AI Is A Gateway To The Welfare State
October 6, 2026 |
Keith Giles
If you’re going to spend your Christmas money on books, please don’t use it to buy another “the Bible is obvious if you just read it literally” fantasy. These are the books that helped dismantle that lie for me and for so many others. They’re written by people who actually know how ancient texts work, who refuse to turn faith into a certainty contest, and who aren’t afraid to admit that fundamentalist Christianity didn’t protect belief so much as flatten it.
These books help people who were convinced God needed a defense attorney and a footnoted threat of hell. Each of the categories is linked to an amazon list with all the books in it, and of course each book has a direct link as well!
The Bible Says So Dan McClellan
Deep, careful, and relentlessly honest about what the Bible actually says versus what people claim it says. Dan does scholarship without condescension, and this book should be on everyone’s shelf.
How the Bible Actually Works Pete Enns
This book changed how I understood Scripture. Not as an answer book, but as a wisdom tradition. If you were taught that faith requires certainty, this book gently dismantles that lie.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium Bart Ehrman
This one will quietly ruin a lot of evangelical Sunday school assumptions. Ehrman takes Jesus seriously as a first-century Jewish apocalyptic preacher, not a floating theological abstraction.
Shameless Nadia Bolz-Weber
A necessary pushback against purity culture and body shame. This book talks about sex, desire, and embodiment like they actually matter, which is rare and deeply healing.
Miracles and Other Reasonable Things Sarah Bessey
For people whose faith didn’t survive certainty. This is a book for the aftermath, when you’re still spiritual but allergic to answers that pretend everything is fine.
A History of the Bible John Barton
If you want the equivalent of a solid seminary overview without enrolling in seminary, this is it. Long, yes. Also clear, generous, and worth every page.
Jesus for Everyone Amy-Jill Levine
Honestly, you should read everything she writes. This book helps you encounter Jesus outside of a narrow Christian lens and places him back in his Jewish context.
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes Kenneth Bailey
Cultural context matters, and this book proves it. Bailey helps you see Scripture through the world it came from instead of the one we projected onto it.
The Jewish New Testament Commentary David Stern
A practical, verse-by-verse resource that grounds the New Testament in its Jewish background. This is one you return to again and again.
The Origins of Early Christian Literature Robyn Faith Walsh
Treats the Bible as ancient literature instead of a dropped-from-heaven document. It’s thoughtful, rigorous, and surprisingly beautiful.
Faith After Doubt Brian McLaren
Exactly what the title promises. A map for what comes after certainty collapses.
Do I Stay Christian? Brian McLaren
Not a sales pitch. Brian genuinely explores yes, maybe, and no. That honesty is what makes it powerful.
Messy Spirituality Mike Yaconelli
This book changed my life. It gives you permission to bring the ten percent you have left and trust that it’s enough.
Help, Thanks, Wow Anne Lamott
A reframing of prayer that’s humane, funny, and deeply grace-filled. Also, her writing is just unfairly good.
The Great Search John Philip Newell
Expansive spirituality that reconnects faith with earth, body, and mystery instead of fear and control. Really it helps you embrace a connection to the natural world.
Everyday Mystic edited by Kevin Sweeney
A reminder that God might show up in ordinary life, not just religious performance.
Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card
A child savior story wrapped in science fiction and moral complexity. Explores war, the fear of the other and how we manipulate others for our own goals. Still one of the most spiritually provocative novels I’ve ever read. And there’s a movie version with Harrison Ford, and who doesn’t want more of Harrison Ford in space?
Dracula Bram Stoker
If you read this spiritually, it will take you into the darkest parts of human desire, fear, and power. Not light reading. Worth it.
Out of the Silent Planet C.S. Lewis
Lewis’s lesser-known science fiction work. Imaginative theology that explores faith, sin, and what might have happened without the fall in Genesis.
The Last Voyage Brian McLaren
A fictional exploration of humanity, ecological collapse, and whether we actually change when we start over somewhere else.
Death to the Soul R. Posgrov(e)
A powerful meditation on what has to die in us so something truer can live by an indie author I love. Also, this author gives a portion of earnings to meaningful causes, which matters.
Everly and the Little Red Door Dan Karaji
A story about thresholds and liminal spaces by another all author. Books like this tend to work on you quietly and then all at once.
Holy Love Steve Harper
Perfect if you grew up evangelical or are looking for a book for your evangelical family members. The author here was a professor at an evangelical seminar. He began his life as an unaffirming theologian and changed his mind. He speaks from an insider perspective and knows how to speak the language of evangelicalism. And, he’s a legitimate scholar.
Torn Justin Lee
An older book, but historically important. When it came out, it shaped the conversation about queer spirituality on a massive scale. It’s a memoir of coming out in the evangelical world by a young adult. Though it uses some older paradigm, it’s worth a read for its historical importance.
Unclobber Colby Martin
A careful, pastoral look at the so-called “clobber passages.” This is the book I see most recommended when people want to explore the topic of the Bible and LGBTW sexuality.
Queerfully and Wonderfully Made Leigh Finke
Written for queer Christian adolescents. I love this book more than I can say. It addresses EVERY question in plain, unvarnished language.
This Here Flesh Cole Arthur Riley
A beautiful exploration of body, memory, and faith. It names how God has been present in our bodies all along.
Holy Queer Rev. Dr. Chris Green and Rev. Dr. Michael F. Bird
A reimagining of Jesus and holiness through queer experience. If that makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably doing its job.
