The publishing firm Renovaré has recently published a book entitled, 25 Books Every Christian Should Read, the list for which was developed by an ecumenical panel assembled by the publisher. The list contains both familiar works by such writers as St. Augustine and John Calvin as well as several works that few lay people have ever heard of including the Mediaeval classic, "The Cloud of Unknowing." The purpose of this selection of 25 books is not to provide yet another list of the top whatever number of whatever things. It isn't presenting a list of the top 25 Christian books of all time or the most popular Christian books in the history of the church. Rather, it introduces its readers to 25 writings, of various types, that over the centuries have proven important in helping readers deepen their spiritual lives. Reading these books, that is, will have an impact on the quality of one's Christian life.
If it be true that to an extent "we are what we read," then it is important that we spend some time each day or at least each week reading books and other devotional materials that keep us oriented toward spiritual things. Doing so gives us a bit of space for quiet reflection in the midst of our lives and reminds us that there are things more important than the daily grind, even when we're doing good things with that grind. Amen.
Here's the list:
Here's the list:
1. On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
2. Confessions by St. Augustine
3. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
4. The Rule of St. Benedict by St. Benedict
5. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
6. The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous
7. Revelations of Divine Love (Showings) by Julian of Norwich
8. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
9. The Philokalia
10. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin
11. The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
12. Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
13. Pensées by Blaise Pascal
14. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
15. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
16. A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law
17. The Way of a Pilgrim by Unknown Author
18. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
19. Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
20. The Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
21. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
22. A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly
23. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
24. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
25. The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J. M. Nouwen
