Some of you are probably expecting to find a list of such books. Unfortunately, I have no such list. In fact, that’s why I’m writing this post.
With your help, I’d like to compile a list of the most effective books that present the gospel of Jesus Christ to non-Christians.
So here’s what I’m asking. If you know of a book that is effective in presenting the good news to non-Christians, please share it with us.
To be specific, I’m asking that you supply us with these three things:
- The title of the book.
- The name of the author.
- What sort of people/age group the book is best suited for. Examples: “teens,” “middle-aged women,” “philosophical minded people,” etc. If it’s a book that’s targeted to and accessible to everyone, then just put “for everyone.” Most books that are written for the purpose of evangelism are geared toward a certain audience. Hence this last element.
If there are online articles or tracts that you find very effective in presenting the gospel, feel free to include those also with proper links (if applicable).
Remember: the audience of the book(s) that I’m asking for = NON-Christians.
I am hoping that your recommendations will be of help to God’s people who wish to share the good news with others by way of the printed (or typed) word.
I am unsure if this has been mentioned, but most of us are familiar with “Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis. This is a fictional book based upon lots of truths. Many books mentioned above mention God in the title and may not appeal to non-christians, but this book shows how we as christians feel guilt by knowing God was there the entire time, yet choosing not to follow Him until the end. The are a lot of good quotes throughout the book that define God’s character and shows his mercy.
I am currently reading the ‘Left Behind’ series. Man, I can’t but this down. I think it would ‘hit the mark’ with non-believers as it focuses on the end times and tells a story that is relevant to now. I came to this site to find books to help me. I think I’ve just answered my own question!
That book may be interesting reading, but it’s fantasy. The doctrine it’s based on is pretty new and doesn’t line up with Scripture. See https://www.frankviola.org/2013/07/01/secondcoming/
There are a lot of helpful books that can be helpful for our unbelievers friends. And it also depends on what situation our friend can be right now. For those who are under the bondage of Homosexuality, these books could have a big impact on their life and may be a tool to know and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Called Out by Janet Boynes (http://booksforevangelism.org/called-out-by-janet-boynes/)
Out of Egypt by Jeanette Howard (http://booksforevangelism.org/out-of-egypt-by-jeanette-howard/)
Out of a Far Country by Christopher and Angela Yuan (http://booksforevangelism.org/out-of-a-far-country-by-christopher-and-angela-yuan/)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (http://booksforevangelism.org/the-secret-thoughts-of-an-unlikely-convert-by-rosaria-champagne-butterfield/)
“Why Did God Make Pomegranates?” by Teresa E. Love (myself) is a book written for children (and their parents) that presents the gospel of Jesus Christ in a very powerful way. It simply presents the facts and uses scripture to back it up. It is an amazing book that anyone can read and understand but it is a children’s picture book. After I read it to the kids in our children’s church, I gave an altar call and 11 children responded to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
I highly recommend “The Reason for God” by Timothy Keller. It answers many criticisms as well as explains the reasoning behind Christianity. A modern day C.S. Lewis. Also, “The King’s Cross” by the same author.
Another good book is a classic by Spurgeon: All of Grace. Very touching and well explained gospel.
I came across two small books geared for women:
Your Captivating Heart. Discover how God´s True Love can reach a Woman´s Soul
by Stasi Eldredge and:
A Day with a perfect stranger by David Gregory
David Gregory also has another one called: Dinner with a stranger ( for Men) which I found is good to read, not religious but captivating in such a way that you will be drawn into really meeting Jesus
Title: Robert Falconer
Author: George MacDonald
Target audience: Unbelievers for whom a major sticking point is understanding God’s love, both for themselves and for others – in novel format.
Title: Phantastes
Author: George MacDonald
Target audience: Those who have a hard time believing God is good. The book kind of like Pilgrim’s Progress but set in an adult faerie world of sorts.
I think turning someone on to George Macdonald is a great way to get the Lord in front of them.
He weaved the very essence of Christ into everything he wrote, including novels, fantasy, children’s books, and theological treatises. He was one of the most popular writers of his time when he was alive, and is still considered somewhat of a classic in literary circles, so you can recommend him to someone in the same way you would recommend Dickens, Austen, or name your famous writer of ages past. If only one book is allowed, Phantastes would be my pick.
Nate: Please give us one or two books that he wrote that you would recommend for non-Christians. And tell us what type of non-Christian they are best suited for. thanks.
Title: Me
Author: Jesus
Target Audience: Those who Know me and see me on a daily basis.
🙂
Title: REGGIE: You Can’t Change Your Past, But You Can Change Your Future
Author: Reggie Dabbs with John Driver
Target audience: Teens
Three books depending where said “non-Christian” is in life…
1. Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
2. The Shack – Paul Young
3. So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore – Jake Colsen … non-Christians who were raised in or around the “church” will still be able to relate to this one.
That being said (and not just sucking up to the author of this blog) The Untold Story is one of the best books I could ever recommend to anyone even slightly interested in the following Jesus. It actually tells the STORY Jesus and his body instead of just trying to cram endless theology down someone’s throat.
i have used the kids book “the runaway bunny” to show God’s relentless pursuit of us & his creativity in that pursuit. finally, the baby bunny realizes where he should have been all along. it’s great! i have used it mostly with adults. i actually used it in a jail on an indian reservation this past summer and they seemed to really get it. we discussed what we run to instead of God and how he pursues us in the midst of that.
Aloha Frank
I would like to recommend 2 books by Don Everts. “God In The Flesh” and “Jesus With Dirty Feet”. These two books are excellent for Adults/College aged people. Don ministered as an Evangelist with InterVarsity for a number of years. His books are written to give the reader a glimpse of Jesus without all the baggage that is so often attached due to a mistaken view of Today’s Christianity = Jesus. He focuses on the interactions that Jesus had with people. Another very excellent book by Don Everts is “The Smell Of Sin and The Fresh Air of Grace” I would highly recommend this as well.
Blessings!
I would recommend “Total Truth” by Nancy Pearcey. Here is her website.http://www.pearceyreport.com/total_truth.php
I have never read a more comprehensive book on a Christian Worldview. Pearcey worked closely with Francis Sshaffer and his influence is quite apparent in this book. This is a rather long book, and I am not sure Non Believers would take the time to read it, but, if they do, I don’t see how they would leave unchanged.
Good Catch Publishing creates books that are done by local churches, (and they have ‘category’ books) that share the testimonies of the folks that go to those churches. The people get their testimony written up by professional authors, and the churches give them out in their community, often with great effect. I used to work for Good Catch, and tons of tons of news came back to us of people making decisions for Christ. The books are meant for anyone, but one can go to their website and get books full of stories pertaining to specific issues as well, such as divorce, or drug abuse, etc.
Their website is http://www.goodcatchpublishing.com
“Vintage Jesus” by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears is an excellent intro to the Gospel and the person and work of Jesus. This book could be for guys or gals, late high school and up. Most likely will appeal to young men 18-32. More info here:
“Can Man Live Without God” by Ravi Zacharias. Ravi deals with a lot of the philosophical barriers which face many of the modern intellectuals. Great for age range from Sr High School students all the way through adulthood. Challenging in the same sense as CS Lewis works (especially “Mere Christianity”) while being a little easier to wrap your head around.
Felicity reminded me with her suggestion “Prison to Praise” by Merlin Carothers, of another book from that era.
“The Cross and the Switcblade” by Nicky Cruz was used as an evangelistic tool. It was huge in the 70’s.
It originally was directed at teens but many middle aged adults read the book also.
Simply Christian
N.T. Wright
I would have to say that one of the better books in the category might be the very book you mentioned a while back “Jesus, in His Own Words” by Robert Mounce. It is easy to read and anyone that is willing to truly engage in a discussion about Christ, that is a non-believer should hear something that is in the first person.
If you are wanting to give a book that shows the gospel and lays it out this is a good place to start.
I would recommend Tom Wright’s “Simply Christian” for every reason that people would recommend C. S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity,” except that Wright’s book (in my opinion) has key improvements–it’s better able to speak to a post-modern era, it’s more relevant for believers and non-believers today, it represents the best insights from the latest scholarship in an easily understandable way, etc.
1. The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus
2. Bruxy Cavey
3. I don’t know what impact this book may have had on non-Christians so far, but I imagine it may be quite apt for many who believe there is or may be a god, but they don’t like religion.
“More Than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell is excellent and can be used for all age groups.
The book I’m reading right now.
Title: Rediscovering the Kingdom
Author: Myles Monroe
Audience: Intellectual Adults
The best book we’ve found is Prison to Praise by Merlin Carothers. Tony used it extensively with patients in his medical practice in the UK and many of them became believers as a result. It’s probably not a book for those with intellectual questions, but ordinary people love it.
Sincerely, without getting too focused on the fact that this isn’t a Christian book at all, this book has made an impact on my life that has helped me develop better people skills. As an introvert by nature, I have a challenging time [at times] reaching people in an influential manner – and the fact is I don;t want to be in the way of how God needs to work through me to reach others. So I need to personally study up on, embrace, and practice people skills.
This one book is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carneigie.
Yes, it is more of a business type book – but then again, so is the Bible [it is about the business of God, and us working out in faith so He can work out His plan]. I fimrly believe in learning about people skills to help.
Also, a book I am in right now – is namely for women – that I will blog about soon myself is a fantastic read thus far…and I already recommend it…it is Becoming a Woman of Influence by Carol Kent. I believe men would glean a good deal from this book as well – because it addresses leadership across the board, not just women in leadership.
Learning about people skills, leadership and counseling will be of great benefit to reaching anyone – non-believer and believer alike.
1. Ultimate Questions – by John Blanchard
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This is a good booklet for the North American, non or nominal-churched person. It has short chapters, pictures, it is inexpensive (& free online) and has proven very useful.
2. The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus – by John Cross
(http://www.goodseed.com/products/str-eng-book-ebook)
This is a much more comprehensive book aimed at those with a minimal Christian worldview. It also has a free online version available. Goodseed has another book entitled The Lamb suitable for children.
Man On Fire (movie)
Tony Scott (director); starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and Christopher Walken.
For people comfortable with R-rated violence. After Denzel’s character turns around, picture him as God and Dakota’s character as us. It can be a powerful image of God’s love and anger all at once.
I have had quite a bit of success using C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”. This has been especially acceptable in the “secular” work environment where he is best known for his fiction books and their translation into movies. Because he writes it from the view of his testimony/journey it is less about convincing and more about sharing.
For those who are more into “searching” we have recently come across Lee Stroebel’s “A Case for Christ”. This is also a reflection of his journey, but as a journalist he does a lot of research and investigative work.
Apparently The Misunderstood God by Darin Hufford has been particularly effective with non-believers, including atheists, who resist Christianity because of the God it presents.
“Whats So Great About Christianity”, By Dinesh D’Souza, 2007, Regnery Publishing, Inc., Washington D.C., ISBN-13:978-1-59698-517-9
This book is perfect for college students and those graduated from college who were influenced by secular humanist professors to lose their faith.
For thinkers both unsaved and saved. It speaks to the skeptics/agnostics/atheists with an overwhelming compeling argument through reason that God is.
It provides christians with the latest apologetics to reason with unbelievers about science, philosophy, cosmology, the basis of morals. Exposes the a priori philosophical biased atheism in modern science. Reveals that originaly modern science was completely dominated in all disciplines by christian scientists, our modern science foundations are all from christian scientists.
Also of interest are the debates online on you tube Dinesh has with, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens.
As our friend Neil Cole points out in his Church 3.0, the “Seven Signs of John” in the book of John that the Apostle himself says, “…many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
The Seven Signs that John says are there for the very purpose for causing men to believe in Jesus are:
-Turning of water into wine (John 2:1-12)
-Healing of the royal official’s son (4:46-54)
-Healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (5:1-17)
-Feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14)
-Jesus walking on water (6:15-25)
-Healing of the man born blink (9:1-41)
-Raising of Lazarus (11:1-46).
Guy: T. Austin-Sparks wrote an entire book on the 7 signs in John. The book is peerless.
Surprised By Joy…C.S.Lewis (adults, philosophical types)
Bright Valley of Love…Edna Hong (Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
(World War II buffs, medical folks, people dealing with major health challenges)
This has also been a frustration of mine. Last year in prepping for a conference on Organic Discipleship, I quickly realized that 99% of the books out there were focused on developing leadership under the guise of doing discipleship.
This year our conference will focus on exactly what you mentioned, sharing the gospel with unbelievers. Looking forward to see this list and also hoping that there might be a couple in Spanish.