Enjoying the 50th anniversary of Christianity Today? Me too. It explains a lot – just check out the list of influential books for evangelicals over the past 50 years:
The top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals – Christianity Today Magazine
Rarely am I on the cutting edge of evangelical reading lists. I’m normally quite behind (I am just now reading David Wells, God in the Wasteland – I have some catching up to do). However, I felt completely out of touch when I read CT’s list. Let me rephrase that, I felt completely and thankfully out of touch. If Christy is one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals, I’m not sure I have any more affinity for the term.
There are a few books on the list I have not read but wish I had and one day plan to. In fact, out of the 50 list, I think I’ve only read 11 of them. Wow – what a evangelical wimp! The more I contemplate my lack of involvement with the 50 most impactful books on evangelicalism, the more I find myself thankful for God’s providential preservation of my fragile mind.
What makes the list so terrible is the placement of some of the more biblically substantive books in relation to the Christy‘s of the list. For example, Darwin on Trial (# 40), Desiring God (# 39), The Gospel of the Kingdom (# 44) and The Knowledge of the Holy (# 49) all placed behind such Scripturally deep texts such as Left Behind (#36), This Present Darkness (# 34), and Late Great Planet Earth (33).
How Knowing God (# 5) was beaten out by Prayer: Conversing with God (#1) escapes me. Though it shouldn’t. I probably should be a bit more surprise that Knowing God is as high as it is.
This list reminded me once again why it has been four years since I physically stepped foot into our local Christian bookstore. I’d rather be behind in my reading of some of the better books that up to date on the evangelical froth.
