from the ex-tian mailing list:
My favorite ex-tian book about the Bible is "The Mind of the Bible Believer"
by E.D. Cohen (Prometheus Books). It's hard read (the first 200 or so pages
cover, in scholarly detail, the history of the church, philosophical views of
human nature, depth psychology, and brainwashing research, before you even
get into how he thinks the Bible works) and VERY controversial (basically,
Cohen argues that the New Testament was designed as a mind-control device).
This is the book that finally led me out of Christianity. It was
recommended to me by Marlene Winell. It might not be as useful for people with a Catholic or
liberal Christian background (because of less emphasis in those traditions on
the Bible), but for ex-fundies, it's a goldmine.