Books (and authors) that have changed, challenged and shaped my faith.

Obviously the Bible is first on the list. Without it, the rest of these books would hardly have done any good. I tend to use several translations: the NIV Study Bible as my "comfort" or "devotional" Bible, the Oxford Annotated NRSV as my preferred translation, and the NASB -- mostly for double checking the NRSV. If it's serious study, I also use the Greek New Testament and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.


Susan Niditch

--War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence
--Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature
--Chaos to Cosmos: Studies in Biblical Patters of Creation


Elaine Pagels

--Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas
--The Gnostic Gospels
--The Origin of Satan


Patrick D. Miller

--The Religion of Ancient Israel


Ian W. Provan

--A Biblical History of Israel


William G. Dever

--What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?


Baruch Halpern

--The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History
--Law and Ideology in Monarchic Israel


Philip Yancey

--Rumors of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing?
--What's So Amazing About Grace?
--Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentros Helped My Faith Survive the Church
--Disappointment with God
--Reaching for the Invisible God


Carroll Osburn

--Women in the Church: Reclaiming the Ideal


Bonnidell Clouse and Robert G. Clouse

--Women in Ministry: Four Views

Walter Kaiser
Moses Silva
Richard Oster
Gordon Fee
Moishe Weinfeld
Chaim Potok

... and a ton of others. The ones listed are just a "first ones who came to mind" list. When I say they've changed, challenged and shaped my faith, I mean it. Reading these hasn't always been pleasant -- and sometimes infuriating -- but they've had an impact and for that I am grateful. Reading diverse materials helps me to better understand why I believe what I do, how I can present those beliefs to others, and, on occassion, they've changed the way I see things enough to modify, adjust and to tune my beliefs -- not in order to conform to a scholar's mold of the Christian life, but instead to be more instep with the Christ I follow.