History is a series of propaganda writers controlling entire populations. The Pentagon is doing exactly the same today. However, if you don't have time to sort the wheat from the chaff in the Bible you can do no better than go over the books of the Bible that were kept out of it by people who wanted the Bible to control instead of liberate.
The council of Nicea pretty much tried and succeeded to keep people dumb. There's no excuse for that today, while the internet is still not yet throttled to asphyxiation. This interview is a good start.