Hello all -- Last evening at The Well, our college fellowship and Bible study, I asked the students if they had read a particular book ... one I certainly thought most Christians would have read. Fully 1/2 of the students had never heard of the book, or the author.

It got me thinking ... what if there was a Christian Required Reading list of books, like they have in high schools and college. What would you like to see on such a list?

Here's how I'd like to do this. I would like for you to consider 3-5 books that you would list as "required reading" for Christians. Do NOT include the Bible, which is an obvious choice.

Also ... DO NOT POST YOUR LIST HERE! I would like you to send your list directly to my email -- darrell@csfpa.com -- The reason: So you can come up with YOUR top 3-5 books, without reacting or responding to what others have already listed.

In a week or so, once I think everyone has replied to me DIRECTLY via email, I will compile the list, and place on on this thread.

Thanks for your help. This should be kinda interesting!

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2002

Answers

Here's the three responses I received:

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis (stock your library with Lewis LOL) The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel The Case for Faith - Lee Strobel Unto the Generations (Not a Christian book per sé, but Christian kids need to know how Christian our Founding Fathers were and have some sense of their legacy) - Daniel L. Marsh The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life - Hannah Whitall Smith

- - - - - Quo Vadis God the Ruler (Cottrell) God the Creator (Cottrell) God the Redeemer (Cottrell) Studies in the Life of Christ (Foster)

- - - - - For the male...

Every Man's Battle by Arterburn & Stoecker. Guard Your Heart by Gary Rosberg Spirit Warriors by Stu Weber

For the Preacher...

They Smell Like Sheep by Lynn Anderson When God Builds a Church by Bob Russell When Bad Christians Happen to Good People by Dave Burchett - - - - -

I posed the question since I had asked my college students if they had read The Chronicles of Narnia. About 1/2 had not, and had never heard of CS Lewis. That amazed me.

NOW -- why is it that Christians today don't seem to be reading as much as Christians did in the past? OR -- is it just my imagination?

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

It's not your imagination. In my opinion this can be attributed to several things: The short attention span/MTV generation, weaned on TV and not trained in either the joy of reading or in critical thought; serious lack of solid doctrinal teaching in the churches; and lack of discipleship/mentoring from the older generation to the younger.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2002

I wonder if preachers and other leaders are at fault here as well? Do you (as leaders) suggest reading material to your members? Does you congregation have a library that can really be used ... or is it filled with out of date stuff people dropped off from their homes since they didn't want them anymore? Does your congregation have a bookstore ... with materials people can breeze through, purchase, or order?

What can we do as leaders, preachers, teachers to get our folks reading more?

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2002

Someone in "that other forum" asked what books made good Christian reading material, and here was the response:

I saw by your one post that you read Lloyd-Jones. I find his layout of the "Sermon on the Mount" to be one of his best ever.

AW. Tozer has some real good stuff.

I like intimate books like "The Song of Songs" by several authors, the controversial Nee being one of them. I would rate his "Normal Christian Life" somewhere in the top 3 after the Bible! "The Spiritual Man" is good too.

Jessie Penn-Lewis (Life out of Death, Thy Hidden Ones, Dying to Live) and J.C.Metcalf (Out of Adam into Christ, Great Deliverance) have written some good stuff - so too has John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress, The Holy War, The Acceptable Sacrifice).

I like these old guys like... J.C.Ryle, Horatius Bonar, John Owens, Jonathan Edwards, John Flavel, C.H. Spurgeon, etc.

I don't necessarily agree with everything they say but they say some good things.

I know you have the discernment necessary to pick the rows of fruit out from between the rows of thorns.

So there's SOME of them.

My thoughts: What's really sad is that a lot of people in the church today haven't even heard of any of these guys, much less read any of them.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2002

There was an old guy in the church I was last in who was into reading the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, Ireneus, Justin Martyr, et. al., and he got me interested in reading their works.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2002