It was his unconventional style & song-writing wizardry that made him my main rock guy. His ability to craft really effed up guitar sounds (usually executed by icons like Mick Ronson & Earl Slick) was fantastic...but only really superb when mixed & produced by Tony Visconti.
I threw a mix up on Mixcloud from 3 years ago, after the release of 'The Next Day', you can listen to it here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/gab_labs/bowie-2013/I think he pretty much mocked religion - but a study of his lyrics would lead me to believe that he read large portion of the Bible & drew a portion of his lyrics from concepts therein. I once did a presentation, and corresponding paper, for a Public Speaking class in college, contrasting Bowie's 'Cracked Actor' with Robert Frost's 'Provide Provide', which was surprisingly well received by the professor (who was also the head of the English Literature department).
Rest in peace, Mr. Jones.