This book accessibly and comprehensibly follows the origins and influence of Christianity from antiquity to the modern day. Holland tracks the unlikely origins of the religion following the gruesome death of Christ and its emergence as the cornerstone of a western notion of morality. The book is peppered with plot and memorable figures from the history of Christianity – both wonderful and catastrophic – all of which underline the author’s primary argument: that the Western mind was shaped by Christianity, whether willing or not.

This collection of essays edited by Nick Spencer of Theos, a Christian thinktank, puts forward a similar argument to that of Holland, albeit from a confessional standpoint. The purpose of this book is to offer a riposte to New Atheist movement, suggesting that values integral to modern society developed from Christianity, rather than despite it. 

In this short but fascinating parable on emergent atheism in the West, Nietzsche argues that true atheism comes with the challenge of reckoning and dismantling one’s entire worldview, which is so heavily influenced by Christian theism.

One of the most respected and influential texts on the place of religion in modern society is Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age. However, spanning nearly 900 pages of densely packed prose, it is not for the faint-hearted, nor the busy RE teacher. Instead, I recommend David Brooks’ review of A Secular Age, which is much more approachable. Brooks translates a core idea from Taylor's tome: the omnipresent culture of theism that existed 500 years ago has since eroded in the West. However, this progression does not mean the erasure of religiosity. Secularisation, Brooks summates, was a ‘mottled accomplishment, for both science and faith’.

An insight into Christianity and how young children in the Western world prepare for religious ceremonies during their lives.