4 Books That Helped Me Go from Christianity to Spirituality

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For a long time, I was deeply religious. But after going through a spiritual crisis that left me confused about spiritual matters, and because of severe mental health issues relating to those kinds of matters, I had to find another way to relate to my Higher Power that didn’t leave me feeling like I was never sure if I was doing the right thing. That journey led me to leave Christianity and begin practicing my own version of spirituality. And I’ve found this change to be both freeing and easier on my mind.

But this transition wouldn’t have been possible without help. In this post, I’m going to mention four books that were instrumental in helping me leave Christianity for spirituality.

4 Books That Allowed Me to Go from Christian to Spiritual

1. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time by Marcus J. Borg

   This book was the one that truly allowed me to begin freeing myself from the weight I felt religion was placing on me. Before reading it, I thought there was only one way to read the Bible—to believe that God Himself inspired the writing of the words on its pages. That viewpoint can lead to literal interpretations of its stories and teachings. But this book taught me that there’s another way to read the Bible, a way that isn’t so literal. This understanding finally allowed me to start regaining my spiritual bearings after the crisis I went through that began in 2017.
   
   Even though the author of the book stayed in Christianity after learning this new way of reading the Bible, I wouldn’t have been able to shift from Christianity to spirituality without the new understanding he provides. And once I gained this new understanding, I started to realize that there’s no reason I need to practice any particular religion at all.
   
   Right now, I don’t want to talk too much about this other way of reading the Bible, or the Scriptures as I prefer to call them as a result of reading this book. But I will say that if you’re struggling spiritually because of literal interpretations of Scripture, this is a book you might want to look into. Just be forewarned, there are some “radical” concepts in it. At least, that’s how I viewed the information when I first read it. But where I am now on my spiritual journey, the concepts don’t seem that radical at all.

2. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus J. Borg

   This book helped me understand that the traditional way of viewing Jesus, as the one sent to save humanity from sin, isn’t the only way of viewing him. And because Jesus is so central to Christianity, it was essential for me to change the way I see him before I could start to consider myself spiritual not religious.
   
   In this post, I talk more about this different way to see Jesus. Here, though, I just want to say that understanding this other view gave me a new way to admire him without feeling like I have to be part of Christianity to have that admiration for him.

3. The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

   From this book I learned about the concept of a non-judging Higher Power. I can’t tell you how freeing it was to start to think about my Higher Power, not as constantly judging us, but as always loving us. It was this understanding that finally helped me realize it’s the human mind that judges. To me, this means that decisions about what’s right and wrong and even what’s considered “sin” comes from the human mind.
   
   I’ve taken this understanding to help me transform the way I view my Higher Power in other ways, too, including changing the names I use to refer to that Force. And now I don’t even believe in the concept of “sin” anymore, and I don’t believe there’s a clear “right and wrong” in any situation. It’s the human mind that decides these things. And now that I’m practicing my own authentic spirituality, I don’t have to consult anyone else on decisions of what is right and wrong. I make those decisions based on my own sense of morality.
   
   I’ll admit, though, that my mind is inclined to be more on the judgmental side. But as I talk about here where I discuss how spirituality has helped ease my religious scrupulosity, it’s nice to remember that when I feel like I’ve done something “wrong” in the eyes of my Higher Power, I’m actually only offending my mind. And it’s up to me to teach my mind that I’m trying to live according to my own standards now, and I try to base them on love.

4. The Contemplative Skeptic by Barrett A. Evans

   This book provided me with the final piece to the puzzle that allowed me to really free myself from religion. Although I don’t think I ever finished reading it, it was key for helping me get over the one thing that was making it hard for me to leave—the fear of hell. This book helped me understand, like with the books about the Bible and Jesus, that there’s more than one way to view the afterlife.
   
   Since this issue was really bothering me, I needed some extra help figuring out how to deal with it. And what this book taught me is that there are so many different ideas about what hell is and who goes there that it makes you wonder if there really is a hell.
   
   What I’ve finally come to realize is, no one really knows what happens after this life. That means I’m free to choose a version of the afterlife that gives me peace. And that’s what I’ve done. Now I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I just believe that after this life, we go onto the next stage of our spiritual journey. What that looks like, I don’t know. How much of that next stage depends on our behavior in this life, I don’t know. But I don’t feel like I need to know.
   
   Just believing that my Higher Power doesn’t judge means that my Higher Power doesn’t punish. There can be no punishment without judgment—a judgment that something is wrong and is deserving of punishment. So, if there’s no punishment, then hell doesn’t make any sense. And heaven doesn’t either, because believing that people are deserving of heaven means they’ve been judged worthy of entering heaven. But again, that requires judgment.
   
   So, while I don’t know what happens in the next life, this book helped me release my fear of eternal punishment—a concept that made my judging mind very fearful. And this allowed me to free myself from the belief that I need to hold onto Christianity to avoid going “there.” In my mind, there’s no longer a “there” to be afraid of.
   
   (Note: While this book talks about deconstruction in terms of deconstructing general religious dogma, I didn’t learn the term “deconstruction” when referring to personal religious beliefs until later. It’s possible, though, that the author talks about this type of deconstruction in sections I didn’t read.)

Final Thoughts

I’ve read other books related to spirituality on my journey out of Christianity, but these four were instrumental in allowing me to make that transition. Each one offered a key piece that I needed to feel at peace leaving religion and forming my own version of spirituality.

If you’re currently a Christian but you’re considering leaving Christianity for spirituality, I would encourage you to start with these books. And while you’re free to read them in any order you choose, I would encourage you to go in the above order. I personally don’t think I would have felt comfortable reading The Contemplative Skeptic before I had a new understanding of the Scriptures and of religion in general. But the order you choose is up to you.

I will also say that my struggle to leave Christianity was unique to me. While these books helped me, I can’t guarantee they’ll help you. I just wanted to share them in case you find yourself going through a similar struggle and you wanted suggestions on where to start.

You might find these books helpful, but then again you might not. And you might find other books more helpful for you. As you go on your journey, I would encourage you to read and experiment with anything you think might help. Stick with what works. Leave everything else.

~ Ashley C.

P.S. Having gone through it myself, I know how challenging it can be to leave Christianity for spirituality. And even with the help of these books, it would have been nice if I had had more support on my journey, even if it was just to discuss what I was learning with someone who had been through the transition.

That’s why I now offer spiritual coaching services to help and support Christians who would like to go from Christianity to a version of spirituality that isn’t weighed down by religious dogma. If you’re interested, simply click here to learn more.