How to analyze and reevaluate your Christian beliefs and experiences in the church while keeping the core of your faith intact. 
The number of Christians leaving the church today is significant. Many feel there is no place for them within the faith—they no longer feel at home in their church community or tradition. For various reasons, they are unsettled by the version of Christianity they've inherited. 
Stripping away the nonessential aspects of Christianity, Sean McDowell and John Marriott will help you navigate the jarring questions and cultural challenges that lead many to walk away from the faith. You'll come to recognize that there are other ways Christians throughout history have understood what faithfulness to Jesus looks like. 
Each chapter provides practical advice on how to disassemble, rethink, and reassemble beliefs that are truly Christian and culturally and personally relevant. You'll learn how you can continue to seek an authentic faith by: Establishing Jesus and his teachings as the foundation. Utilizing the creeds as boundary markers of what is essential. Seeing the entire Bible as a truthful revelation from God. Seeing Christianity as a historic and global tradition that encompasses diverse communities and viewpoints.\nThe authors of this book can personally identify with the process of disillusionment that many young believers go through. They wrote Set Adrift as people who had to navigate their own way back through the fog of deconstruction. They wrote it to offer their own personal suggestions for what to do when you're not sure what to believe anymore.

Set Adrift: Deconstructing What You Believe Without Sinking Your Faith

Religion & Spirituality

McDowell, Sean

Marriott, John

Christian Books & Bibles

Zondervan

In this six-session video study (video streaming code included) bestselling author Dan Kimball guides you step-by-step through making sense of the most misunderstood, difficult, and disturbing Bible passages. This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including: <ul> <li>The study guide itself--with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader's guide.</li> <li>An individual access code to stream all six video sessions online (you don't need to buy a DVD!).</li> </ul> For centuries, the Bible was called "the Good Book," a moral and religious text that guides us into a relationship with God and shows us the right way to live. Today, however, some people argue the Bible is outdated and harmful, with many Christians unaware of some of the odd and disturbing things the Bible says or how to understand them. Whether you're a Christian, a doubter, or someone exploring the Bible for the first time, Dan Kimball is your guide to understanding and contextualizing passages in Scripture that seem backward on topics related to women, science, violence, slavery, and world religions. Filled with stories, visual illustrations, and memes reflecting popular cultural objections,&nbsp;How (Not) to Read the Bible&nbsp;is a lifeline for individuals who are confused or discouraged with questions about the Bible. Sessions include: <ul> <li>Never Read a Bible Verse</li> <li>Stranger Things</li> <li>Boys' Club Christianity</li> <li>Jesus Riding a Dinosaur</li> <li>My God Can Beat Up Your God</li> <li>Rated NC-17</li> </ul> This study can be done in youth groups, single's groups, small groups, Sunday classes, and by individuals. *Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2026. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Eligible only on retail purchases inside the United States. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

How (Not) to Read the Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy Sounding Parts of Scripture

Kimball, Dan

HarperChristian Resources

In this six-session video study (video streaming code included) bestselling author Dan Kimball guides you step-by-step through making sense of the most misunderstood, difficult, and disturbing Bible passages. 
This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including: The study guide itself—with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader's guide. An individual access code to stream all six video sessions online. And the physical DVD. 
For centuries, the Bible was called "the Good Book," a moral and religious text that guides us into a relationship with God and shows us the right way to live. Today, however, some people argue the Bible is outdated and harmful, with many Christians unaware of some of the odd and disturbing things the Bible says or how to understand them. 
Whether you're a Christian, a doubter, or someone exploring the Bible for the first time, Dan Kimball is your guide to understanding and contextualizing passages in Scripture that seem backward on topics related to women, science, violence, slavery, and world religions. 
Filled with stories, visual illustrations, and memes reflecting popular cultural objections, How (Not) to Read the Bible is a lifeline for individuals who are confused or discouraged with questions about the Bible. 
Sessions include: Never Read a Bible Verse Stranger Things Boys' Club Christianity Jesus Riding a Dinosaur My God Can Beat Up Your God Rated NC-17 
This study can be done in youth groups, single's groups, small groups, Sunday classes, and by individuals. 
*Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2026. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Eligible only on retail purchases inside the United States. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

How (Not) to Read the Bible Study Guide with DVD: Making Sense of the Anti-women, Anti-science, Pro-violence, Pro-slavery and Other Crazy Sounding Parts of Scripture

Invisible Jesus: A Book about Leaving the Church and Looking for Christ

MCKNIGHT, SCOT

Phillips, Tommy Preson

(Un)Certain: A Collective Memoir of Deconstructing Faith uncovers the courage and vulnerability of over 150 individuals from around the world as they navigate through their unravelling beliefs. Olivia Jackson weaves together stories of deeply committed believers who reached a breaking point with the Christian certainties and doctrines they once held dear. Exploring tales of abuse, exclusionary or harsh theologies, and a slow crumbling of conviction as interviewees share their journey towards a carefully considered expansion of faith, the book offers a glimpse into the nuanced and diverse experiences of those who reached the end of the road and dared to keep walking.

(Un)Certain: A Collective Memoir of Deconstructing Faith

Jackson, Olivia

SCM Press

Exvangelical and Beyond: How American Christianity Went Radical and the Movement That's Fighting Back

History

Chastain, Blake

Americas

Tarcher

A first-of-its-kind devotional for the disenchanted, disillusioned, and deconstructed Countless Christians are deconstructing the fear-based faith they were handed, but many don't want to give up on God-they want to love and be loved by Jesus without hateful or abusive theology. If you're one of these believers, this feminist, anti-racist, LGBTQ-affirming devotional will take you on a journey of spiritual reenchantment. Featuring 40 devotions on God's radical and liberating salvation, it's here to help you heal your church hurt, restore your sense of community, and embrace Jesus's heart-healing forgiveness. Move beyond rigid religion and reconnect with the undeniable truth that predates and will outlive all the toxic theology in the world- God made you to love you.

God Didn't Make Us to Hate Us: 40 Devotions to Liberate Your Faith from Fear and Reconnect with Joy

McManus-Dail, Rev. Lizzie

"The problem was, because Purity is an idol (a validated and worshiped idol), I didn't know who or what I'd be without my totem. My Christianity depended on Purity."&nbsp; Going to a conservative Christian church when she was young, Brenda Marie Davies heard a consistent message--save yourself for marriage--that instilled in her fear and shame about sex.&nbsp;But after moving to Los Angeles at nineteen and finding herself suddenly exposed to a world far outside her comfort zone, she was forced to wrestle with the power and perversity of Christian purity culture.&nbsp; On Her Knees&nbsp;chronicles Brenda's spiritual journey over the course of a decade in LA, through marriage, divorce, unlikely friendship, and sexual exploration. Through it all, she began tearing down the false idol of purity while refusing to abandon her faith.&nbsp; Told with raw honesty, sans obligatory shame, this is a story for anyone who wonders if it's possible to love God without fearing sex, in all its shades of grey.

On Her Knees: Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel

Davies, Brenda Marie

Eerdmans

"We have a right to encounter God where we are. We have a sacred responsibility to experience God authentically."&nbsp; What happens when the God we've been taught to believe in seems powerless to help us in the struggles of life? What do we do when the God we personally encounter no longer resembles the God we've been shown in narrow interpretations of the Bible?&nbsp; Many of those raised in the world of fundamentalist Christianity have been manipulated into accepting a false reality that runs counter to lived experience. The result is confusion, isolation, fear, shame, and trauma, often carried throughout one's entire life. This book is for the victims of this spiritual abuse--anyone looking to reclaim their faith from legalism, nationalism, sexism, anxiety, intolerance, and other mechanisms of control utilized by God's self-appointed gatekeepers. It's for anyone who has learned that the real God is infinitely complex, that authentic faith is perfectly compatible with doubt, and that our suffering is not something we've earned.&nbsp; Gaslighted by God&nbsp;is not a book of easy answers--it's a companion for those mourning the loss of a belief system who need their pain recognized and legitimized. Tiffany Yecke Brooks shows--through stories from her own life, conversations with Christians from a variety of backgrounds, historical anecdotes, and messy episodes from Scripture--that there can be faith after disillusionment. But it will be a different faith--bruised, battered, nuanced, and&nbsp;real, rather than one wrapped in tissue-thin platitudes and three-point sermons. It will be a faith empowered to see beyond who God "should" be to who God&nbsp;is.

Gaslighted by God: Reconstructing a Disillusioned Faith

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Brooks, Tiffany Yecke

Mental Health

Review\n“I love Shannon’s conviction that resurrection is not a moment, but a process. There is a holy unfolding in this book, as Scripture comes to life in a fresh, accurate, and authentic way. In the process Shannon blesses us with the story of his own resurrection.” 
— Paula Stone Williams 
from the foreword\n“By blending the biblical narrative with his own, Kearns shows us just how resilient and adaptive our stories can be—for our selves, for our communities, and for our loved ones. This is the greatest kind of faithfulness—not to a single notion of God or to a certain set of unchanging rules, but to one another’s flourishing.” 
— Blake Chastain 
author and host of the Exvangelical podcast\n“Woven together with his own personal experiences, In the Margins is honest and heartfelt. Father Shannon presents a transgender reading of the Bible in a way that is accessible without watering down the deep scholarship so clearly at its foundation. Cis and trans Christians, clergy and lay, alike have a lot to gain by reading this book.” 
— Elle Dowd 
author of Baptized in Tear Gas: From White Moderate to Abolitionist\n“In telling his own story, Shannon Kearns somehow also manages to hold a mirror up to the reader. In the Margins doesn’t just provide this gift to readers who are transgender—I believe Kearns’s journey through American evangelicalism and his reclamation of his own body, autonomy, and faith will ring true for anyone blessed to find a copy.” 
— Austen Hartke 
author of Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians\n“I tell folks in my church, ‘Don’t read the Bible alone.’ It takes a community to do the discerning work such a powerful text requires. Shannon Kearns has expanded my community by inviting me into his company as a transgender Christian and a serious reader of Scripture. He shows me what my cis-straight self would easily miss—and isn’t that a good gift?” 
— Katie Hays 
author of God Gets Everything God Wants\nMoving the conversation beyond transgender inclusion to demonstrate the unique and vital theological insights transgender Christians can provide the church. 
Father Shannon Kearns is familiar with liminal spaces. He’s lived in them his whole life. And while his experience as a transgender man has often made it difficult for him to fit in—especially in the context of Christianity—it has also shaped his perspective in important ways on complicated, gender-transgressing aspects of theology and Scripture. 
In the Margins weaves stories from Shannon’s life into reflections on well-known biblical narratives—such as Jacob wrestling with the divine, Rahab and the Israelite spies, Ezekiel and the dry bones, and the transfiguration of Jesus. In each chapter, Shannon shows how stories have helped him make sense of his own identity, and how those same stories can unlock the transformative power of faith for those willing to listen with an open mind and stand alongside him in the in-between.

In the Margins: A Transgender Man’s Journey with Scripture

LGBTQ+ Books

Kearns, Shannon T. L.

Biographies & Memoirs

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