All the Lives You Can Change: Effective Altruism for Christians

by Dominic Roser, David Zhang, J. D. Bauman

Learn how to go beyond good intentions and create real change in the world.In a world full of seemingly intractable problems, many Christians wonder if their efforts make any real difference―or if they’re just throwing money and time into a void. All the Lives You Can Change directly addresses this question, pointing Christians to impactful opportunities for loving their neighbors. It encourages readers to go beyond conventional philanthropy, symbolic actions, and feel-good volunteering and to discover surprising tools from effective altruism―an evidence-based approach to doing the most good. Drawing on Scripture, years of nonprofit management experience, and research from experts at Oxford, the authors equip followers of Christ to turn compassion into meaningful, measurable change.This book offers practical tools Prioritize Identify where money and energy most impactfully solve pressing, neglected global issues―taking Jesus’s radical command to love your neighbor seriously.
 Give Leverage proven, evidence-backed strategies to achieve results hundreds of times greater per dollar than traditional charity.
 Develop powerful Clarify one’s calling and pursue careers that don’t just feel meaningful but genuinely glorify God and significantly improve the world.
Full of eye-opening case studies, sharp biblical insights, and candid advice, All the Lives You Can Change is a road map for a life that makes a difference. Professionals short on purpose, church leaders eager to mobilize their congregations into meaningful action, and students uncertain about the future will all learn how to move past good intentions and into genuine, world-changing outcomes that radically transform the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

292 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2026

Reviews

[Daniel Hageman]

All the Lives You Can Change seems to serve two core functions, 1) An introduction to Effective Altruism for Christians curious about how said movement can spring from a truly Christian framework, and 2) a bridge for anyone who’s spent years inside EA circles wondering why the movement’s language of expected value, tractability, and cause prioritization rarely lands with religious audiences, particularly Christians, who have some of the deepest theological resources for radical 'other-regarding sacrifice' already enmeshed within their own tradition. The authors do an impressive job translating EA’s empirical rigor into a framework of stewardship, loving thy neighbor, and vocation. I also found the anecdotal stories helpful in reinvigorating my own inspiration and willingness to challenge myself to do more.

From my non-Christian point of view, the book felt a bit underwhelming with respect to some of the philosophical terrain and what I think it truly means to 'do the most good', but I think this 1) can be expected from more of an introductory book, and 2) is plausibly where Christian ethics diverges more from my own, i.e. questions around population ethics, minimizing extreme suffering across all species, the importance of avoiding s-risks, etc. I also think that the authors could have spent a bit more time focused on the tension between EA’s aggregative, often utilitarian foundations and a Christian ethic that’s frequently more deontological or virtue-based, though it does touch on that nicely in some areas.

Nonetheless, as an entry point for skeptical or unfamiliar Christian readers, or for those who are secular trying to understand how EA and the Christian world views may or may not converge, it succeeds at its actual goal of making effective giving feel like an extension of faith rather than a foreign concept embraced by a more secular demographic.

[Phillip Mast]

I've always had a lot of appreciation for EA so I was glad to see this book. Some of this book just sounds like normal EA ideas with Jesus thrown in but they also give a good biblical case for some tenets as well as pointing out some flaws. I didn't agree with them on political involvement and animal welfare but overall it seemed pretty sound.

[Sam]

Super good book!! Very challenging