Book List:  Israel, Prophecy, and Politics

• Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. A monumental study of individuals and groups that are shaped by views of Bible prophecy. Order

• David Brog, Standing with Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2006. A defense of Christian Zionism by a Jew working at Christians United for Israel. Order

• Gary M. Burge, Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told about Israel and the Palestinians. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2003. Argues that the best way for Christians to love Israel is also to care about Palestinians, especially Palestinian Christians. Order

• Stephen Sizer, Zion’s Christian Soldiers: The Bible, Israel, and the Church. Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2008. A book critical of those who support Israel “no matter what” based on their view of Bible prophecy. Order

• Timothy P. Weber, On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004. The history of how certain views of Bible prophecy produced a pro-Israel political movement in the 80s to the present. Order

Book List:  World Religions

• Reza Aslan, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. New York: Random House, 2006. A Muslim’s engaging account of Islam’s history and need for reform. Order

• John Esposito, What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions from One of America’s Leading Experts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. As the title indicates, a helpful book written for people who have basic questions about Islam. Order

• Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. A brief but insightful examination of how the complicated relationship between Islam and the West has changed over the past three hundred years. Order

• Jacob Neusner, ed. World Religions in America, 4th ed. Nashville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009. A collection of articles by scholars who know what they are talking about to explain the religious diversity in the U.S. Order
   
• Huston Smith, The World’s Religions. New York: Harper One, 2009. The classic one-volume study of the world’s religions. Order

Book List:  Studies on the History of Christianity

• Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. New York: Viking, 2009. The latest “big” history of Christianity (over 1000 pages!) that tells you everything you want to know and more. Order

• Justo L. Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996. Covers the same ground in only 95 pages, written by a widely-read and recognized scholar in the field. Order

• Philip Jenkins, The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and How It Died. New York: HarperOne, 2008. The title says it all—a part of the Christian story that few modern people know anything about. Order

• Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Shows how the center of gravity of Christianity has shifted to the southern and eastern hemispheres, away from Europe and North America. Order
   
• Martin Marty, The Christian World: A Global History. New York: The Modern Library, 2007. A brief overview (250 pages) of the world-wide sweep of the Christian movement, gracefully written. Order

Book List:  America’s Religious Origins

• Noah Feldman, Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem—and What We Should Do About It. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. An intriguing study of how debates about church and state keep popping up in American history and where the debate stands today. Order

• Edwin S. Gaustad, Faith of the Founders: Religion and the New Nation 1776-1826. Waco: Baylor University Pres, 2004. A good overview of Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Washington, Adams and the process of discernment the new nation went through concerning religion. Order

• Jon Meacham, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. New York: Random House, 2006. A middle-of-the-road position on the importance of religion in the nation’s beginnings and how the Founders both valued and limited religion in American public life. Order

• Steven Waldman, Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty. New York: Random House, 2009. A readable overview of the religious views of the Founders and their arguments over what to do with religion in the new Republic. Order

• John F. Wilson and Donald L. Drakeman, Church and State in American History: Key Documents, Decisions, and Commentary from the Past Three Centuries 3rd ed. New York: Westview Press, 2003. A helpful survey of how church-state issues have played out in American history, including a fascinating collection of primary sources so readers can judge for themselves. Order

The sources on religion in contemporary life are varied and extensive. This page identifies a collection of excellent research-based resources to help you separate fact from fiction.

There are links to recent surveys and book lists containing especially helpful books on “religion matters” related to these topics:

• America's Religious Origins
• Studies on American Religion
• Studies on the History of Christianity
• Israel, Prophecy, and Politics
• World Religions

The books may be ordered from Amazon.com by clicking on the  “Order” link after each entry.  We will update this collection periodically, so be sure to check back often.

Book List:  Studies on American Religion

• Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010. An important study by two prominent sociologists on how American religious values have changed gradually over time and what our current situation says about America’s future. Order

• D. Michael Lindsey, Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Shows how many evangelical leaders have exerted influence in government, business, academia, and the arts by finding common ground with people not like themselves. Order

• Martin Marty, Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America. New York: Penguin, 1985. An historical survey that shows that America has been religiously diverse since the beginning. Order

• Mark Noll, The Old Religion in a New World: A History of North American Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. A readable and concise (only 300 pages!) survey of religion in America and Canada (for comparative purposes). Order

• Mark Noll and Luke Harlow, eds. Religion and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. A collection of essays by leading scholars in the field on a variety of subjects. Order