It is not hard to find books that would sow seeds of doubt in one's heart and mind about God and his word. Human beings are prone to being deceived by such. Adam and Eve had one plain command to heed, and the Devil is so subtle in his doings to deceive, they believed him, the Father of lies (ref. John 8:44), over God (ref. Genesis 2:17, 3). Too, scripture warns of those who 'wrest' the scriptures to their own destruction (ref. 2 Peter 3:15-17). Unbelief, lack of context, the wresting of the scriptures abound in these titles which lead people astray concerning simple truths which God has revealed to us. Our eternal welfare depends on trusting God and his word who has provided a Savior for men in his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ (ref. 1 John 4:14). Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).
After nearly 75 years of Sunday morning church, I now go to bed Saturday night thinking Oh Boy! Tomorrow Branden will post another video! Once again this did not disappoint. I clearly need to become a better reader!
Sweet! Dude, you've become one of my favorite RU-vidrs with your honest, intelligent, logical takes on Lands of Make Believe. I also LOVE Sam, I practice his mindfulness style meditation. He was also instrumental in my deconversion and ultimately letting go.
@@MindShift-BrandonIf you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and the canonical biblical text, taje a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and the canonical biblical text, taje a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
Brandon`s book shelf is like an world encyclopedia on all things Atheism, Religion, Science and logic, thanks for giving us a small sample of it today. We always knew you were a well-read Man!
@@MindShift-BrandonIf you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
I mean, maybe? He didn't mention many of the really academically rigorous works on either side of the atheism/theism debate specifically (Graham Oppy, Paul Draper, J.L. Mackie, Jordan Howard Sobel, Alex Malpass, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, Alasdair MacIntyre, Peter Kreeft, Douglas Groothuis, J. P. Moreland, Ed Feser, Peter van Inwagen, David Hume, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm of Canterbury, Kirkegaard), the exception being Bertrand Russel. He also didn't mention any logic books. He might be incredibly knowledgeable about logic (Some of his material on logical fallacies make me doubt, but I'm not expert either so maybe he just knows more than me) but he didn't mention any books about logic here.
I would say that I have read many of these books on my long, long journey to deconversion, partly because I wanted to know what the "other side" was actually saying, and also because I wanted to make some sense of why certain things were happening in my life that didn't seem to be happening to other people. Back in the 1960's not much was understood about Aspergers, autism, or neurodivergence. All I knew was that I was different from other people and they knew that I was different and that this was not a good thing. I was bullied, placed in special education, put on drugs (one of which made me temporarily psychotic) and subjected to a B. F. Skinner-inspired behavioral modification regime. One thing in particular that my mother kept telling me, "The way you see things is not the way they really are." I will let all of you unpack that particular one. Let's just say I did not have the tools then to see the gaslighting, grooming, and manipulation that was being done "in my best interest." At the same time I was also told I had to believe--or else!--in the invisible, unprovable world that was Christianity and more specifically the Roman Catholic church. Now you want to talk about cognitive dissonance, again, I didn't know what that was, but I just knew things didn't quite add up. Still, I persisted and even became quite the religious fanatic during my teenage years after I came under the influence of a Jesus people-inspired home church. That was taking things a bit too far, said my Christian parents. But, but, but--isn't this exactly what we are supposed to be doing? Years later, I read a book by a courageous Christian minister, I can't remember his name, called "Addicted to God" in which he discusses how the church encourages fanaticism. Great book if you can find it. Anyway, to make a long story short, I am a voracious reader and was never content to restrict my reading to "safe" books. One of the big turning points was when I discovered the works of Oliver Sacks and later Dr. Temple Grandin. It was like a light bulb going off in my head. The more I read in that area the more questions I had about what Christianity taught. Questions nobody around me could answer because they were not doing that kind of reading and research. Apologetics had no answer; they were on a completely different plane. Meanwhile it seemed like Dawkins, Harris, Sagan and the rest were asking better questions. I delved into early Church history and found that what I thought had been built on a foundation of stone was actually sand. And so I quietly have gone my own way. But in all things I reserve the right to think for myself, and if at times it means going across the grain and disagreeing with some of secularism's "sacred cows", that I will do. I no longer accept the answer "the way you see things is not the way they really are." It has taken me a lifetime to learn my answers are just as valid as the next person's and I will not be manipulated or bullied into going along with the crowd.
Great story and congratulations. It warms my heart to hear stories of people confronting their bullies and exposing them as the cowards they really are.
@@dawidroos2452 Actually, there are. I'd invite you to do a little experiment. The next time you find yourself among supposedly like-minded people and they start talking about certain issues that you all supposedly agree upon, play devil's advocate and argue for the other side. I guarantee you will find out REAL FAST that your views are NOT welcome, are NOT politically correct, and that you yourself are in dire need of re-education. And that is putting it mildly. There are certain things that one must not disagree about. Ask J. K. Rowling. I hate to break it to you but secularists can be just as dogmatic and intolerant as their fundamentalist brethren. I've been dogpiled upon before and don't wish to be dogpiled upon again so I will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions on what my secular heresies might be.
My favorite non-fiction book is The Demon-haunted World by Carl Sagan. Beautifully written, even though it’s not specifically about religion, it’s more about skepticism, which is the antithesis of religion.
@@MindShift-Brandon It may not have had _that_ much of an impact on you, personally (if you had read it before/during your journey), as some other books (at least that's my guess from everything I've heard from you about your way of thinking and approaches and education and so on), but I'd bet good money that you'll put it very high on a list of "must-read" books straight away 😊
Still shocking to me how intense religion is over there, i used to tick the box that said 'church of England' for about 30 years then one day i thought 'why am i ticking this box?' And changed it to the 'no religion' box, that was it, my whole de-conversion 😂
My deconversion story is similar to yours (mainly questioning why I called myself a Christian when I didn't really believe in the whole thing), so I totally get what you're saying. The main reason why religion is so intense in America is because a lot of society is Christian (70%, iirc), with some areas (primarily the area between Tennessee, Texas and Florida, called The Bible Belt) have the heaviest area with a certain brand of Christianity that forces its beliefs onto society and "discourages" (to be polite) anything but (especially Atheism) their sect(s). Some people in other areas have that same philosophy, but they're fewer and drowned out by the more accepting sects (primarily in the heavily "Blue"/Democrat/populated cities). Hope that helps and sorry for any potential block of texts (posting from my phone).
There is a hypothesis floating around that the instituionalized religions may have actually hindered the religion(s) in Europe. The churches didn't have to evolve since there was no pressure to be more appealing than that church over there - the money was flowing anyway, the people didn't have any real "choice", so why bother changing anything really? There's a reason why so many different denomiations exist only the USA, and why the extremes (from Amish to Westboro Baptists to the very concept of megachurches) only exist in the USA (and are at most very tentatively getting any kind of interest in Europe)...
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
So excited that Behave made this list!! For those who are new to Sapolsky, his Stanford lectures are available on RU-vid for free! Those are great to watch along with reading Behave ❤
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
@@stahlbergpatreon6062If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
You are so right about reading the Bible objectively. Although I read and studied the Bible faithfully for over 30 years it was always through my God filter, never objectively. Growing up in American Christianity I had no basis of comparison either. It was through an online study through the entire OT with an open mind that I was deconverted. Then the work of deconstruction began which, included a few of your recommendations. I highly recommend comparative religion studies, too. How had I believed the mythology for such a long time? The power of indoctrination, social pressure, emotional need and hope for help is a universal driver. 🤷🏼♀️
@@MindShift-Brandon I'm pretty sure that for me, reading some Greek and Norse mythology books (simplified for children) around the same time that I was also hearing some details about the religious stuff (some of the bible-stories that were at least somewhat suitable for children, or made suitable) helped me put both into the same category. It's probably the same basic effect as comparative religion stuff - it's very similar stories with some of the exact same elements, but not presented as factual reality. And I'd say the mythology stuff (Ring of Nibelungs for example!) is _far_ more entertaining to read than pretty much any religious book I've ever tried to read... Definitely far better suited for children.
@@MindShift-BrandonIf you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
Thanks for putting this together. I’m putting these on my Christmas wishlist! Speaking of Christmas…I’d love to hear your take on how the holidays may have changed for you since your deconversion. And especially navigating holiday traditions with friends and family who are still believers. This is my first holiday season since I deconverted and it feels so different.
I saw your comment so I hope you don’t mind me responding. I never felt that different for me concerning Christmas or Easter now that I am no longer a believer in Christianity. My immediate family still goes to church and prays at meals. But Christmas morning was almost the same for us growing up as it was for others, opening presents, and spending time with family. The emphasis for Jesus being the reason for the season was barely mentioned or reiterated even though it was in the back of our heads. Telling my parents and later my sister about me no longer believing was probably the hardest part. Christmas is just another holiday with presents, food, family, as it was before.
I was pleased to see you include the books by Bryson and Harari. Both of their books were important to my better understanding of the real world and our place in it.
@@MindShift-BrandonIf you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
The book that started it all for me was "50 Reasons People Give For Believing In A God" by Guy P. Harrison. This is a non-judgmental, common sense approach to why some of us still believe fantasies and fairy tales we were taught as children. Highly recommended. He's also written other books that question beliefs we've always thought were true.
Started reading God: An Anatomy based on your recommendation, wow. What a breakdown of the dilution of the ancient mythical god from the old to the new testament. Will have to check out some more!
Great recommendations, Brandon. I will surely be adding them to my library. Also, it was probably a good choice to have a break after a potentially stressful holiday, not diving right into something.
The first book for me was the Old Testament. I came from a fundamental Baptist background and the Old Testament was the real point I started questioning the idea of god. Thanks for your videos.
The book for me that made me realize the Bible was pure fiction was the Old Testament. The entire OT book reads like an ancient mythology text in my opinion.
If you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
@@Charlotte_MartelIf you desire to apprehend a comprehensive guide to the blantant contradictions within the Gospels and overarching canonical biblical text, take a gander at the Holy Koolaid's masterfully articled videos regarding 28 total contradictions within the cannon implemented via Christiandom. The videos amalgamate a dualistic series. Brandon must do a video based particularly on the dichotomies explored à la indubitably unambiguous prototypes.
Thank you for the recommendations Brandon, added a few to my list! Thanks for all the work you put into your content - this has become one of my favorite channels. Truly thankful
Fantastic episode! Along with all the fantastic knowledge your shows give the fact that you give additional areas to educate is an unmeasurable benefit. I’ve read about a quarter of the books you mentioned but plan on reading all of them thank you Brandon PS I’m actually legally blind so when I say read, it’s always audible.
Isaac Asimov's books introducing science to the general reader set me on the path out of the fundamentalist cult I was raised in, and the books of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan--call them the holy trinity of my childhood--helped me keep going. But there is one series that tells the whole truth about our reality (and if you've read it, you know what I'm referring to): The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”
A quick 'thank you' for helping increase my library. I already have some of the books reviewed but you have given me more to broaden my knowledge base. I appreciate that.
My top 3: 1. 'Zealot' by Reza Aslon - This is one of my favorites. 2. 'God an Anatomy' by Francesca Stavrakopoulou (I highly recommend the audiobook - Hearing Francesca read is an experience in itself) 3. 'Drunk with Blood' by Steven Wells - Steven does an amusing job adding up "God's" body count.
Thanks for sharing the resource books, Brandon. The bible in itself was the thing that finally convinced me it was all impossible to be true. For me, the questions are how do people get manipulated into cult movements ? Why do they stay in the church / cult when it's obvious it's manipulative ? How do we get fooled the way we do ? How do people get sucked into extremist views ?
@@Justas399 What's your point? There's billions who believe in the Koran also. And Nearly a billion who believe in the Gita. That only proves that people believe in stories that their family and culture tells them is so. Also believing anything because a lot of other people do is a fallacy .
I have loved reading (mostly fiction) since I was a kid. It helped me find my way out of my parents brainwashing me into believing in a god. Jehovah's witness to be precise. I'm 50 now. My eyes are so bad that I have to read ebooks now so that I can make the fonts larger and turn up the brightness. I looked at my phone yesterday and realized I have over 900 books on it now. I miss real paper books, but I also love the convenience of having a book always on hand to read if I have a few minutes to kill. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll most likely give a few of them a read.
I'm almost 52 and when I got the Internet in late '96 I did searches for the religion I was brought up in, the JWs. At first I thought the problems could be reformed, but after six months I realized too much was wrong. I went to a very small church in Canada run by the general Assembly of the worldwide church of God Abrahamic Faith, its pastor was a 40 year bethelite who roomed next to Ray Franz. They were soul sleep non trinitarians. He was super nice to me and some of their teachings made sense to me while some didn't but it reminded me of the kingdom hall where people showed up just to be a part of something. They had women give talks and would have open discussion which would include local politics, which the pastor, Frank Roth, didn't really like but didn't stop. I also went to one of the last Catholic churches that did a Latin mass and really liked the liturgy and tradition. Eventually I decided it was all nonsense... A lot of people told me that my JW experience ruined my ability to be properly born again and understand the grace of God, the love of Christ etc but I've found that even in my secular industry 99% of what they say is bull crap. So I've decided that humans could do the right thing and make everything great but won't do so even if god showed up and I'm just happy that I didn't live in 1600s London, or 800s India, or 2000bce Sumer. I don't see a great future for humanity and I'm pretty sad that I'm too old now to watch it all completely fall apart but maybe I'm saved from the worst.
His name was Frank Toth not Roth, I might've been watching too many Van Halen videos. I'm pretty sure Frank is long dead now, but I received communion for the first time at his church and it was my first experience of non JW belief. Sir Anthony Buzzard came once and I got to ask him a lot of questions. He was a pretty formidable opponent of Orthodox Christendom. He died a little while ago. But while some of what he thought made biblical sense he still had to believe a man of flesh lived in some heaven somewhere and that this man's death and resurrection meant I was good to go. The JW origin story has the Watchtower publisher Charles Taze Russell objecting to his Christadelphian friend that Jesus was raised in his physical body, which is something that nobody in church history had questioned in 1800 years. It's all very mysterious to me and I kind of wish I'd been brought up in India or China and heard all of their myths and wondered why anybody would believe the Jewish Messiah thing at all.
I enjoy all of your content, but this might be your most useful video for me personally. Already read a number of these, but really appreciated the descriptions for the ones I haven't read. My reading list is full again, thanks!
Great video, and I've read a number of these books. But I can't believe you left off "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. I've listened to the audiobook at least 7 times in the car.
@@MindShift-Brandon The God Delusion gets a lot of credit for being the only New Atheist book (That I know of) to actually cover theistic arguments. But he undeniably misrepresented every argument he addressed. Like he clearly didn't do his due diligence in researching what, say, a medieval writer like Aquinas actually meant before presuming to refute him in a book sold to millions of people.
Two things: One, I read Zealot when I was taking a college class on the gospels at my religious college and I remember being SO. MAD. at Reza for bringing up points and talking about stuff that was similar to what I had been doubting. I was really angry that there were others asking questions and pointing out issues. Two, I've done so well not buying new books recently. And looks like that streak is about to end. Thanks a lot lol
I never really believed what I had been taught in church and school, and I remember thinking that I was missing something, or that there was something I just wasn't getting, and, when I finally did, it would be a revelation. Well, I did have that revelation, but it wasn't the one I expected. I was reading a Michael Moorcock or maybe a James Herbert book, and I must have been working some stuff out and not really paying attention to the book, and I suddenly realised that it was all a load of horse apples. I remember laughing out loud when it hit me. It was stupid, a bunch of fairy tales and scarey ghost stories. It was nonsense. I've been much happier since.
This is the first video from your channel that the RU-vid algorithm offered to me, and it was an excellent introduction. I've added a couple of your book recommendations to my audible library (I used the link from here, so hopefully the affiliate links work for those as well). I'm looking forward to working my way through your back catalog. Cheers and happy holidays!
As someone with very few book resources, I would probably give you "My journey to atheism in 25 RU-vid channels"😂😂😂. The internet was my greatest resource. Books like Sapiens, The God delusion and Demon haunted world were great resources that came after my conversion. Adding your recommendation to my reading list
In today's age that is more accessible for lots of people, and it might be safer if someone is living is a heavy fundamentalist area where being caught with atheist literature might be dangerous.
Fantastic! I just ordered, “God An Anatomy” audiobook and will start listening to it today. I’ve never heard of it so thank you! This channel is so, so important!
Brandon: "I have a bonus book that helped with my deconversion." Me: "This has gotta be a pro-Christian book that's just absolutely full of holes and other issues." Brandon: "The Bible." I was far more right than even I guessed :D That gave me a great big laugh.
@christophergibson7155, how about Genesis. The creation myth is so incorrect its laughable. Our current knowledge of the universe exposes the Bible as a work of fiction.
@@TonyLambregts It is only laughable to the professing atheist. You know that God exists but you suppress the truth in your unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18) The creation story makes perfect sense. We were not created as an animal. We were created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:26) We are created with living souls. We have been given a conscience. Animals only have instinct. And the evolution story is not science. How can you believe the scientific impossibility that "nothing" creating everything? Evolution is not observable and repeatable, and therefore not science. There are zero transitional species (from one kind to another). Cats have always been cats, and dogs...dogs. The Lord God created everything "after it's kind" "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1) "Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." (Psalm 90:2) "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings," (Acts 17:26) No, I do not believe for a moment that the Bible is any work of fiction. It is the truth.
Hi! I am really happy to see your channel grow. You helped me a lot to understand certain topics and motivated me to go further in my deconstruction journey. This list of books looks great, thanks a lot! Cheers :)
Great list! For me deconversion was a two step process. First beleiving in evolution "blind watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins and "Orgin of Species" by Darwn made me a liberal Christian then Sam Harris "end of faith" took me over the finish line out of religion. I've since read most of your list and i endorse your picks.
This one isn’t a deep, scholarly work but I love Seth Andrews’s “Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot”. It’s so relatable about the way we used to speak as Christians and how, once you actually hear what you’re saying, you wonder how you ever could have thought such ideas were anything other than garbage.
It is so comforting and reassuring to see someone else who went through, at the very least, a similar experience and journey out of Christianity and have a true shift of perspective and mind that leads to such a clear position in life and understanding. I hope that this video reaches someone questioning and helps them along their journey of deconstruction and deconversion.
The greatest freedom I think is the inability to know everything. Example: i may not be a world renowned paleontologist that has dug up dozens of different specimens but i have been a dinosaur and ancient life fanatic since i was a child and enjoy learning things i didn't know previously about them. I also learning about things like multiverse theory and suns larger than entire galaxies. Every time i talk about stuff like that people treat me like i don't know anything and they know everything. People like that really get under my skin in the worst way.
More books please on any subject, I have read all those that you mentioned and still have some in my home library. Its like the matrix once you see it you can never chose to go back to it, as an optical illusion it disappears.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and honesty on your journey im still torn between it all but im trying, im not there yet ,looks like i have some reading to do thanks for the recommendations have a great Sunday! ☺️
Looking at the thumbnail of the book spines, I'm surprised not to see "The Demon-Haunted World/Science As A Candle In The Dark" by Carl Sagan (Hail Sagan🤘) in the collection. That was my first introduction to critical thinking and skepticism. I was still a seeker and fake believer (as a minister) when I checked out that book from the library. It was all breaking apart and being put back together for me from that point on.
@MindShiftSkeptic IMHO, it is a must-read. I've read it cover to cover several times now. The first time, I couldn't put it down. I remember going to church services and having the things I read jump out all over the place. Looking back at it now, it was personally epic!!!
I echo recommendation for Why Evolution Is True. I always believed it even when an xtian, but just wanted to understand it better. Also love Dan Barker, Sam Harris, Hitch, and several others. I will have to check out the ones I haven’t read, and LOVE the last book you suggested. That’s the one that makes atheists of many of us 👏👏👏
Re: "Feeling" the spirit in a church setting. Music. Amazing. It's very telling that so many religious leaders/ groups throughout history, and even now, have declared certain music of their time to be unacceptable, ungodly, sinful etc. Music is powerful. It has such an effect on us. I can understand how that feeling that seems to overwhelm the senses, could be taken to be evidence of the presence of God. When in a group of people who are fully immersed in not just listening to, but experiencing the music playing, together, there can be an incredibly euphoric sense of experiencing something... profound, bigger, something, more? When younger I often went to clubs that specifically played electronic dance music genres that are known as euphoric, for their effect on people, the music intentionally invokes those kinds of responses; Wthout alcohol, or drugs, I have felt that overwhelming response, and that sort of sense of understanding this is what life is all about, that comes with knowing you're part of this bigger thing, in this crowd of others experiencing the same thing. It's amazing. And, I can understand how anyone who has only known that to be something that is experienced at church, and is taught to believe it is unique to that, could genuinely believe they have evidence in this personal experience of the divine.
19:43 Highly looking forward to this video! Just finished the Case for Christ and I noticed how Strobel only consulted Christian scholars and no atheist scholars. It was hard for me to take him seriously. Really looking forward to your take on his work
I mean me personally, the Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism by Aron Ra is my personal favorite, and what got my path of unbelief started, but all of these I will most definitely consider! Thank you, and have an epic day :3
I really like Jesus Interrupted by Bart Ehrman and Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism by Aron Ra. I checked out God by Francesca Stavrakopoulou based on your recommendation. Thanks dude! I will look into some of these other books.
To me, it was the Book of Mormon. I’m not a FLDS member but one of my former clients was. Gave me the Book of Mormon. I read it and just bust out laughing time and again at the absurdity of it all. Then read about Joseph Smith and him finding all of this out through looking at magically plates with a seer stone and a top hat and I laughed that much harder. Then I looked up their population. 17 MILLION. 17 million people have been convinced of this in the age of information we live in. It’s mind boggling. Then, taking a step back, you realize that the Bible, the Torah, the Quran….they are not much better and in some ways, they are FAR worse than the Book of Mormon. And yet, 1/2 the people on the earth, feel like THOSE 2000+ year old books are worthy of constructing their lives around. It was eye opening. For as much as you want to point the finger at one religion or denomination, there are 1000 pointing out the absurdity of yours. From there on, they were all just variations of variations of fairy tales. Jonah and the Whale was no more true than Jack and the Bean Stalk.
Yep! Sounds like I need to read that book if I was a good laugh. lol. But it's so true. I keep trying to tell my family, "If ANY religion was confirmed to be true then it would be called SCIENCE and not religion." I was always skeptical of Christianity even as a kid but even more so since I have an education in psychology. It's just one giant classic conditioning experiment. Religions who last the test of time have the same carrot and stick rhetoric. One realization I had recently was the Bible CONFIRM (in its own lore) the existence of other gods, especially the ancient Egyptian ones. So I'm going to tell Christians I'm going to convert to Kemetism because of the Bible. LOL! I want my heart to be lighter than a feather when evaluated by Anubis so I'm not tortured for all eternity. My soul is on the line!!! 😱
@@suicune2001 Absolutely. Wonder what those ancient Egyptian Gods are up to these days? Maybe I’ll name my first born son, Apollo. I mean, if the United States is going to name their space program after them then CLEARLY there HAS to be some truth that he really existed. Or maybe it will be Thor, as we call the 4th day of the week after him so clearly that was proof he really existed too, which by default, means that Odin is the TRUE God. Wonder if all of these Gods ever meet at Starbucks….
@@roc5291 LMAO! The evidence is so obvious when you point it out like that! I've always had an affinity for the Egyptian gods so I'll be rooting for them in the tag team cage match. lol. Starbucks is way too mainstream and corporate. These gods have standards, after all. Whatever the snooty version of Starbucks is is where they'll be. Does Gordon Ramsey do coffee?
@@suicune2001 I’m sure if Ramsey owned such a coffee shop, it would be called: “Rubbish”. But I had this conversation with a friend of mine a month ago. He’s one of those who dutifully listens to what I have to say on this and then just shrugs his shoulders and goes: “Well, I believe in God but I get it”. I then asked him, if he didn’t believe in the Christian Godhead, which other Godhead would he believe in. He then went on a 10 minute speech about how he LOVES Norse Gods like Odin and Thor. Loves the mythology and stories of them. I then asked him what would change about his life if he started to believe in them instead and then pointed out how passionately he talked about THOSE Gods and how lackadaisically he talked about his “one true God”. There was a pause, some wheels turning, then I got a “I don’t know” then he switched the subject to football.
Just ended the video, a great one for sure, I'll be looking at some of these, and eventually i hope, all of them. For books related content i would love book reviews or recommendations and even taking topics from books for discussion, go for it!!
Everyone has beliefs--EVERYONE. It is not so much a matter of having beliefs, but WHO one believes. Will men believe God and his word (ref. John 17:17)? Jesus made it clear that one's eternal welfare depended upon what you believe about him, saying, If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24b). And again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life (John 6:47).
@@sm8johnthreesixteen Not everyone has beliefs involving storybook characters though. That's predominantly a religious thing, and something the nonreligious prefer to avoid.
@@FoursWithin The Bible is full of narratives and events involving real people that lived in the ancient past (some famous, some not) but people just like us. And the geography--wow! So much that pins those things down to specific places, and times!
@@sm8johnthreesixteen Your weak argument has faulty logic. The Koran names real people and real places also. Do you believe in the Koran too ? As do plenty of other "sacred" texts. Do you believe in the narratives of these other miraculous events of other religions involving their Gods or Goddesss?
Wow Brandon your posts just get better and better. This is so helpful. I've read six on the list and was wondering what to read next so you have given me plenty of choice. Thanks for all the time and work you put in.
This was an incredible video. Many times I've looked for books that could help shed some light on topics. From historical stuff to stuff covering woo like topics theist's like to manipulate. Like consciousness and such. Id love love love to see you do a part 2 3 or maybe even 4 there's so much knowledge to be found in these books that it can help immensely. Im not sure what other books id mention but i definitely enjoy books like determined that take a look at humans neurologically and explain some of these phenomenon's. Id also speaking of bart erhman recommend haven and hell a history of the afterlife. And paranormality why we see things that aren't there.
This is an excellent list of books. I have read some of them already. Looking forward to reading the rest. Thank you ever so much for your recommendation.
Dang, Brandon. Thanks for these recommendations. Misquoting Jesus and Zealot really helped me with some of the lingering “what if I’m wrong?” feelings I’ve had during my deconversion. Keep up the good work. Love the channel.
I love these "Book" suggestion videos Brandon. Agreed w you on Sam Harris, Hitch, Bart. Many I haven't read, but would like to. Especially the God Anatomy. I'm watching your series on that and would love to get it for myself. All great suggestions. A little off track here, but one big factor for me, 20 yrs ago, when my deconstruction was in it's infancy, a PBS Program at the time, really started to expand my mind, similar to what you said about a few of these books. The show is called "Closer To Truth", hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn. I still follow this on You Tube. My Highest Reccomendation for a Television Series. Hope you enjoy the "Holiday Season and keep up the good work. Your Channel gets my 5 Star Rating. Simply Outstanding content And Presentation. Top Shelf. Mark in Michigan
Loved this so much! Thanks for all the recommendations. I also enjoyed watching your Jenga stacking of all those books! every time you put a new one on the stack, I held my breath a little until they settled 😅
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
Stunned to hear the apologies for Harris. Where have I been? I don't even know what a "new" atheist is, well, except they are not Carl Sagan? Ha! You always say it so well, Brandon. Praise the Lord!
Ha. The contempt is real from so many. I think its mainly just jealousy for focusing on a few of their flaws too harshly. They were needed and played their part big time! I will always be grateful. And thank you!
New Atheism was the movement that popularised atheism in the general public following 9/11. As for Harris, he became consumed with the religion of politics and it distorted much of his rational thinking on the matter (look up the Hunter Biden Triggerometry comment if you don't believe me). Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith are still excellent, but Harris is pretty much done as a serious public intellectual.
Was so pleased to see this come up on my RU-vid feed! I'm very big on books, and you definitely shouldn't shy away from featuring more book-related videos on this channel. That said, my journey to atheism was a bit more oriented around the internet. Potholer54's anti-creationist videos in particular (creationism was never enforced in my church, but lots of people did accept it, and I wanted to quell my doubts, whilst also being introduced to how dishonest some Christians could be) but also people like DarkMatter2525, Aron Ra, and The Brick Testament, the latter of which gave me more insight than I could ask for into the content of the Bible. However, books have been significant in shaping how I approach religion since then, and recommendations on the front I have include The God Argument by A.C. Grayling (basically a more briefer and better organized God Delusion), Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing To Do With God by Greta Christina (self-explanatory), Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht (a history going back to the ancient world of how believers and non-believers have expressed religious doubt and expanded their views of the world), and The Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism by Aron Ra (a must for anyone who enjoys his videos, with as much detail as you could ask for). My first Ehrman book was How Jesus Became God, which absolutely blew me away - I thought I had had insight before to the historical Jesus and the historical context in which Christianity emerged, but this was an whole new level. There are a lot of other biblical scholars covering interesting topics that I want to read, but none other than Hector Avalos. One of his books, The Bad Jesus, which is sadly out of my price range at the moment, gives a whole volume to what Bertrand Russell covered in one section of his lecture and Dan Barker gave a chapter to in his book on God's unpleasantness. But I think I've recommended him before, so don't hesitate to make a video if you do pick up one of his books and enjoy it!
Awesome lineup of books!📚 I just purchased Zealot by Reza, I must say I’m shocked that you didn’t include the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. During my de-conversion process that book was immensely helpful for my outlook on life and how to deal with questions of morality without “objective morals”, that were really just rules that God tells you through an ancient text. Great video though, and if you haven’t read the God Delusion yet by Dawkins you should definitely read it. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s science-y, it’s moral and rational, incredibly well written, it’s my favorite book of all time.
Great recommendations! So many I haven’t read yet. Excited to hear you’re getting back to training. Heard you say in an interview you wanted to run a 100 miles. As a Fellow ultra runner I’d like you to keep us updated on your progress.
I actually sought out Brandon's Bookshelf after watching your God an Anatomy part 2 video. I got curious about what books you talked about there and I definitely added some to my library to listen through. I wouldn't mind videos like these from time to time on some good new reads to check out!
Really enjoyed this, I think I've read 9 from that set. Several are on my want to read list. One suggestion, I enjoyed Donald Prothero's "Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters" more than "Why Evolution Is True." More a recommendation for Prothero than a swipe at Coyne. YMMV
Truly an excellent reading list. I have many of them and there are some I haven't heard of, but of course will have to check out. Too bad there are only so many hours in a day to read. A few other authors to check out would be Graham Oppy, John Loftus, Joshua Bowen, & Lawrence Krauss. Keep thinking and question everything!
I'm a little late to the party, but I would recommend "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter. This is a heavy, dense book. But, during my deconversion, this book knocked down the last pillar of faith that I had: my belief in the existence of my own soul. This book provided me with an explanation of how it might be possible for something as esoteric as human consciousness to arise out of inanimate matter. The construction of this book is really a work of art. But in order to get through it, you must at least have a passing interest in Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. Otherwise, it will be a very tedious read for you.
Thanks so much, so helpful. Yes please to more videos summarising helpful books! I would have been very happy to hear more on each book. Or an episode on themed books eg just bible scholars, or just philosophers. Helpful to hear what each author adds. I have found Mythvision, Gnostic Informant and History Valley so helpful introducing me to so many amazing scholar authors and each adds something
Thank you for sharing your list! I've read some of these books and have enjoyed them as well. I look forward to reading the others listed and diving deeper into these subjects.
Great video Brandon, and great book recommendations! I’m going through Marcus Aurelius’s “meditations” and it has some great wisdom. Have to pick some of these up before the black weekend sales end.
Great vlog. I have read about one-third of them already but now I have more to pursue! All through the long years of Christianity that I endured, there was always a feeling that it was all a fabrication but I desperately wanted it to be true. I wanted to fit in and I wanted approval. I wanted to believe that glory in heaven awaited me. Eventually I realised I was just fooling myself. I was (as Dan Dennett puts it) believing in belief.
One of my favourite videos from you yet Brandon. Thanks for this. After discovering you here, I've retroactively fallen in love with your old book videos from your previous channel, and it left me disappointed that you've taken a step back away from books. So, please - YES - more of this! Books have played a massive role in my deconversion too, and for years now, I've spent around a hour or two every day out hiking with audiobooks, and by now I've listened to hundreds of science, history, religion, and philosophy books. You've given me a few more to add to my queue, so thanks. In the meantime, I'm reading God: An Anatomy along with you, and pausing after each chapter to wait for your next video, so I'm eagerly anticipating your next one. I love your idea of pairing up an apologetics books with a secular book on the same topic and comparing and contrasting the ideas, breaking them down. I can't wait for that series. Thanks Brandon - and good luck with your quest to get back into endurance athletics. I'm rooting for you!
Love the recommendations & review, so good! You are one of the ones I found in my deconstruction journey and I've become a fan even in my reconstruction phase. Deconstruction was swift for me, as I learned I've done this many times in my life with religions, and thinking back so was my reconstruction. While my in-between phases I've flirted with agnosticism just so my body & soul could get some relief. I have now gone full circle and am a theist now. I've studied and have been so many religions, it's almost what u can call my life's work, to know and love God. Why? I wasn't raised like this, I was raised without religion but I came out of the womb so to speak "Loving God". And the spiritual experiances I had as a heathen kid who just at the time loved grandly something beyond me, shaped me and will shape me till I'm in a box or scattered across-the-board the earth. I regret the length of time I've waisted in Christianity, when I could of spent time working on my meditation/yoga advancement and reaching new heights. I consider myself a Hindu-Yogi if that gives you an idea of where I'm at. You spent much more time in that belief system and only that system for 30 years while I danced heavily around before fully taking on xtianity as a result, Do you mourn your time you can't get back to spend on more lofty things? I think the grieving period of deconstruction lent itself towards not a God existing, but the time I waisted when I could of been my free sprit self & also the mental shattering of my beloved spiritual heart that took place under a biblical God. I think these topics would make a good video if you haven't dug into them already? I feel so much freer and at peace in Hinduism. I felt like I left a prison when I dropped xtianity. It's not my first go at hindiusm while for a time I was in a yoga cult (pretty non nefarious not even called a cult by most) as a teen. Now I'm in my early 30s. My S.O. is agnostic through n through. I've told them about my spiritual experiance as a child & why I am the way I am. While they remain an open curiosity about things, they dont pursue much into the spiritual realm unless it has been secularised and washed of its spiritual roots. They taught me by observing how to function without religion as they were agnostic since their early teens. Ex xtian who grew up in a very Christian household. They taught me from observation to not be afraid of hell or a God who would put me there. I also feel with even more conviction that everyone is entitled to their spiritual beliefs or lack of & should have the freedom to express it in a non harmful fashion. I'm free I'm happy I'm at peace in my reclaimed religion. I've had quite the religious ride in my life mentally and spiritually. Glad back to be devoted to God(Lord Krishna) and to revel in the Hindu Vedas and other text. I feel so seen, understood and at home here. The closest thing I can get an explanation of to my experiance is in the Hindu religion. I grieve the time and ignorance it took me to fuck myself into xtianity and then mindfuck myself back out. But now I have the rest of my days to be happy where I am at. Reconstruction is not for everyone, especially when it's towards your former faith, or another faith, but ive had enough lifetime experiance and tenacity to embrace it quite easily than others. Reconstruction towards non belief is okay too. Whatever frees someone of Christianity I can get behind. While we don't share the same beliefs and never will, I praise your channel and your mind for being clear, wise, articulate and compassionate. 🙏 thank you for being one of the catalyst that frees me so quickly from my bonds. Great work!
I love this list of books and people. I can't wait to checkout some of these books that I haven't heard of. I would add Michael Shermer to the list. Shermer is an endurance athlete (cycling) like you and I (triathlon and adventure racing) so that makes me like him and you even more. Good luck with your training.
