Best Christian Books?

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So my bookshelf is an embarrassing mix of half-finished reads and books I bought with the best of intentions. Probably says more about me than I’d like to admit. Actually, it definitely does.

I’m trying to fix that. Figured I’d just ask: what are the ten Christian books you would tell someone they absolutely cannot skip?

Genre doesn’t matter to me. Theology, church history, commentaries, apologetics, fiction, science and faith stuff, even something unexpected. If it stuck with you or genuinely grew your walk, I want to hear about it.

What are the best Christian books that every Christian should own?

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Good Christian Baby Parenting Book?
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If you want some real study:

  1. Confessions by Augustine and On the Incarnation by Athanasius.
  2. The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer
  3. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
  4. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

Or for the history:

  1. The Story of Christianity by Justo González
  2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

And just my personal picks:

  1. The Brothers Karamazov
  2. Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright.

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Mere Christianity, Knowing God and Gentle and Lowly. That last one gave me a different picture of Christ’s heart toward people who keep stumbling.

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Orthodoxy, The Screwtape Letters and Gilead. Gilead grew my faith without preaching at me.

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What was your picture of Christ like before you read Gentle and Lowly? I ask because there’s a real gap between Christ welcoming someone who stumbles and Christ putting up with them while checking his watch.

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Screwtape did more to arm me against the enemy’s quiet tactics than any sermon, though Gilead is still on my nightstand waiting.

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Gentle and Lowly hit me the same way, the chapters on Christ drawing near to people who keep failing.

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I almost put Gilead down halfway through because nothing seemed to be happening, but John Ames has this way of noticing grace in ordinary things. Did Orthodoxy do the same thing for you, or did that one feel more like Chesterton sitting you down and arguing you into it?

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Both. The Ethics of Elfland is doing the same work as Gilead, the sun rises each morning because God, like a child, never tires of saying ‘do it again’.

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Which tactic did it help you spot in your own life? Screwtape moved up my list.

I have plenty of books I keep meaning to get to but I think this one will get read.