25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics

by Renovare

From the creators of Devotional Classics and Spiritual Classics comes 25 Books Every Christian Should Read, the definitive guide to the most spiritually influential and important books for Christians to read. Renovaré, a community of Christians promoting personal and spiritual renewal, put together a prestigious editorial board including Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Phyllis Tickle, and Richard Rohr, resulting in this wonderful resource for exploring the richness of the Christian tradition.

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Religion, Faith, Theology

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Renovaré is a nonprofit Christian organization headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and active worldwide. They seek to resource, fuel, model, and advocate more intentional living and spiritual formation among Christians and those wanting a deeper connection with God.

A foundational presence in the spiritual formation movement for over 20 years, Renovaré is Christian in commitment, ecumenical in breadth, and international in scope. Renovaré has published numerous books about the importance of strong spirituality and connections with God.

Reviews

[Ruthmgon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great reference. This is set up so that you can read the excerpts of each book and engage with the questions in each chapter. This would be great for a book group. The introduction lets you know what the editors process was for selection and how they recommend going forward.

These are pretty heavy literature, but I had at least heard of almost 1/4 of these, and I had already read two of them! (If you can count listening to Michael York read this on books on tape...which was really funny for me because I kept picturing Logan's Run on occasion as these serious topics were discussed.

For me, I heard some excerpts of St Augustine's "Confessions" and it was so interesting, I went right out to the Public Library and picked it up. Part philosophy, part diary, 100 percent personal (and I don't often say this..pure gold)

Here is the list:
1) On the Incarnation St Athanasius
2) Confessions St. Augustine
3) The Sayings of the Desert Fathers (various authors)
4) The Rule of St. Benedict ---St Benedict
5) The Divine Comedy --Dante Alighieri
6) The Cloud of Unknowing--(anonymous author)
7) Revelations of Divine Love --Julian of Norwich
8) The Imitation of Christ--Thomas a Kempis
9) The Philokalia (Various authors)
10) Institutes of the Christian Religion--John Calvin
11) The Interior Castle--St. Theresa of Avila
12) Dark Night of the Soul--St. John of the Cross
13) Pensees --Blaise Pascal
14) The Pilgrim's Progress --John Bunyan
15) The Practice of the Presence of God --Brother Lawrence
16) A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life-- William Law
17) The Way of a Pilgrim (unknown author)
18) The Brothers Karamazov --Fyodor Dostoevsky
19) Orthodoxy --G.K. Chesterton
20) The Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
21) The Cost of Discipleship--Dietrich Bonhoeffer
22) A Testament of Devotion -- Thomas R. Kelly
23) The Seven Storey Mountain --Thomas Merton
24) Mere Christianity--C.S. Lewis
25) The Return of the Prodigal Son-- Henri J. M Nouwen

[Nathan Albright · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first saw the title for this book, my thought was, “25 Books every Christian should read? Says who?” So, I investigated a bit and found out that Renovarè is an international ecumenical organization that seeks harmony among various Christian groups and a renovation of Christianity that involves a support of somewhat radical thinking on social justice and also has a strongly Catholic or Orthodox tendency towards supporting the monastic and contemplative life. Thus warned, I looked at this book as an attempt by people who consider themselves authorities on how Christians should behave to push a certain social agenda. Unsurprisingly, that is precisely what I found, and not only that, the editors of this work were entirely open about their approbation of certain radical tendencies to be found in the books within, and were candid about their lack of interest in a biblical theology and in their corresponding fascination with supporting an ascetic and rigorous form of Hellenistic Christianity like that of the desert fathers (whose reflections are one of the twenty-five books recommended here). It bears some emphasis that the Bible is not one of the twenty-five books included in this survey, which is not surprising when one considers how much of the thought endorsed here is contrary to scripture, and which bears a strong resemblance to what Paul spoke of when he condemned various heresies among the Colossians by saying in Colossians 2:23: “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

The contents of this book are fairly straightforward. The book consists of about 370 or so pages of core material. Most of this consists of 25 books, organized in chronological order, that the editors view as essential reading for Christians [1]. Within each selection there is a consistent pattern of material as well. First there is a quote, in italics, from the material selected, along with a spotlight on a reason why the book was written and what makes it important, followed by a biography of the writer, where known, and a summary of the book chosen and its particular context. There is then a justification on why the work is essential, some advice on how to read the book, an excerpt from the work that is broken by a personal top 5 from someone who claims to have some kind of authority to give on the matter, and then a study guide with a few questions for someone who reads that particular book. After the twenty-five selections, all of which show this same internal organization, there is a listing of contemporary writers along with some selected works by then that also support various views of social justice and “discipline” that are endorsed by the book’s editors, none of whom have written any works that have reached my own attention.

This book is full of a certain amount of arrogance that presumes that these people are in a state to give advice and counsel on how other Christians should live and behave, which is unwarranted by their love of heathen traditions, and their ungodly adoption of radicalism. The supposedly essential books chosen for the list ignore vital aspects of doctrine. For example, while many of the books endorse asceticism and celibate monasticism, practices condemned in scripture, none of them discuss a godly view of the Sabbath, and only a few of them discuss the plan of God to turn humanity into members of the God family (notably C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and some of the works from the Eastern Orthodox tradition). On the contrary, many of the works contain dubious reflections on false conceptions of the Nature of God, like the Trinity, or seek to replace the corpus of biblical law with a man-made standard of behavior that emphasizes the importance of spiritual directors who alone are fit to interpret the Bible and these various uninspired texts to lay believers. The resulting collection is so full of error, and a dangerous predilection for the Inner Ring condemned by C.S. Lewis [2] that even the best of the works included below are tainted by association with the editors of this work. The best that can be said about the authors is that they have a love of history that seeks to relate to Christian tradition, and that they are honest and transparent about their radical aims. Little else here is worthy of praise from either God or men.

[1] The works chosen by the editors are listed below. Those marked in bold are ones that I have read, and below that are posts about the various books included here, including but not limited to book reviews. Please note that some of the books I have read on this series are from a period before I wrote and posted book reviews online on this blog:

On The Incarnation, St. Athanasias
Confessions, St. Augustine
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Various
The Rule of St. Benedict, St. Benedict
The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
The Cloud of Unknowing, anonymous
Revelations of Divine Love (Showings), Julian of Norwich
The Imitations of Christ, Thomas á Kempis
Institutes of Christian Religion, John Calvin
The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila
Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross
Pensèes, Blaise Pascal
The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
A Series Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law
The Way of a Pilgrim, anonymous
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
The Poetry of Gerald Manley Hopkins
The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly
The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri J.M. Nouwen

Posts about these books below:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource. A Board led by Richard Foster worked together to identify these 25 books and then compiled a book about the books. Each chapter focuses on a different book from the list, and they are compiled chronologically. Each chapter consists of a description of the book, an explanation of why if made the list, an explanation of how to read the book, excerpts from the book, and study questions for the book. In between each chapter is a personal top 5 list from a board member or another stud or studette.

I read everything except for the excerpts, because I plan to read all of the books on the list that I haven't read yet (I've read 9, I'm currently reading a 10th, and the only one I've already decided to omit is Calvin's Institutes. I'm just not that much of a theology hog.) The books range from spiritual biography, contemplative prayer how-to's, and theology to classic lit (Brothers Karamazov & Divine Comedy) and poetry. No books from living authors were selected, but there is a list of nine contemporary authors and some of their works that they recommend.

I was surprised by how many books on the list were not familiar to me. Most of them were earlier works by mystics, but there were a few newer works as well. There were also a few books that I was surprised to find absent from the list, like Tozer's Pursuit of God, Scougal's Life of God in the Soul of Man, and the Diary of David Brainerd.

Now I've got to wrap this up because I have 15 more books to read...

[Leslie Jem]

I reserved this from the library when I stumbled across it. However, upon seeing Richard Rohr’s name associated with this book, I’ve decided just to add the titles to my To-Read list and skip this book and its commentary. Several of the books were part of my reading for Core 150. I may read/reread as I so choose.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting look at what some scholars think are important Christian works--the usual suspects are there, i.e. C.S. Lewis and St. Augustine, "The Pilgrim's Progress," St. Benedict, and Merton. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dante and Dostoevsky on the list, too, and there's a good mix of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox titles. I was also intrigued to see each contributing editor's personal "top 5" list, as there were some unexpected titles and authors mentioned--Madeleine L'Engle, Steinbeck, Tolkien, Plato, and Flannery O'Conner, who are not usually associated with Christian writing and literature.

I mostly picked up this book to see what the 25 books were, and to see how many I'd read (or even heard of...). I can honestly say I've read part of 2 (Confessions and The Divine Comedy) and all of a third (Mere Christianity). This certainly isn't what I'd consider my top 25 list to be, but this book does a good job serving as a primer to these texts, by giving an overview of the text, providing an excerpt, justifying its presence in the compilation, and giving study questions, and for someone like me, I need a basic, simplified look at these titles. Some I am interested in reading more, so I suppose this book was successful in piquing my interest.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, I think I would probably be critical of any list that supposedly represents the top twenty-five "essential" reads. If the list had 50 or 100 books, I'd probably still feel good cause to complain. Partly, I think that is just the nature of list-making. I'm not sure how balanced this list is--I feel many titles are too ancient. And so very many of them are from a monastic point of view. And the editors definitely favored mysticism over theology. And "devotional" over doctrinal. For the most part. Perhaps with the exception of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Which may sound okay in theory, but essentially how many of these are clear enough, relevant enough, and focused on the gospel and the heart of the gospel, Jesus Christ? I think there were some biggies left off the list, theologians (preachers, teachers, writers) who should have been included but weren't.

[Kathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some very interesting insights.
Everyone is going to have an opinion of what should make the list and what shouldn't, but don't let that stop you from looking into this book and gleaning from it the most that you can.
Each writer involved has given his/her insights, and several more besides have given their top 5 (or so) books that they recommend. So if you don't see what you think you should, keep reading. It may just surprise you to read what others have said.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up skimming most of the book to only read the chapters regarding books I have read or plan to read in the future. There are a lot of classics (i.e., hard reads) covered here, but you could almost consider this a "cliff's notes" or a "cocktail party statement" coverage of each one, if you don't ever intend to read them.

[Christopher Sibley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book that serves as a foundation and easily understood introduction to basic philosophical bases of Christianity.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came upon this books while looking for the meaning of "Classics". Since I have been a church librarian for more than 50 years, I though I would know which books would be included, and wanted to know how many we owned and how well read they were. This book had many surprises in it. An editor board including Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Phyllis Tickle and Richard Rohr. Each book had a short excerpt and the personal top of the author of the classic and a study guide. It was a total surprise. I found I was familiar with at less than 5 of the Titles, I considered them all too serious for my consideration. The end of the book listed the Best contemporary authors, these I was more familiar with. Interesting look at classic, enough to tempt me to try a few more.

[Jean Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever tried to read classic texts like the Confessions of St. Augustine or Dante's Divine Comedy outside of a class and got bogged down in the language, length, or context, this reference will revive your energy and enthusiasm to dive into those Christian texts once more, this time with renewed understanding.

Thanks to the curation of an editorial board from an international ecumenical organization that seeks harmony among various Christian groups, this highly selective anthology includes needed context in the form of introductions that answer "why" the text is considered essential and "how" to read it. Then well-chosen excerpts provide a sampling of each work's richness, followed by study guide questions.

Thanks to this framework, I know I am now ready to receive the gifts of these texts, all on my to-read shelf.

[William Schram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a provocative title, 25 Books Every Christian Should Read. It draws from several sources and has a massive list that it pared down for convenience's sake.

It lists more than 25 books, but that is how many it features. It includes masterpieces like The Brothers Karamazov, which makes it stand out. On the other hand, the lion's share of books are ones with which I am unfamiliar.

The book includes a series of questions if you want to have a book club on them. It encourages writing and interacting with the texts at hand. This book did not attempt to convert me, and I appreciate that.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a solid introduction to each of the books discussed. I had already many of the books selected books so I skipped over these chapters. Even if you haven't ready any of the books; however, I wouldn't recommend reading this book cover-to-cover. I would instead use it as a reference.

Additionally, I generally agreed with all the books selected. I could only see myself changing a few.

[Jonathan Sussex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't plan on reading many of these books anytime soon, however it did provide a useful taster for some i do plan to read such as Dantes divine comedy. In my opinion the list was heavily biased towards books written by monks and nuns.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I appreciated this book and the list it contains is the section that explains how each book is to be approached. Spiritual classics can be notoriously hard to approach and including such instructions and thoughts was helpful

[Marie French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done overview

[J Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about these significant books and reading excerpts from each of them.

[Stinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a helpful read, especially for someone (like me) who's only read a handful of the 25 books discussed in its contents. It's one I'd like to own, as it serves as a springboard into reading the classics of Christendom. I really appreciate the work put forth by Renovare in creating it.

[Shannon Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a book club I belonged to briefly. I am a Theology major, and I do not agree with the list, but that's my opinion.

[Richard Millsap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable, well-crafted, meaningful, and encouraging compendium of significant religious and spiritual works.

[Georgette Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book for the library!

[Danny Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The results of reading these books may be that (1) your vision of the kingdom of God becomes more and more acute, and it makes you long for the potential of it for yourself and your neighbors, and (2) you become depressed because this vision is so far away from your current reality. Such reactions are inevitable."

[Karen]

So far, this book is an all-time favorite. I have no doubt that I will read it over and over again!

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book...and a must read to introduce you to true classics of our faith!

[Paul Parkinson]

I'll finish later

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good list. Some I may never get to...others, a big yes, I hope to read them soon!

[Nick Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to intro into some of the essentials for Christian reading.

[Carrie]

I appreciated this overview of some Christian classics. Gave me some good ideas for really the next several years. I got a lot of interesting ideas, not just from the actual list of 25 but from the additional suggestions peppered throughout.