/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10243304]

Which books will make me a Christian? Pic related is okay.

[Anonymous No.10243316]

Find faith within yourself

[Anonymous No.10243328]

What you need is Baptism, you can be a Christian while being illiterate.

[Anonymous No.10243334]

Girard, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard

[Anonymous No.10243346]

Begin to pray daily for the gift of faith. Everything suggested so far is good, and if you’re truly new to Christianity I’d add Mere Christianity by Lewis and Orthodoxy by Chesterton. and narnia, which despite being for children are lovely stories with pearls of wisdom and truth

[Anonymous No.10243390]

Thoughts on Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God Is Within You?"

[Anonymous No.10243398]

>>10243390
*"?

[Anonymous No.10243416]

>>10243390
It's not a Christian work at all.

[Anonymous No.10243432]

>>10243316
This. There are no good arguments for Christianity, so if you're not willing to just take a leap of faith, there's probably nothing that can convince you. What this anon >>10243346 said is also good advice, if you get into the habit of praying, you can basically meme yourself into believing it's real.

[Anonymous No.10243449]

>>10243432
>There are no good arguments for Christianity, so if you're not willing to just take a leap of faith, there's probably nothing that can convince you.
This is what every 19 year old atheist who just read Kierkegaard thinks, contrary to the entire Christian tradition up to the Reformation and beyond.

[Anonymous No.10243455]

>>10243316
This, you can not switch to religion by studying it. Most of pious people are not well-read into religion.

[Anonymous No.10243463]

>>10243455
Yeah but most people in general are fucking stupid.

[Anonymous No.10243984]

>>10243449
>>10243432
There are plenty of good arguments for Christianity, but none of them matter without some level of faith. Otherwise you'll just look at the arguments and find them hollow and unconvincing, no matter how logically and evidentially sound they are.

[Anonymous No.10244071]

A big loaf of bread
A big glass of wine
Not being a huge dick

[Anonymous No.10244345]

“The Orthodox Way” by Ware. It’s a good introduction to the deep theology of Christianity (e.g. what does it really mean that God is a Holy Trinity, what can that tell us about our experience of Him?)

[Anonymous No.10244580]

>>10243304
C. S. Lewis, Ravi Zacharias and Lee Strobel are worth checking out.

[Anonymous No.10245316]

>>10243390
He was a heretic, plain and simple.

[Anonymous No.10245344]

[Anonymous No.10245388]

>>10243416
>>10245316
Can either of you explain?

[Anonymous No.10245417]

>>10243304
Whatever ones are large enough to beat the sense out of your head.

[Anonymous No.10245458]

None. You have to have a willingness to believe, and that in of itself is a problem if you’re seeking a cosmological “truth”

[Anonymous No.10247089]

>>10243390
Tolstoi is bae

[Anonymous No.10247511]

>>10243304
Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Milton. I don't really know any more.

[Anonymous No.10247556]

>>10243984
/ t h r e a d

there are objectively better and more numerous arguments for theism than for atheism, however, atheists dont want to believe, and because of that, logic/arguments do not matter. god could walk to their faces they still wouldnt believe. it must come from inside of every person.
>t. was a hardcore atheist for years until I started studying literature/philosophy/theology.

as anons said, it might be a good idea to read literature books with a christian themes. divine comedy that actually opened my mind and most importantly my heart to new ideas

[Anonymous No.10247579]

The Bible

[Anonymous No.10247688]

>>10243316
This man is wrong. The devil wants you to only look inside yourself, where your sin and hateful (both self and toward others) thoughts are. God's word is also external, found in the bible and His sacraments.

[Anonymous No.10249321]

[Anonymous No.10249337]

>>10245388
Tolstoy basically just liked non-violence and used christianity to back it up.

[Anonymous No.10249403]

>>10243328
I completely agree with this anon. The unshakable and honest faith of an ignorant peasant girl is much more admirable and close to God than the studies and doubts of a scholar.

Just start theology if you really want to dedicate yourself to the study of religion, otherwise, all you need is faith. Pray, read daily passages of the Bible or other books like The Imitation of Christ, do what Jesus taught you and wish only good to others.

[Anonymous No.10249414]

>>10245388
Tolstoy was a christian, despite what the other anon said, he admired Christ and his words and believed in the christian God. But he didn't like the Orthodox Church and its priests (I don't know his opinions on the Catholic Church, but I believe he just didn't liked organized religion), his visions were quite 'eccentric' so he's not well liked by most christians, the russian orthodox Church even excommunicated him.

[Anonymous No.10249416]

>>10243304
These books greatly influenced me towards a Christian worldview:
"Cosmos and Transcendence" by Wolfgang Smith
"Nihilism" by Seraphim Rose
"The Soul of the World" by Roger Scruton

[Anonymous No.10249455]

>>10249321
>John Locke

dude was probably a crypto Atheist

[Anonymous No.10249468]

>>10249403
Faith doesn't give me any reason not to become a Pagan or Hindu.

[Anonymous No.10249572]

>>10243304
there's no dog, move on

[Anonymous No.10249594]

Bing

[Anonymous No.10249600]

>>10249468
If you truly have the desire of converting to christianity then all you need is faith. Praying, going to mass, doing good and reading the Bible constantly will just reinforce your faith.

This mentality of seeking 'reason' is not wrong in itself, but it's also not characteristic of someone who wants to be a christian, because a christian knows that the belief in God, in a way or another, will always come down to simple faith. You might find in Aquinas, Anselm, Leibniz, Craig etc a lot of arguments on the existence of God and explanations about the doubts you have regarding the Bible or the doctrine, but if you don't put faith above all, then you don't really want christianity or religion in general. You might want to study about it, you might feel compelled to it and all its writers throughout history, but in the end you will be just seeking simple studying and justifications. Faith is the beginning and the end.

Studying is really good, but, again, don't fall prey to the thought that you'll find God in those studies alone, because He can only be truly found when you acquire an unshakable faith in him. All the subsequent studies you do will only serve to reinforce your faith and to plant to seed of doubt in another's head.

That said, if you want good introduction books try reading these:

Introduction to the Devout Life - Saint Francis de Sales - Very good and easy book
The Imitation of Christ - Recommend for daily reads (1 chapter per day)
On Guard - William Lane Craig - A good book for those who seek arguments in favor of christianity
Theology and Sanity - F. J. Sheed - Probably the best introductory book on theology
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization - Thomas Woods - It's a good book despite some mistakes

Also, reading classical literature would be extremely good for starters:
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
War and Peace - Tolstoy
Everything by Dostoyevsky

And, of course, you should also start on philosophy if you plan on do some serious study of theology, start with Copleston's History of Philosophy and read some introductions to the greeks like Plato: A Very Short Introduction.

Keep in mind that there are a many great number of very good introductory books, I just listed the ones I can remember right now. Ask me any doubts you might have.

[Anonymous No.10249634]

The best reason to follow Christianity rather than some other religion, I think, is being part of a civilization which was built by Christianity. To some extent, it's in your bones, affecting your thought in ways you likely are unaware of. In other words it likely has a special compatibility with your soul. There are exceptions of course.

[Anonymous No.10249717]

Probably the Bible? Lmfao you dumbass

[Anonymous No.10249720]

>>10243328
In fact, being illiterate helps