I am often asked for my recommendations for books that are well-suited to adult study groups. Here is a list of the most suitable of my books, as well as those by other authors.

My Books

Many of my books are written for just this audience. In particular, I would recommend books from the following list; any of the first five would work well as starter books:

• Reading the Bible Again
• The Heart of Christianity
• Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
• The God We Never Knew
• Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, with John Dominic Crossan
• The Last Week
• The First Christmas, with N.T. Wright
• The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions.

Books by other authors
In no particular order:

The Luminous Web.
by Barbara Brown Taylor
Brief (about 100 pages) and stylistically elegant book about the relationship between science and religion.

Shantung Compound.
by Langdon Gilkey
One of my favorite “teaching” books. A case study of human nature, politics, and religion. A great read.

Who Was Jesus?
by John Dominic Crossan
The most readable of his books.

God and Empire
by John Dominic Crossan
Also a very readable book – and important and provocative.

Excavating Jesus
by John Dominic Crossan, with Jonathan Reed
A compelling blend of Jesus scholarship and archeology.

Jesus and Non-Violence
by Walter Wink
Brief, striking, provocative.

Memories of God.
by Roberta Bondi
Growing up with God and moving beyond childhood understandings to a mature theology.

The Practicing Congregation and
Christianity for the Rest of Us.
by Diana Butler Bass
Important books about the revitalization of mainline congregations.

Sabbath.
by Wayne Muller
A life-giving book about recovering Sabbath.

Buddha
by Karen Armstrong
The most readable of her books. A fascinating account of the life of the Buddha and his teachings, with frequent connections to Christian notions.

The Prophetic Imagination
by Walter Brueggemann
Important and accessible.

Why Religion Matters
by Huston Smith

The World’s Religions
by Huston Smith
The most readable and most interesting introduction to the world’s major religions.

A New Religious America
by Diana Eck
Religious pluralism in America.

Theologies of Religions
by Paul Knitter
Insightful account of Christian theologies of religious pluralism.

John Shelby Spong.
All of his books are very readable and liberating – though in my judgment he is better at taking things apart than putting them back together.