The best book on Christianity I have read so far...

As sort of an uber-rational person I often find myself in an odd middle ground when talking about religion. For the folks that I know from Church I'm probably too cynical and skeptical and for the folks that I know outside of church I'm probably too much of a believer. A symptom of that middle ground is that while I am very interested in learning about religion and spirituality, my interest tends to be inversely proportional to the number of mentions of "Scripture" and "Jesus" in any book I read.

Recently though I ran across a book that I found fabulously intriguing. A book written by a life-long Christian that covers many of the points that have historically led to much of my skepticism about religion and Christianity specifically. Some of the stuff he talks about:

* If Christianity is about spreading the "good news" why is it so exclusionary?

* If Christianity is about acting like Christ, why has Scripture been used to defend any number of horrible acts (Crusades, massacres, torture, slavery, etc...)

* If Christianity is about being merciful then why is the penalty for simply not believing eternal damnation for all time (fairly harsh when you consider a murderer, rapist, thief can be baptized and not be damned for all eternity)

Interesting stuff...I'd recommend anyone that has the time or inclination to check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Christianity-Questions-Transforming/dp/0061853984

I'd be curious as to what you think...