Reading books on a wide variety of topics is a key aspect of deconstructing your faith. I know it has been for me! Over the years, I’ve both given and received many recommendations in this genre. Since I’m often asked for these resources, I decided to compile what I hope will be an evolving list that we, as a community, continue adding to as we deconstruct toxic religious culture.
I’ve BOLDED the ones I’ve personally read and recommend. The rest have been recommended to me, but I haven’t read the entire book yet (I’ll update this list as I read!). Each book title is hyperlinked using my Amazon referral link but I encourage you to check your local bookstores for these too! If you give them the title and author they can usually order a copy for you!
Here are the best books on deconstructing your faith:
Books recommended during the 2021 Deconstructing Your Faith Summit
- Meditations of Meister Eckhardt by Sweeney & Burrows (mentioned by Megan Gilmore)
- The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle (mentioned in Kyle Benefield’s session)
- The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns (mentioned in Kyle Benefield’s session)
- Deconstruction: Your Journey in Faith by Stacey Wynn
- Charity Means Love: Transforming the Culture of How We Give by Father Nathan Monk
- When Family Hurts: 30 Days to Finding Healing and Clarity by Rebekah Drumsta
- Red Thread: Weaving an Embodied Life of Joy by Aj Smit
- Unbound: A Story of Freedom and Sisterhood by Ticcoa Leister
- Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life by Mary Katherine Backstrom
- Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh (mentioned in Brendan Curran’s session)
- The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind–A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault (mentioned in Brendan Curran’s session)
- Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice by Meghan Tschanz
Deconstruction Stories
- Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
- God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America by Lyz Lenz
- Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz Weber
- Shameless: A Case for Not Feeling Bad About Feeling Good (About Sex) by Nadia-Bolz Weber
- A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community by John Pavlovitz
- Fierce, Free, and Full Of Fire by Jen Hatmaker
- Not All Who Wander (Spiritually) Are Lost: A Story of Church by Traci Rhoades
- Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans
- A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband ‘Master’ by Rachel Held Evans
- Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions by Rachel Held Evans
- Out of Sorts: Making Sense of an Evolving Faith by Sarah Bessey
- Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God by Sarah Bessey
- The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns
Nationalism in the Church
- Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
- Activist Theology by Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
Recovering from Trauma and #ChurchHurt
- Spiritual Abuse Recovery: Dynamic Research on Finding a Place of Wholeness by Barbara M. Orlowski
Anti-Racism
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Gender Bias
- Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd
- Abuelita Faith: Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength by Kat Armas
- Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women by Sarah Bessey
- Sexy but Psycho by Dr. Jessica Taylor
LGBTQIA+
- Gay the Pray Away by Erika Allison
- The Gay Agenda by Ashley Molesoo
- Unclobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality by Colby Martin
- God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships by Matthew Vines
- Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church by Bridget Eileen Rivera
- Bad Theology Kills: Undoing Toxic Belief & Reclaiming Your Spiritual Authority by Kevin Garcia
- Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu
- Walking the Bridgeless Canyon by Kathy Baldock
- Activist Theology by Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
- Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation by Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
- Where True Love Is: An Affirming Devotional for LGBTQIA+ Christians and Their Allies by Suzanne DeWitt Hall
- Queering Wesley, Queering the Church by Keegan Osinski
- Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation by Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
Empowering Women
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- Red Thread: Weaving an Embodied Life of Joy by Aj Smit
- Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life by Mary Katherine Backstrom
Building Emotional Intelligence and Resiliency
- I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough” by Brené Brown
- The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown
- Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
- Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
- Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
Exploring a More Expansive Faith
- The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe by Richard Rohr
- The Unsaved Christian: Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel by Dean Inserra
- The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan P. Burge
- After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity by David P. Gushee
- Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church edited by Ivan Mesa
- When Faith Fails: Finding God in the Shadow of Doubt by Dominic Done
- Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin
- After Doubt: How to Question Your Faith Without Losing It by A.J. Swoboda
- How Did I Get Here?: Finding Your Way Back to God When Everything is Pulling You Away by Christine Caine
- Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women, and Queer Christians are Reclaiming Evangelicalism by Deborah Jian Lee
- Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It by Brian McLaren
- When Everything’s on Fire: Faith Forged from the Ashes by Brian Zahnd
- Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans with Jeff Chu
- What is God Like? by Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner (children’s book)
- A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal edited by Sarah Bessey
- The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr
- Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Gift by Richard Rohr
- The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe by Richard Rohr
- The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness by Gregory Boyle
- Tattoos on the Heart; The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
- Soul Journeys: Christian Spirituality and Shamanism as Pathways for Wholeness and Understanding by Daniel Pretchel, et al.
Toxic Religion
Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll’s Evangelical Empire by Jessica Johnson
#ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing by Emily Joy Allison
Bible Translations and Commentaries
- First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament by Terry M. Wildman
- The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation by Priests for Equality
- Womanist Midrash Dr. Wilda Gafney (I also recommend her lectionary series)
- How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News by Peter Enns
- Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans
- The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our “Correct” Beliefs by Peter Enns
- The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins by Peter Enns
What would you add to this list of best books on deconstructing your faith?
Let me know in The Faith Deconstruction Cafe, my free community where we’re deconstructing toxic religion together.
Hey there friend! I’m Angela J Herrington, MA, LSCC and I’m a Faith Deconstruction coach who provides soul care for people who are untangling from toxic religion.
As a certified life coach and seminary-trained online pastor, I have a lot of experience helping people connect with God. But this is also a very personal journey for me.
For the last decade, I’ve been on my own journey to break free from learned smallness and step into wild sacred holy womanhood. Long story short, after finding faith in my early 30’s I began to realize that what I was hearing from the church about women didn’t always line up with what God was telling me. I loved God but realized the church was teaching some really toxic stuff.
So this Enneagram 8, first born, Gen Xer started deconstructing. I questioned and challenged everything I thought I knew about faith, gender, and myself.
It was messy and took a lot of work to sort it out. Therapy. Coaching. Bodywork. Spiritual healing. Conferences and retreats. And even a couple of college degrees.
You name it…I tried it.
But the thing that made the biggest difference was the presence and support of wise people who helped me up when I didn’t know where else to turn.
That’s why in September 2021, I created and hosted The Deconstructing Faith Summit. I gathered 20 phenomenal deconstruction experts to share their expertise and hosted over 1100 attendees in the week-long virtual event. Those who attended realized they weren’t alone, had a safe space to ask questions, learned dozens of strategies to help them deconstruct, and released tons of pent-up emotions they didn’t even know they were carrying around.
We laughed, we cried, and we danced, but the best part was…We did it together.
It was AMAZING and it was just the beginning.
So now, I’m doubling down on my commitment to create an inclusive support system for people, like you, who are longing to get away from toxic religion and cultivate a nourishing spiritual life.
