There is a lot of confusion out there today about Christianity and the Bible, where the Bible came from, how it is interpreted, what it has to say about specific topics, and more. Here are a few books that will provide some clarity for the truly curious.
For an introduction to the faith, try:
Nouwen, Henri J.M.
Life of the Beloved. Spiritual Living in a Secular World. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992.
To come to grips with the powerful love of God for humanity, read:
Nouwen, Henri J.M.
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
To approach the Bible with insight and clarity, the following are suggested:
Brash, Donald J.
The Indispensable Guide to God's Word. Cleveland, Ohio: The Pilgrim Press, 2010.
Davis, Ellen F. & Richard B. Hays, eds.
The Art of Reading Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003.
To better understand where the sixty-six book library of the Bible came from and what a great stretch of time is covered in those books, see:
Lightfoot, Neil R.
How We Got the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1963, 1988, 2003.
Tackling some of the most challenging passages from the apostle Paul is:
Brauch, Manfred T.
Hard Sayings of Paul. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1989.
To understand the complex imagery used in the Bible, and to understand slavery in biblical terms, read:
Ryken, Leland, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III, eds.
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery: An Encyclopedic Exploration of the Images, Symbols, Motifs, Metaphors, Figures of Speech, and Literary Patterns of the Bible. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press USA, 1998.
To grapple with the relationship of slaves with Christianity in the Antebellum South, read;
Raboteau, Albert J.
Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978, 2004.
Please see the bibliographies of all of the above sources for additional reference material.
For the history of the American Baptist Churches USA denomination, including our fight against the vile historical institution of slavery in the U.S., read:
http://www.abc-usa.org/what_we_believe/our-history/
To understand how American Baptist Churches USA fights modern day human trafficking (slavery) today, read:
http://www.abc-usa.org/2013/12/12/abhms-endorses-iccrs-statement-against-human-trafficking/
Finally, if you wish to use study Bibles to dig deeper, see:
Coogan, Michael D., ed.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New Revised Standard Version. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Since there are a number of sermons available on this site, if you would like some understanding on what is involved in creating a weekly sermon, read:
Allen, Ronald J.
Patterns of Preaching: A Sermon Sampler. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 1998.
and
Tizon, Al.
Missional Preaching: Engage, Embrace, Transform. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 2012.
