Essential Christian Reading

If you were tasked to develop a list of books that every Christian should read in their life, what would they be? Obviously the Bible is a given. But what about the many volumes written over the 20 centuries of Christianity? Or even, perhaps, Jewish books of that era and older that support and expound on the Old Testament? What would you suggest be on the list?

Maybe everyone could place one book on the list (not already listed by another), and explain why they think that book deserves to be on the list.

12 Jan 2009

Here is the list so far, alphabetical by author, of what people have said they felt was essential Christian writing. I'll try to keep it up to date.

Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn

City of God by Augustine

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (Bridge-Logos Modern Translation)
Allegorical Tale depicting the Christian Life with "Christian" on a journey, and the things he encounters/grows from along the way; very, very applicable even today, as it focuses on unchanging human characteristics, temptations, weaknesses, emotions.

Institutes by John Calvin

The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto. Not so well known - is one of my favorites

Sacrament of the Present Moment by Jean-Pierre de Caussade One of several favorite books by the Christian mystics concerning the "cross-life" and the giving of each present moment to Christ

Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton.

Jesus Freaks: Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus by the members of DC Talk

Christian Perfection by Fenelon

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

The Barefoot Brides by annie jones, Steeple Hill Cafe - out now

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis

Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

The Great Divorce, by C. S. Lewis. Brilliant.

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

The Problem Of Pain by C.S. Lewis. Lewis was not afraid to tackle difficult questions, such as how one can reconcile human suffering with the concept of a loving God.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It gives deep insight to the human heart and mind with regards to sin. It's also a wonderful example of how Christian fiction can be thought-provoking without being preachy.

Table Talk by Martin Luther

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Honest, straightforward, unadorned Christianity.

Knowing God by J.I. Packer. That's some deep, deep stuff.

Victorious Christian Living by Alan Redpath …Wonderful book about the Christian life (esp. concerning battles and obedience) with the chapters written to correspond to successive chapters in the book of Joshua.

The Power of Pentecost by John Rice.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitehall Smith.

The Hiding Place - Corrie ten Boom's story

Teresa of Avila's Autobiography. Her story of grace using water as metaphor is brilliant.

Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill

The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous

The Green Mile

The Robe; even though it's fiction. I learned so much from it when I was young.

If I had to list a book first, it was going to be The Screwtape Letters; but having deferred the first selection to others, I can't say that.

I'd like to add The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitehall Smith.

Pat: Thanks for resurrecting this thread from the back pages of the forum.

I notice people (I won't mention any names) have not been conforming to the "rules" of the original post and adding one book to the list, instead listing several or saying "everything by...." That's okay by me, so long as we see if we can develop a loose concensus of what the most important extra-biblical works are, or if we at least spur one another on to reading good works. I must admit to not having heard of some of the ones mentioned.

It is not surprising, trickywoo, that our list will be biased toward the most recent era at the expense of former eras. As Emerson wrote in "The American Scholar": "Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this." This seems to be true for Christian literature as for secular. So almost all of us read Blue Like Jazz; fewer of us read Mere Christianity; and almost none of us read The Shepherd of Hermes. I'm going through some of the really old stuff now, first and second centuries (well, temporarily suspended as life's whirlwind caught up with me), and hope eventually to add one of them to the list. I'm glad you've listed some of the older stuff.

Thanks to all for participating,
NDG