Anleitung zum Glaubenszweifel

A book about the non-historical aspects of Christianity that Christians can discard and still be good Christians. The author discusses the miraculous, fantastical elements of the gospels, including the virgin birth, the resurrection, and all the many miracles that are reported, and concludes that these are ahistorical, and are not needed for a mature, fulfilled faith in God. She appears to conclude that Jesus is just a man, and not the Christ, which does make one wonder about the use of the word Christian in those circumstances. She does not include a bibliography, so it is difficult to tell just how she uses sources, and she has a tendency to make sweeping statements, such as "John is the most credible of the gospels" without any explanation of why that might be so, or what she draws on for the conclusion. It appears (since in other places John is not reported as the most credible gospel) that she simply uses the gospel that she prefers in each instance, with no consideration for the scholarly literature on the subject. She also has the common, annoying habit that many writers have of assuming that they know what Jesus said and what others put into his mouth, again without any real explanation, just the statement that Jesus didn't say that, or Jesus didn't believe that. There really isn't much in here that you can't get in a better source; the book is not bad, it's easy to read, but it's not worth spending time on when there are other sources that cover the same material and do a better job of sourcing and laying out their evidence and reasoning. ( )