Looking for challenging books about the Christian faith
May 30, 2011 8:47 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for challenging, daring books about the Christian faith.
I am a Christian dude. It works out well for me! But I'm also probably not the Pastor's favorite guy- I regard the Bible as a book of helpful daily advice, but full of hand-of-man monkeying. I'd like to read more about this.
I'm looking for books that are either about the historical Bible or books that sort of attack the Christian faith. I'm not looking for books that are like LOL WHITE MAN WITH BEARD IN THE CLOUDS, but I'd like to look for well-reasoned arguments about why the faith is broken/weird/contradictory and why it ended up that way. No atheist screeds or books about religion is the root of all evil or whatever, pleeeeeeasseeeee.
I am a Christian dude. It works out well for me! But I'm also probably not the Pastor's favorite guy- I regard the Bible as a book of helpful daily advice, but full of hand-of-man monkeying. I'd like to read more about this.
I'm looking for books that are either about the historical Bible or books that sort of attack the Christian faith. I'm not looking for books that are like LOL WHITE MAN WITH BEARD IN THE CLOUDS, but I'd like to look for well-reasoned arguments about why the faith is broken/weird/contradictory and why it ended up that way. No atheist screeds or books about religion is the root of all evil or whatever, pleeeeeeasseeeee.
Basically you're looking for Bart Ehrman's books: Lost Christianities or Misquoting Jesus.
posted by smorange at 9:00 PM on May 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by smorange at 9:00 PM on May 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
You'll want to check out Bertrand Russell's essay "Why I Am Not A Christian."
posted by bardic at 9:07 PM on May 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by bardic at 9:07 PM on May 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
One Bible, Many Voices ... more academic than daring, but well-reasoned arguments are often not so very daring. :)
(Have you mostly been exposed to what I call "dumb" Christianity? Siddown, shaddup, and do what the pretty book tells you? Because there's a whole UNIVERSE of intelligent Christian commentary on a huge variety of topics out there and you may need to narrow it down for us. OTOH, if intelligent Christianity in its entirety is new, we can point you to some classics.)
Your question touches on both the origins of the Bible and on the history of the Church, both enormous topics, and "why the faith is broken/weird/contradictory and why it ended up that way" will depend on whether you mean as a WHOLE or for your particular denomination or what. I mean, I've got 10 books within my sightline on current controversies in Catholicism and their historical roots and "what's weird and how it got that way," but that's no good if you're interested in Presbyterians. Or if you're interested in why Catholics and Presbyterians are different. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:08 PM on May 30, 2011
(Have you mostly been exposed to what I call "dumb" Christianity? Siddown, shaddup, and do what the pretty book tells you? Because there's a whole UNIVERSE of intelligent Christian commentary on a huge variety of topics out there and you may need to narrow it down for us. OTOH, if intelligent Christianity in its entirety is new, we can point you to some classics.)
Your question touches on both the origins of the Bible and on the history of the Church, both enormous topics, and "why the faith is broken/weird/contradictory and why it ended up that way" will depend on whether you mean as a WHOLE or for your particular denomination or what. I mean, I've got 10 books within my sightline on current controversies in Catholicism and their historical roots and "what's weird and how it got that way," but that's no good if you're interested in Presbyterians. Or if you're interested in why Catholics and Presbyterians are different. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:08 PM on May 30, 2011
Also, something like the Oxford Bible is chock full of historical and textual essays that make it more than clear that The Bible as we know it is not a single text but a patch-work of many different authors motivated by many different religious and political issues.
posted by bardic at 9:10 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by bardic at 9:10 PM on May 30, 2011
(BTW, one of the best introductory textbooks on the Bible as a whole, covering the origins of the texts and literary criticism of same, is "Understanding the Bible" by Stephen L. Harris, who, I believe, is an atheist. But it's widely, widely used in academic theology departments and seminaries to get the survey of the historical and cultural context of each book as well as the literary- and historical-critical methods of analyzing the texts. Again, though, textbooks not so daring. But it's quite readable, it really rolls along.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:12 PM on May 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:12 PM on May 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Why Christianity Must Change or Die; I love Bishop Spong's metaphor of nonconformist Christians being "exiles" in the same way the Jews were after Jerusalem was destroyed.
posted by micketymoc at 9:14 PM on May 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by micketymoc at 9:14 PM on May 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
You would probably like A History of God by Karen Armstrong. It was a best selling book when it first came out and I found it fascinating. A couple of points that I remember from when I read the book a couple of years ago are that nowhere in the bible does Jesus claim to be God, and it was several hundred years after his death before the church claimed that he was God and that was as much a political decision as it was a religious decision. The book covers Judaism and Islam as well as Christianity.
posted by calumet43 at 9:49 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by calumet43 at 9:49 PM on May 30, 2011
I really enjoyed the series of Frontline episodes about the early history of Christianity, the social context at the time, etc, which discusses what we know from archaeology and other contemporary records vs which of the "givens" about the life story and doctrines of Jesus are actually later additions or interpretations or guesses.
If I were a Christian, I would be most interested in reading up on the great theological debates that have happened over the millenia - for example, have you read up on Augustine or Martin Luther or John Calvin or the history of the first council of Nicaea, those kinds of things. The wonderful thing about being part of a faith tradition like this is that you have this incredibly rich history of a lot of serious heavy-duty thinkers who devoted their whole lives to working on the hard problems raised by the faith -- for example, the problem of evil (if God is loving and all-powerful, why does He let bad things happen), the question of what's required for salvation (faith alone? good works? something else?), etc. The enduring works are ones which tackle the hardest questions.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:57 PM on May 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
If I were a Christian, I would be most interested in reading up on the great theological debates that have happened over the millenia - for example, have you read up on Augustine or Martin Luther or John Calvin or the history of the first council of Nicaea, those kinds of things. The wonderful thing about being part of a faith tradition like this is that you have this incredibly rich history of a lot of serious heavy-duty thinkers who devoted their whole lives to working on the hard problems raised by the faith -- for example, the problem of evil (if God is loving and all-powerful, why does He let bad things happen), the question of what's required for salvation (faith alone? good works? something else?), etc. The enduring works are ones which tackle the hardest questions.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:57 PM on May 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Mark Twain: Eve's Diary, Extracts from Adam's Diary, Documents Related to Diaries Antedating the Flood, Adam's Expulsion, and Letters From The Earth.
posted by hortense at 10:09 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by hortense at 10:09 PM on May 30, 2011
I was raised Catholic, and while I am now an atheist, I found Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas an interesting read. I would have preferred a lot more of the actual gospel and less of her interpretation, but despite its faults, I found more relevant spiritual discussion in this book than I did in my pre-confirmation catechism classes. It's fairly short, and worth looking up at your library.
posted by smirkette at 10:10 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by smirkette at 10:10 PM on May 30, 2011
I recommend Godless Morality by Richard Holloway. A fascinating, honest, and courageous book about the distinction between morality and religion, it provides no simple answers but examines complex questions in a thoughtful way.
Not specifically about the Christian faith, but providing an anthropological perspective on religious belief in general, I also recommend Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer.
posted by pguertin at 10:12 PM on May 30, 2011
Not specifically about the Christian faith, but providing an anthropological perspective on religious belief in general, I also recommend Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer.
posted by pguertin at 10:12 PM on May 30, 2011
nthing recommendations above, like A History of God and Misquoting Jesus. Some other favorites: The Jesus Mysteries and other books from the same authors: Jesus and the Lost Goddess and The Laughing Jesus. Basically, stuff that leans towards the gnostic may be of interest to you.
posted by bedhead at 10:18 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by bedhead at 10:18 PM on May 30, 2011
I would suggest your best direction here would be historical and academic. You are likely most exposed to Protestant Christianity, so I would suggest reading up on that area first. Before the schism between Protestants and Catholics, you have the works of Thomas Aquinas, particularly his Summa Theologica. Then you have the actual schism with Martin Luther's 95 Theses, and any academic historical accounts on the first council of Ephesus, the council of Chalcedon, and other ecumenical councils of the early Catholic church. On top of all that, I would add the Jefferson Bible, a re-writing of the Bible according to Thomas Jefferson from a Western deist point of view.
Compare these works, look at what issues divided Christianity before the development of what Westerners know as modern Christianity whether through Protestant denominations or Catholic reforms. Some of these issues may seem silly or irrelevant, but keep in mind that these could lead to accusations of heresy, a crime punishable by death and belief in the heretic going to hell over the disagreement. I would also suggest later denominational disagreements whether it be from John Calvin, the Anglican church, the Mormon church, and even modern disagreements such as the divide in the Presbyterian church over homosexuality.
Of course, I haven't narrowed things down much, but so many viewpoints will show you the disagreements whether petty, political, theological, or social which have driven Christians apart to the point of violence. Through these divisions, you can see many of the weird sides of Christianity, where it is broken within itself, and untold amounts of contradictions.
On top of all of this, you can compare debates with different Bible versions here, which lets you compare literal translations, the King James translation, the New International Version, and several other translations/variations.
I know this may be a bit much when you just wanted to read a few books, but if you feel this is a project you want to undertake as a serious examining and questioning of faith, in-depth research will provide more than a few modern books will. After all, you would just be placing faith in a few modern authors that their interpretations are both accurate and unbiased otherwise.
Finally, I would suggest going in to this with an academic mind at first. You will find many issues which make the Christian faith appear positively ridiculous in some denominations or churches, some which feel contradictory and difficult to accept even across all denominations, and some where the disagreements may never have come to mind beforehand because one side won the argument so conclusively that the other is mentioned only historically. Yet, it may strengthen your faith even if you find yourself disagreeing with church dogma.
If I've gone a bit overboard and you want that narrowed down, I'd cut it to the Summa Theologica, the 95 Theses, and the Jefferson Bible. These give you viewpoints that are not necessarily hostile to Christian faith, yet are all open to questioning if not outright rejecting dogma.
posted by Saydur at 10:22 PM on May 30, 2011
Compare these works, look at what issues divided Christianity before the development of what Westerners know as modern Christianity whether through Protestant denominations or Catholic reforms. Some of these issues may seem silly or irrelevant, but keep in mind that these could lead to accusations of heresy, a crime punishable by death and belief in the heretic going to hell over the disagreement. I would also suggest later denominational disagreements whether it be from John Calvin, the Anglican church, the Mormon church, and even modern disagreements such as the divide in the Presbyterian church over homosexuality.
Of course, I haven't narrowed things down much, but so many viewpoints will show you the disagreements whether petty, political, theological, or social which have driven Christians apart to the point of violence. Through these divisions, you can see many of the weird sides of Christianity, where it is broken within itself, and untold amounts of contradictions.
On top of all of this, you can compare debates with different Bible versions here, which lets you compare literal translations, the King James translation, the New International Version, and several other translations/variations.
I know this may be a bit much when you just wanted to read a few books, but if you feel this is a project you want to undertake as a serious examining and questioning of faith, in-depth research will provide more than a few modern books will. After all, you would just be placing faith in a few modern authors that their interpretations are both accurate and unbiased otherwise.
Finally, I would suggest going in to this with an academic mind at first. You will find many issues which make the Christian faith appear positively ridiculous in some denominations or churches, some which feel contradictory and difficult to accept even across all denominations, and some where the disagreements may never have come to mind beforehand because one side won the argument so conclusively that the other is mentioned only historically. Yet, it may strengthen your faith even if you find yourself disagreeing with church dogma.
If I've gone a bit overboard and you want that narrowed down, I'd cut it to the Summa Theologica, the 95 Theses, and the Jefferson Bible. These give you viewpoints that are not necessarily hostile to Christian faith, yet are all open to questioning if not outright rejecting dogma.
posted by Saydur at 10:22 PM on May 30, 2011
Sickness Unto Death by Kierkegaard, some of Kierkegaard's other stuff too. Works of Love is less of a challenge than a sermon, but a good one.
posted by pseudonick at 10:23 PM on May 30, 2011
posted by pseudonick at 10:23 PM on May 30, 2011
Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
About organized religion in general (not just Christianity).
posted by Conductor71 at 11:31 PM on May 30, 2011
About organized religion in general (not just Christianity).
posted by Conductor71 at 11:31 PM on May 30, 2011
As a taster for some of the book suggestions above, the recent 3 part BBC series 'The Bible's Buried Secrets' might be worth a viewing (it's not the PBS programme of the same name, or at least I don't think so, can't view PBS vids in this country). They're based on a mixture of textual analysis and archaeology. The first was about King David, the second the roots of Yahweh in Canaanite religion, and the third about the Garden of Eden.
posted by spectrevsrector at 3:31 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by spectrevsrector at 3:31 AM on May 31, 2011
Two books by Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton:
- The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics
- Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity
One book written after/by/about the Jesus Seminar: The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus
From a former Jesuit, Jack Miles: God: A Biography
From Mark S. Smith, who is a professor of religion at New York University: The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
posted by Houstonian at 3:41 AM on May 31, 2011
- The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics
- Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity
One book written after/by/about the Jesus Seminar: The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus
From a former Jesuit, Jack Miles: God: A Biography
From Mark S. Smith, who is a professor of religion at New York University: The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
posted by Houstonian at 3:41 AM on May 31, 2011
Three books that I've enjoyed are:
Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman (mentioned by smorange above)
God: A Biography by Jack Miles
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein
Ehrman is kind of a beginner's guide to textual criticism of the Bible, and talks about some of the original sources and how and why they've come down to us as they are.
Miles' book is an examination of God as a literary character and we get to see how he grows from Genesis through the end of the Old Testament through his interactions with the Jews and the patriarchs.
Goldstein is more of a creative retelling of some popular Bible stories, like Adam & Eve, Samson and Mary & Jospeph. It's funny, but I wasn't prepared for how sad the stories he tells can be too. His reimaginings coem from his Jewish background which I think more Christians should expose themselves to. I felt like I was seeing a side to those stories I hadn't seen before, even after hearing them for years and years.
posted by sambosambo at 3:42 AM on May 31, 2011
Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman (mentioned by smorange above)
God: A Biography by Jack Miles
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein
Ehrman is kind of a beginner's guide to textual criticism of the Bible, and talks about some of the original sources and how and why they've come down to us as they are.
Miles' book is an examination of God as a literary character and we get to see how he grows from Genesis through the end of the Old Testament through his interactions with the Jews and the patriarchs.
Goldstein is more of a creative retelling of some popular Bible stories, like Adam & Eve, Samson and Mary & Jospeph. It's funny, but I wasn't prepared for how sad the stories he tells can be too. His reimaginings coem from his Jewish background which I think more Christians should expose themselves to. I felt like I was seeing a side to those stories I hadn't seen before, even after hearing them for years and years.
posted by sambosambo at 3:42 AM on May 31, 2011
For a good look at how the Bible came together and how (and if) it intersects with history and archaeological evidence, I recommend Testament, by John Romer.
posted by Decani at 5:05 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by Decani at 5:05 AM on May 31, 2011
Agree with micketymoc's recommendation above, in fact, any of Bishop Spong's books would likely fit your description of what you are looking for. I am an atheist, but if his ideas were accepted by mainstream Episcopal theologians I would be very tempted to rejoin that church.
posted by TedW at 5:38 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by TedW at 5:38 AM on May 31, 2011
I just finished reading Ehrman's new book, "Forged." I think it would be great for the kind of information/discussion you are looking for.
posted by hworth at 6:26 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by hworth at 6:26 AM on May 31, 2011
It sounds to me like you would really like books by James Kugel. He's a Harvard professor, but his books are very, very engaging and readable. His books deal a lot with how the Bible came together, how it should be understood, and how the ancient Israelites viewed God. The three that I would recommend are: The God of Old: Inside the Lost World of the Bible, The Bible as It Was, and How to Read the Bible.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:38 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:38 AM on May 31, 2011
Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
posted by gravelshoes at 7:31 AM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by gravelshoes at 7:31 AM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur
Argues that many cultures have a Christ type myth and that Christianity is just another of these since there is virtually no historic evidence that Christ actually existed.
posted by canoehead at 8:04 AM on May 31, 2011
Argues that many cultures have a Christ type myth and that Christianity is just another of these since there is virtually no historic evidence that Christ actually existed.
posted by canoehead at 8:04 AM on May 31, 2011
I'm not sure what you're really looking for. Is it that you want books that criticise religion, not faith? Do you want books that question man's actions in the name of religion?
If that's close to what you want, check out Mark Driscoll's book Religion Saves (and nine other misconceptions). Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and one of the main tenets they hold is that the problem in organised religion is not God, but us. We create rules that God didn't give, we elevate secondary beliefs to primary ones, and we destroy the image of our faith through our stupidity and sin.
If you want other similar resources, memail me.
If this is not on the right track, feel free to ignore.
posted by guster4lovers at 9:17 AM on May 31, 2011
If that's close to what you want, check out Mark Driscoll's book Religion Saves (and nine other misconceptions). Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and one of the main tenets they hold is that the problem in organised religion is not God, but us. We create rules that God didn't give, we elevate secondary beliefs to primary ones, and we destroy the image of our faith through our stupidity and sin.
If you want other similar resources, memail me.
If this is not on the right track, feel free to ignore.
posted by guster4lovers at 9:17 AM on May 31, 2011
I'm reading former Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield's Between a Rock and a Hard Place. He was an evangelical Christian who was very critical of Christianity. I'm about midway through the book and he is going into detail how Christianity "sold out" by allowing itself to be used by the state in return for a share of the power.
posted by perhapses at 9:29 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by perhapses at 9:29 AM on May 31, 2011
The Kingdom of God is Within You by Tolstoy. It's the book which inspired Gandhi to commit himself to nonviolence.
posted by fancyoats at 9:53 AM on May 31, 2011
posted by fancyoats at 9:53 AM on May 31, 2011
Adding another interesting Bart Ehrman book: Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them).
In short: the title is a cheesy attention grabber. The contradictions are not hidden, and "we" don't know about them because they would make discussing the Bible in church sermons rather confusing. I'm not a huge fan of Ehrman's writing style throughout, but I learned more about how the Bible might have been written than I knew before.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:26 AM on May 31, 2011
In short: the title is a cheesy attention grabber. The contradictions are not hidden, and "we" don't know about them because they would make discussing the Bible in church sermons rather confusing. I'm not a huge fan of Ehrman's writing style throughout, but I learned more about how the Bible might have been written than I knew before.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:26 AM on May 31, 2011
Seconding anything by Elaine Pagels and Karen Armstrong.
Adding the Skeptic's annotated Bible, which is available online and which I find terrific fun.
Also, anything from the Nag Hammadi library, which is among the stuff that Elaine Pagels writes about. Also, anything from the Hermetic tradition, some samples of which are included in the Nag Hammadi library.
posted by rjs at 10:55 AM on May 31, 2011
Adding the Skeptic's annotated Bible, which is available online and which I find terrific fun.
Also, anything from the Nag Hammadi library, which is among the stuff that Elaine Pagels writes about. Also, anything from the Hermetic tradition, some samples of which are included in the Nag Hammadi library.
posted by rjs at 10:55 AM on May 31, 2011
Definitely check out Karen Armstrong. She's best known for her two volumes of autobiography, about taking holy orders then leaving the convent, but she also wrote various books on God, Islam and the Bible - she is still a believer in God, I think, but takes a pan-Abrahamic view of religion which is very different to her original Catholic faith.
posted by mippy at 2:54 PM on May 31, 2011
posted by mippy at 2:54 PM on May 31, 2011
Nthing Bart Ehrman, head of the religious studies department at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of a dozen or so books about 1) early Christianity and 2) the problems of translation and theology that remain unknown to and/or unaddressed by many people of faith. I've seen him talk and once had the pleasure of interviewing him for an hour; his perspective is fascinating: a diehard born-again fundamentalist who began questioning his faith after studying the Bible in its early languages (he now calls himself agnostic). He's as reasonable and Bible-knowledgeable a critic as any you'll find today.
His essential books Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew and Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament, focused on specific texts that were often widely circulated during the early Christian era but were later excluded by orthodox leaders when the New Testament was codified. He writes completely absorbing, well-documented and highly readable history - right up the alley you describe.
As his fame grew, his later books were aimed at a more popular audience, with titles like God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer and Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, mentioned above. One of his main goals is to popularize the debates that are well-known in the field of Biblical "textual criticism" but not known at all to most religious laypeople: "To my knowledge, it’s the first time anyone has tried to make the recondite field of textual criticism accessible to an audience that knows nothing (NOTHING) about the field." He once told me something like, "Almost every preacher learns these things in seminary school, but they make a choice to not share the serious historical questions with their congregations because they know it will get them in trouble." His mission is to make that specialized knowledge accessible, and he's been very good at it.
So good, in fact, that evangelicals started The Ehrman Project, a site devoted to countering his influence. You probably can't do better than to dive into his work and the response it's gotten if you're looking for "challenging books about the Christian faith."
posted by mediareport at 5:02 PM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
His essential books Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew and Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament, focused on specific texts that were often widely circulated during the early Christian era but were later excluded by orthodox leaders when the New Testament was codified. He writes completely absorbing, well-documented and highly readable history - right up the alley you describe.
As his fame grew, his later books were aimed at a more popular audience, with titles like God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer and Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, mentioned above. One of his main goals is to popularize the debates that are well-known in the field of Biblical "textual criticism" but not known at all to most religious laypeople: "To my knowledge, it’s the first time anyone has tried to make the recondite field of textual criticism accessible to an audience that knows nothing (NOTHING) about the field." He once told me something like, "Almost every preacher learns these things in seminary school, but they make a choice to not share the serious historical questions with their congregations because they know it will get them in trouble." His mission is to make that specialized knowledge accessible, and he's been very good at it.
So good, in fact, that evangelicals started The Ehrman Project, a site devoted to countering his influence. You probably can't do better than to dive into his work and the response it's gotten if you're looking for "challenging books about the Christian faith."
posted by mediareport at 5:02 PM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Lots of good ones here, to which I would add The Rise and Fall of the Bible.
posted by Rykey at 5:07 PM on May 31, 2011
posted by Rykey at 5:07 PM on May 31, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
You asked for challenging and daring, and before I read the rest of your question, and I immediately though of Mariette in Ecstasy. It might not be exactly what you are looking for, but it will certainly cause you to question the nature of the Christian experience in certain individuals.
posted by sunnychef88 at 8:57 PM on May 30, 2011 [2 favorites]