Nine Christian Books Off the Beaten Path

A few months ago as I prepared to leave my church and begin what some people call retirement but has turned out to be anything but that, I was faced with the daunting task of what to do with my library.

I love books and down through the years have accumulated enough of them to make a sizeable collection. They have travelled with me from church to church and have been not only a treasury of knowledge and wisdom for ministry but also a kind of security blanket—a place of retreat and safety that I go to when life or church or both grow hard and challenging.

But now that I was downsizing I had to do something with them. There simply wasn’t room to take the great majority of my books with me. That’s when I hit a snag. As I went through the hundreds if not thousands of books I had bought through the decades I came to realize how many of them were trivial, shallow, cliche-ridden and even thoughtless. Even worse they were derivative, as though many of them had been written from the same script. I couldn’t help but to think of theologian Carl Trueman’s notion of “Big Eva.” That’s short for “Big Evangelicalism,” the small circle of elites and powerbrokers who control the publishing, conferences, programs, trends, missions and agencies of the American evangelical church—in the same way that “Big Pharma” controls America’s drug supplies.

That’s why I pulled out a few books that were different and set them aside. Unlike the many cookie-cutter books that cluttered my shelves, these had substance and depth. They weren’t just interesting to read but also had a way of making me a better person, a more loving pastor, a more faithful follower of Jesus.

In defiance of Big Eva (I hope I don’t get my ministerial credentials revoked) I recommend them to you in this article. They’re not for everyone, but they may provide at least a few of my readers with alternatives to much of the other stuff that’s out there. Best of all, most of them are older books and safe from ChatGPT. They were actually written by humans. I’ve listed them in no particular order.

GK Chesterton, “St Francis of Assisi.” I freely admit to being a Chesterton fanatic. No one was like him (although he did have a predecessor in English literary history, Samuel Johnson, whom no one much reads anymore but should). His book on Francis is a marvel, capturing not just the spirit of the 13th century in which he lived and the profound impact he had on the Catholic church but also the fresh sense of wonder he unleashed into Christian theology altogether. The book is short but, as is the case with all of Chesterton’s books, you can’t put it down. Note: the Kindle version of “Francis” is only 99 cents at the link above.

AT Robertson, “Word Pictures in the Greek New Testament.” Robertson was, for me and others, the greatest New Testament scholar ever produced by my own Southern Baptist Convention (I admit that’s a short list, but still). “Word Pictures” isn’t your everyday Bible commentary but an invaluable resource for serious Bible students from preachers to Sunday School teachers to lay people hungry to learn more about the Word of God.

“The Abbey of Misrule,” the substack home of Paul Kingsnorth. Kingsnorth, for me, is our greatest living prophet. His understanding of trends effecting not just the culture but also the church is unlike any other. An Oxford-educated writer, Kingsnorth started out as a leader in the radical environmental movement but grew disenchanted with its godlessness and fecklessness. When his life reached the maximum point of despair, he converted to Orthodox Christianity. You can read his conversion story—“The Cross and the Machine”—here. I read everything I can from his writings (most of his substack is behind a paywall but he releases free posts on a regular basis). Here’s the link to another of his free essays called, “A Wild Christianity,” as provocative and true a piece as I’ve read in a long time.

Rosario Butterfield, “Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age.” Butterfield is one of the most remarkable figures in the modern American church. A literary professor and lesbian, she was full bore into the godlessness and emptiness of modern American academia when, because of a local pastor’s simple hospitality, she came to Jesus. She’s now a writer, speaker and wife of a Presbyterian pastor in North Carolina. You can read her account of her conversion in The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert : An English Professor's Journey into Christian Faith

“25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics.” From Augustine (5th century) to Henri Nouwen (see below) to many Christian leaders, saints and mystics in between, this compendium takes us on a spiritual journey with major devotional writers through the centuries, giving brief historical settings, biographies and representative samples of each one. Many of the authors we might have seen cited in other places are in this book, explained and applied to modern life. I found this book to be a great read; but more importantly, a real incentive to spiritual maturity.

Robert Louis Wilken, “The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God.” If the title sounds like a dry academic book, it’s anything but. Wilken—a professor at the University of Virginia—takes the early church fathers and shows how their faith is the same as ours, only more so. Free from the clichés, agendas, or just plain silliness that infects much of modern evangelicalism, the book is an invitation into the historic faith of Jesus. It’s also a much easier read than you may think.

Henri Nouwen, “The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming.” A spiritual reflection on Rembrandt’s famous painting by the same name, this book has a profound impact on almost everyone who reads it. Nouwen invites us into a relationship with the Father that’s authentic, intimate and healing. Then he goes on to challenge us to become a model of the loving Father to the people around us. It’s a simple formula but Nouwen’s writing is so simple and persuasive that you can’t help but to be affected by it. I often recommend the book in pastoral settings. For me personally, after reading it, I framed a reproduction of Rembrandt’s painting and hung it in a prominent place in my house so that I wouldn’t forget what the book taught me.

Thomas Merton, “The Seven Story Mountain.” Merton is something of a controversial figure and I have to confess that I don’t know just what to do with him. All I know is how he captures a kind of spirituality that’s historic, rich and true. This book is his autobiography and tells the story of his childhood, conversion and, finally, his entrance into a Catholic monastery. Along the way, his elegant writing and spiritual wisdom leaves a great impression on Protestants as well as Catholics. That’s why, I think, the book was an unlikely best seller when it was first released in 1948.

Frederica Matthews-Green, “At the Corner of East and Now: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy.” Let me admit up front that this is a strange book to recommend, especially coming from a Baptist pastor. Matthews-Green is the wife of an Orthodox priest, an accomplished writer and speaker and a commentator on National Public Radio. She also has a folksy, winsome style of writing that has led to her being called a “Spiritual Garrison Keillor.” But her real knack is for explaining the mysteries of the Orthodox faith with clarity and simplicity. Her books aren’t just an apologetic for her personal faith but also an inspiration to spiritual seekers of all Christian backgrounds.

These nine books come from almost every Christian tradition, but they’re united around two great principles. The first is that they’re deeply Christian, every one of them. The second is that they bring a fresh voice to what it means to live for Jesus. I hope you’ll have the chance to read at least a few of them.