A reader of this site recently got in touch to ask me for some book suggestions. She has been a believer for quite a long time and along the way has heard of the value of reading “Christian classics.” Yet she hasn’t been sure where to begin and asked for some guidance. I was glad to take on that challenge!

In this article I will offer some suggestions that cover various eras from the early church until the late twentieth century. I should note that these recommendations will tend more toward literature that is devotional than scholarly or purely theological. And I should note as well that there is not a person in the world who will agree with every book I’ve included and every book I’ve excluded—and that is just fine because there is always a degree of subjectivity to these things. And now, without further ado, here are some Christian classics to consider reading.
John Bunyan allegorical The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the bestselling books in all of history and a great place to begin. It has never gone out of print and in one way or another has influenced every generation of Christians since it was first published in the late 1600s. For those reasons alone it is well worth a read. Though you can find modernizations that adapt the language either lightly or significantly, the original is still surprisingly accessible. There are also some lovely audio versions available. If you’d like to listen to it, I recommend the Nadia May recording. If you’d like to read a slight modernization, this one by Crossway is well done. Otherwise, perhaps try this edition. (Most editions contain part 1 and part 2—the journeys of Christian and Christiana. You can consider yourself to have read The Pilgrim’s Progress once you complete part 1 since that is the original work.)
Note: When it comes to books that are out of copyright, you’ll often find many different editions at Amazon, eBay, and other sites that will sell pretty much anything. It’s worth being careful because a lot of them are very poorly printed or bound—often little more than photocopies of old editions that are then cheaply slapped together. Get used to clicking the “See all formats and editions” link on a book’s page and then looking for an edition by a reputable publisher. If you shop at Westminster Books or a similar bookseller, you shouldn’t run into this issue as they will already have curated the books they sell.
We should go back in time a little to make sure we don’t neglect the earliest Christian classics, which include the most noteworthy work of Augustine: Confessions. It is available in a multitude of editions and translations.
I know little about the 1,000 years between Augustine and the Puritans so don’t have a lot to offer here beyond names like Dante and Thomas Aquinas. But as far as I can tell, this was not an era in which there were a lot of devotional works that have since been affirmed by Protestants. (Authors like Thomas à Kempis and Brother Lawrence are still read and treasured today, but typically not by Reformed Protestants.) Calvin’s A Little Book on the Christian Life gets us into the Reformation era and is an excerpt of the most practical section of his Institutes.
You may have heard of the Puritans and been told you should try reading their books. When we talk about “Puritan books,” we are talking about thousands of titles written over more than a century, many of them incredibly voluminous, so there are more options than any one person could read in a lifetime (except maybe Joel Beeke). Thankfully time has served as a filter and brought many of the best works to the surface. Among them is Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices in which Thomas Brooks instructs us in how to resist Satan’s temptations. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs tells why contentment is so fleeting and how Christian can achieve it, The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes offers hope for those who are suffering, while Thomas Watson’s The Godly Man’s Picture presents a “picture” of mature Christian character. Those are great options to begin with. For something slightly more advanced, try Sin and Temptation by John Owen—still the definitive work on the subject. You also can’t go wrong with Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Anne Bradstreet’s works of poetry, or Samuel Rutherford’s wee little The Loveliness of Christ. The Puritan Paperback series by Banner of Truth and the Puritan Treasures for Today by Reformation Heritage Books can guide you into many more options.
Let me interject with a note about Puritan works. Many Puritan classics are actually excerpts from longer works, so you may find the same content in a number of different places. Also, a few of them now have modernized editions in which either the text has been rewritten in modern English or has simply been annotated to assist in understanding. With some authors this really isn’t all that necessary, but with others it can be very helpful. The best in this category are the John Owen books edited by Justin Taylor and Kelly Kapic.
When it comes to post-Puritan classics from the 1700s and early 1800s, I confess that my knowledge is a bit lacking. You might consider Real Christianity by William Wilberforce or The Religious Affections and The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards. Memoir & Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne by Andrew Bonar was published in the mid-1800s. The sermons of George Whitefield and the hymns of Charles Wesley are rewarding, though these last two probably don’t quite count as classic books. The same would be true of the letters of John Newton. Lemuel Haynes wrote in this era and, while I don’t think any of his books are considered classics, his sermons are enjoyable—perhaps especially “Universal Salvation.”
As we get deeper into the 1800s and come to the early 1900s, I have read much more so can offer more confident suggestions. J.C. Ryle’s Holiness and Thoughts for Young Men are rewarding reads. Theodore Cuyler’s God’s Light on Dark Clouds is a beautiful work on suffering while P.B. Power’s A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness is exactly what it sounds like. This was an era in which sermons were often transcribed and printed in periodicals, so you can find entire volumes of sermons from men like Charles Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, or De Witt Talmage that are a joy to read. You will actually find that a good number of the books in their names are really just adapted sermons. Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism is more theological than devotional, but crucial to understanding liberalism. John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied is brilliant.
For more contemporary classics (by which I mean works from the late 1900s that seem destined to survive the ages) I suggest The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink (which is self-explanatory), Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (which is Lewis’s best known apologetic work), Knowing God by J.I. Packer (which is a kind of introduction to the Christian faith), The Cross of Christ by John Stott (which is a description of what God accomplished through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ) and The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul (which calls us to know and love God as holy, holy, holy). Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot is a biography that had a massive impact on world missions.
If I had to plot out a short reading list with one book from each era, I might go in this order: The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, A Little Book on the Christian Life, Holiness, Knowing God, Confessions, the Religious Affections. Either way, I hope this article brings some clarity and motivates you to explore some of the true classics of the Christian faith.

The world was still new, the earth was still young, humanity was still barely east of Eden. And deep in virgin forests, unseen by human eye, untrod by human foot, a gentle fern was summoned forth from the soil. Its fronds were perfectly symmetrical, its leaves were vibrant green, it was uniquely patterned with the most delicate of veins.

When the sun broke through the trees above, it illumined the fern with beams of gold. When the dews fell in the quiet of night, they topped it with crowns of silver. When the winds blew upon it, it fluttered and danced with joy. It was but a little fern, but it was the delight of its Maker.
But a day came when the thunders rolled and the rocks split. A day came when the earth quaked and the mountains heaved. A day came when the skies above and the deeps beneath broke open in mighty torrents and floods. That little fern succumbed to the waves and was buried and compressed, encased in clay. Like all humans and like all animals, it perished.
Yet the clay that encased that fern also protected it. As the clay dried and hardened, it preserved the shape, the lines, and even the gentle traces of the veins. A living work of art gave way to a petrified one.
And then it rested. It rested through the centuries as nations rose and fell. It rested through the millennia as kingdoms waxed and waned. It rested in hardened rock.
But then, at last, a day came when a young man drew near—a young man who was searching for secrets hidden in nature. Deep in a fissure he gently withdrew a single stone and carried it up into the bright light of the sun. And as he gazed at that stone he marveled to see, as if drawn with the finest of pencils, the tracings of stems and leaves, of fibers and veins. He rejoiced in the fossil that told of the existence of that fern, that bore its memory, that testified that it had never been forgotten by its Maker.
And as I ponder that petrified fern—hidden through the ages to be revealed at last, forgotten through the ages to be a source of wonder at last—I find myself considering that perhaps God has kept secret from our eyes the salvation of some of his people.
Perhaps he called them to himself after we lost track of them—we assumed their hardened rebellion against Christ continued indefinitely, while only God knows it eventually gave way to the sweetest submission. Perhaps he allowed some to commit terrible deeds toward the end—we were certain they had turned away, but God never loosened his grip on them. Perhaps he called them to himself at their final gasp—we were certain they had gone to judgment, but in the very last moment God brought them safely to glory.
And so I wonder. As I consider that petrified fern I wonder what marvelous secrets God has stored away, what wonderful surprises he has kept hidden from our eyes, what beautiful blessings he has left undisclosed in our day so he can reveal them in that last and wonderful day—so he can reveal them to the delight of our hearts and the praise of his name.

(Inspired by a poem I discovered in an old anthology.)

Westminster Books has just refreshed its children’s fiction section and is offering some pretty good deals.

Today’s Kindle deals include at least one good book from RHB.
The indelible conscience and a month of “pride”
“In case you haven’t heard, June 1 no longer marks the end of the school year or the unofficial beginning of summer. It’s the start of Pride Month. Initially conceived in 1970 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Pride Month has become a government-promoted, corporate-sponsored, 30-day celebration of LGBTQ acceptance and achievements.” Kevin DeYoung reflects on the cultural significance of Pride Month.
Declaring and Clicking in the Word of Faith
“I was one of those people. You know the ones telling you to watch what you say because death and life are in the power of the tongue. It is with certainty and irony I can say my actions drove family members nuts at times. Decreeing and declaring were integral in what was considered prayer time. When faced with a possible negative outcome in life, it was not uncommon to say, ‘I do not receive that’, because receiving the negative would make it a reality. This was seen as a lack of faith. Rather, we were to declare a thing and see it come to pass.”
Truth on Fire (Free ebook!)
The Good Book Company is giving away a free ebook of Truth on Fire by Adam Ramsey. In the book, Adam encourages readers to know God truly and experience him deeply. (Sponsored Link)
Nevertheless
I appreciate this reflection. “I’m not sure I would have ever considered that my sorrow could be associated with my good. That is, unless Jesus told me so. Nor could I work out how Paul could pair sorrow and rejoicing in the same sentence—maybe he understood something about Jesus I’d missed. I don’t feel too bad, though, and neither should you if these matters are confusing to you too, I mean, the other disciples didn’t really get it either.”
Pastor, Jesus Doesn’t Care How Big Your Church Is
Pastors need this reminder from time to time. In this case it’s Jared Wilson delivering it.
Time
Paul Levy: “It strikes me, that as Christians we need to be more aware of our finitude. I suspect more of us struggle with wasting time than we are willing to admit. The internet has it’s obvious problems with pornography and online gambling, but the way that it distracts us and robs us of time without our realising it.”
Benefitting From A ‘Bubble’
Here is something good that came out of a COVID bubble.
Flashback: Friends to Christ, Strangers To His Church
The call to community is a call to familiarity. If we are to love and serve others, we need to know them…We can love others in precise and meaningful ways only to the degree that we know them.

It is the sovereign decree of heaven that nothing can make sinners truly happy but God in Christ… —A.W. Pink