how powerful the UU community can be.

I like this one. https://www.amazon.com/1979-Book-Common-Prayer-Economy/dp/0898694396/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=LVEUNF3ERFBF&keywords=book+of+common+prayer&qid=1643499794&sprefix=book+of+comm%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-5

I don’t want to set you down the cornball “Jews for Jesus” rabbithole, but when I was working through a course on the “Jewishness” of Christianity back in undergrad, I found The Jewish New Testament Commentary interesting, if nothing else. Since then, Oxford University Press has put out a similar title, this one less explicitly tied to weird evangelical missionary efforts or whatever J4J is.

I feel you about the silence though, that’s one of the hardest parts of living in a world without socially affirmed religion.

The 1979 edition is what is currently authorized. Here is an inexpensive edition. 1979 Book of Common Prayer Economy Edition: Black Imitation Leather https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0898694396/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_D6TZ3H7BST96SCNQC6D5

As long as it says 1979 Book of Common Prayer, then it is the right one. The various options you are seeing are likely about the binding and the size. You've got pew editions, which are generally hardcover. You've got the small personal size which have a faux leather sort of cover and are smaller, then you've got the ones that are a little bit larger with something more like real leather. And then there are ones that have red covers or black covers, but the content is exactly the same. Some will have a Bible or a hymnal also as a part of it. There are lots of different options out there, but what is on the inside should be the same as long as it says 1979.

If you just want a basic one for personal use, get this one- https://smile.amazon.com/1979-Book-Common-Prayer-Economy/dp/0898694396/

The resource sticky has a phenomenal list of books!

That said, my suggestion is Jesus and John Wayne - it is like THE book study book of the last few months, and is just exceedingly relevant right now. I think it's just right for what you're looking for - very much about Christianity, relatable to modern life, and not overly academic.

Highly recommend the book Jesus and John Wayne it helped me understand my upbringing in a conservative evangelical context, the book talks about how the same trends effected Catholics too. In short there’s not theological or ethical basis for the particular variant of conservatism we have the US being tied to Christianity. Instead it’s a mixture of anxiety over changing views on race and gender along with a concerted effort by fiscal conservatives that tied Christianity to the Republican Party in America.