I wanted to give my friends a book about Christian theory, or a book about interpreting the bible, or applying the bible to your life. Anyone know any good ones?
Well i have whats called a life application study bible, got it for christmas 4 years ago! Great gift.
Right now, I am reading "The Mystic Christ" by Ethan Walker III. As the title suggests, it is a presentation of Jesus' religion and his identity (and yours and mine) with the divine. The author's understanding of Jesus' religion as egoless and reality-oriented, does not necessarily correspond to the religion of Paul, or Constantine, or Thomas Acquinas, or Duh-bya, etc. However, It IS based on Jesus' teachings as well as on parallel, supporting statements from the other traditions. As with all such books, you don't necessarily have to agree with the author in order to benefit from his insights, but I am impressed by the clarity of the author's understanding. I highly recommend it.
A guy from my church has written a few books that are selling better than he ever imagined: http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=5974
