“Great” is, of course, a term that carries with it a high level of subjectivity – what one group of Christians considers valuable reading may entirely turn off another. However, there are nevertheless a number of books that need to be considered for anyone adhering to the faith. Whether ancient or contemporary, liberal or conservative, promoting inward meditation or outward service, or even written by authors with different beliefs, these books have something to offer Christians looking to explore the history and components of their religion.
1. At Least 1 Catholic Translation of the Bible
There are a number of different Catholic Bibles to choose from, and they include several books and stories not found in their Protestant counterparts as part of their canon. In addition, Catholicism tends to take a more metaphorical approach to the content.
2. At Least 1 Protestant Translation of the Bible
Protestant Bibles, of which there are many, eliminate the deuterocanonical books from publication and frequently – thought not always – adhere to a relatively more literal interpretation of the stories therein.
3. The Book of Mormon
Author: Joseph Smith
Existing as something of a marginalized fringe of Christianity subject to a number of misconceptions and myths, it is essential to read The Book of Mormon in order to understand exactly what this particular branch believes.
4. The Talmud
All Christians with the desire to contemplate and study the rich and complex history behind their faith absolutely must read as much traditional rabbinic literature as possible. Without Judaism, there would be no Christianity.
5. The Qur’an
Islam is considered the other Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. To fully comprehend Muslims’ belief systems, Christians must read the texts of their brethren and gain perspective on another interpretation of their own faith.
6. The Gnostic Gospels
Part of the Christian apocrypha, neither the Catholic nor Protestant Bibles include these teachings of Jesus in their canon. However, they offer up a number of alternative viewpoints that challenge Christians to consider every possible facet of their religion.
7. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Even today, Catholics and Protestants still hotly debate one another over the true tenets of Christianity and subject one another to a number of myths and rumors. This essential Catholic work explicitly outlines the official stance of the Church on almost every issue imaginable.
8. Mere Christianity
Author: C.S. Lewis
Considered one of the quintessential works of Christian apologetics, this adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s talks on BBC radio and subsequent pamphlets makes a compelling case for why he believes what he believes.
9. De Doctrina Christiana
Author: St. Augustine of Hippo
Translated into English as On Christian Doctrine, this must-read by one of the most visible and outspoken Church Fathers dissects scriptural interpretation and the preferred method of conveying them to students.
10. When Religion Becomes Evil
Author: Christopher Kimball
Christopher Kimball is a Baptist minister who warns people of all faiths of the dangers of becoming too radical in one’s beliefs and practices. He makes an extremely valid argument towards practicing tolerance and moderation.
11. Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows
Author: Jay Bakker
As the progeny of the disgraced evangelical ministers Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay Bakker has undoubtedly witnessed the darker, uglier corners of contemporary Christianity. But rather than succumbing to cynicism, he deconstructed many of the tenets of the faith and began to bring out their core message of love, peace, and harmony without any form of hypocritical discrimination or exploitation.
12. Strength to Love
Author: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Be inspired by the admirable courage of Dr. King, whose sermons link together religion and social justice and reveals that they work in tandem with one another – not as completely separate spheres of influence.
13. The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus
Author: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Sometimes one can learn more about one’s faith when stepping entirely outside of it and allowing for other viewpoints to sink in. Here, His Holiness the Dalai Lama analyzes Jesus’s words through an enlightening Buddhist filter and offers up many new insights.
14. Summa Theologica
Author: St. Thomas Aquinas
As one of the most influential Christian theologians of the Middle Ages – if not of all time, of course – St. Thomas Aquinas’s magnum opus outlines almost every core component of the faith and even draws from pagan, Jewish, and Muslim scholars.
15. Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins
Author: Miguel A. De La Torre
Take a peek at how those who feel oppressed or overlooked within the Christian community perceive their situations and how they apply to ethical issues and concerns.
16. Beyond Moralism: A Contemporary View of the Ten Commandments
Authors: Denise G. Haines, John Shelby Spong
Former Episcopalian bishop John Shelby Spong and Archdeacon Denise G. Haines offer up a new interpretation of the traditional moral guidelines for Jews and Christians alike, modernizing and liberalizing them without compromising the real meaning.
17. Paradise Lost
Author: John Milton
This classic epic poem retells the story of the Fall of Man as found in the Book of Genesis, blending in elements of then-contemporary politics and theology.
18. Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement
Author: Kathryn Joyce
Look at one feminist writer’s perspective on a subset of Christianity that interprets some of the common teachings as misogynistic by confining women to the home and forbidding them from receiving an education.
19. The Purpose Driven Life
Author: Rick Warren
This bestseller has inspired a wide variety of individuals – including President Obama – with its 40-day, 5-purpose outline for a gratifying spiritual journey.
20. Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America
Author: Amy Johnson Frykholm
As a work of literary criticism and social commentary, Rapture Culture dissects the cultural elements surrounding the explosively popular evangelical novels in the Left Behind series.
21. The Exortation to the Greeks, The Rich Man’s Salvation, To the Newly Baptized
Author: Clement of Alexandria
Many publishers lump together Church Father Clement of Alexandria’s three most major works together in one volume, and each of them address a different faced of Christianity.
22. You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth
As another frequently overlooked Christian denomination, the Jehovah’s Witnesses famously print up reams of literature that need to be read in order to understand the whats and whys of their faith.
23. Systematic Theology
Author: Paul Tillich
As one of the philosophical cornerstones of Christian existentialism, Paul Tillich thoroughly explored the relationship between lowly mortals and the omnipotent spiritual figures that dominate and dictate their lives.
24. Institutes of the Christian Religion
Author: John Calvin
Heavily influential Protestant theologian John Calvin’s master work outlines his extensive philosophy on the emerging faiths and philosophies that stemmed from The Reformation.
25. The Apology
Author: Tertullian
With the Roman government as his target audience, Church Father Tertullian passionately defends his religious beliefs against the imposing persecution of his peers. This is an essential read for anyone with a love of early Christian history.
26. The Book of the Pastoral Rule
Author: Pope Gregory I
Another fascinating peek into Christianity’s past, Pope Gregory I’s The Book of the Pastoral Rule discusses the responsibilities of clergymen in a way that their congregations can understand as well.
27. De Civitate Dei
Author: St. Augustine of Hippo
Better known by the English translation of its title, The City of God, this book offers up a comprehensive overview on many core tenets of the Christian faith.
28. A Selection of the Most Celebrated Sermons of Martin Luther
Author: Martin Luther
Without Martin Luther, there would be no Protestantism today. Read his most popular sermons in order to see exactly where he was coming from and what he had to say in defiance of the Catholic Church.
29. Utopia
Author: Sir Thomas More
While not explicitly Christian in tone, Sir Thomas More’s highly influential novel Utopia outlines what life would be like should the citizenry set aside its differences and focus on the core components of cooperation and love as found in the Bible.
30. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Author: A.J. Jacobs
Debates continuously rage over whether or not the authors of the Bible desired for its messages to be interpreted literally or figuratively. Read about one journalist’s desire to see what life is like when every message is taken to the most literal degree feasible.
31. Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement
Author: Lauren Sandler
The evangelical movement has exploded amongst the younger set, and Lauren Sandler dives into “The Disciple Generation” to see the different personalities and belief sets at play.
32. The Screwtape Letters
Author: C.S. Lewis
This intriguing epistolary novel involves a discourse between the demons Screwtape and Wormwood and shines a light on Christian perceptions of temptation and damnation.
33. Sermons on the Passion of the Christ
Author: Martin Luther
More of Martin Luther’s highly regarded sermons, this time reflecting on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
34. Memory and Identity
Author: Pope John Paul II
In 2005, Pope John Paul II weighed in on a number of pressing political, social, and religious issues using Catholic theology as his guide.
35. The Measure of a Man
Author: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The admirable Dr. King provides readers with an intimate glimpse into his personal meditations and how religion came to motivate his Civil Rights crusades and adherence to nonviolent principles.
36. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Readers flocked to this novel, which tells the story of a man who dies and encounters an insightful and intriguing alternate version of Heaven, when it burst onto the literary scene in 2004.
37. Growing Up Protestant: Parents, Children, and Mainline Churches
Author: Margaret Lamberts Bendroth
With Christianity as the most popular religion in the United States, it comes as no surprised that it has held a hand in forming mainstream society and cultural perceptions of what constitutes a healthy, productive family.
38. Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock
Author: Andrew Beaujon
Anyone interested in studying the influence that evangelism has had over younger demographics will find something interesting in this book, which looks into how music has come to influence the next generation of Christians.
39. Jesus Land: A Memoir
Author: Julia Scheeres
All Christians need to understand the realities behind many of the popular beliefs that label them as hypocritical, intolerant fearmongers in order to feel inspired to act differently and start dispelling many misconceptions.
40. Discourses of Brigham Young
Author: Brigham Young
Another cornerstone of the Latter Day Saints movement, Brigham Young’s teachings offer a clearer picture of what Mormons do and do not believe.
41. The Divine Comedy
Author: Dante Alighieri
Though fictitious, Dante Alighieri’s masterpieces Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio comprise The Divine Comedy and offer up archetypes and interpretations of the Christian afterlife that persist to this day.
42. Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices
Author: Brian D. McLaren
As one of the founders of the Emergent Church movement, Brian D. McLaren has a lot to say about how Christianity should look towards the rituals of its past in order to forge ahead into the future.
43. Can Ethics be Christian?
Author: James M. Gustafson
James M. Gustafson asks some compelling questions regarding the relationship between ethics and Christian doctrine, looking at the common ground between them.
44. A Theology for the Social Gospel
Author: Walter Rauschenbusch
Rejecting many of the fear-instilling tactics of his evangelical contemporaries, Walter Rauschenbusch called other Christians towards emulating the messages of love and humility found in Jesus’s sermons and life.
45. Crossing the Threshold of Hope
Author: Pope John Paul II
Crossing the Threshold of Hope is actually a very long interview with Pope John Paul II, exploring his thoughts about the Catholic Church and making its core components easier to understand for the layperson.
46. The Life of Luther Written by Himself
Author: Martin Luther
Martin Luther’s autobiography provides an intimate peek into the life and ideas of the one man responsible for one of the largest, most explosive religious schisms in history.
47. Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture
Author: Daniel Radosh
Another book that explores the intersections between Christianity and pop culture and how the faith appropriates many elements of the latter in order to convey its beliefs.
48. Blue Like Jazz
Author: Donald Miller
One of the more popular treatises on postmodern religion, Blue Like Jazz is a partly autobiographical account of one man’s struggles against Christianity while simultaneously embracing many of its fundamental beliefs.
49. Confessions
Author: St. Augustine of Hippo
As the quintessential conversion book, St. Augustine of Hippo’s enlightening autobiography traces his spiritual journey and offers inspiration for Christians of all stripes.
50. The God Delusion
Author: Richard Dawkins
Christians hoping to solidify their faith may find empowerment in reading what their opposition has to say and understanding many of the arguments used against their belief in a higher authority.
No matter what a Christian is looking for, there is likely a book out there that opens up his or her eyes to a new facet of the faith that they may not otherwise have noticed. Even religions loosely or entirely unaffiliated with the teachings of Jesus still have insightful perspectives to offer his curious, scholarly followers that merit consideration, facilitate intellectual discourse, and broaden horizons.