Take your pick from here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_apologetics
Some come more heavily from science like Francis Collins, some from theology like Sproul, from philosophy like Craig, pick your poison.
the one thing you need to do however, is to give the benefit of the doubt - because it really comes down to splitting of hairs. Once you are able to grasp their arguments and its basis, then you can see if you agree with it.
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the bible itself is a set of writings over the ages - with its dates proven as a fact. Within it, we see historical events that were foretold come to pass.
Maybe you might want to look at the bible from a fresh perspective ( from a Hebrew lens ) - [1] would give you a deeper understanding of the history, culture, reasons behind some of what appears to be crazy etc. At the very least, you will leave with a deeper understanding of that culture etc.
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the next question you might have is 'why do I need to trust this literature' It has to be divinely inspired. Written at a time when the worldview did not know the ends of the earth and people believed that one would fall off, the bible stated ( in Isaiah ) that the earth is a circle; people thought it allegorical till they found out it was; just 1 example.
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About the Hebrew language itself -- it too was not man-made. One example, in hebrew, the words that are variants of the same letters have related meanings -- so the words for 'ear' and 'balance' were almost the same and no one had a clue why -- till they found out last century, that balance is tied to the ear. ( i am just giving you small examples ). There are tons such out there waiting to be studied.
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> I just want to understand what makes religious people believe what they do. I'm not even remotely open to accepting religion
Just be careful as you may get more than you bargain for! I myself, was on a quest towards getting more rooted in atheism that I started studying books and debates, and then found about apologetics ( I was not exposed since i was born a christian and lived a nominal christian life). I turned out to experience the faith and now I am in a dialogue with you.
In the interest of full disclosure, I would love for you to accept Christ but am humbled and also comforted that it is not me who can do it, it is only you with God's leading. I share my experiences hoping that something on my journey can help you in yours. This journey has made me live life with a purpose and am much joyful than before ( even though I have lost some things along the way)
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[1] https://torahclass.com/teacher/author/tom-bradford/old-testa...