The Collected Best Christian Books of 2017

For the past couple of weeks my RSS feeder has been humming with list after list of the best books of 2017. It seems that just about every avid reader I follow is eager to share his or her picks for the year that was. I love these lists and decided I’d compile them to look for patterns and repeats. Here, then, are the collected best Christian books of 2017. Each one of these is from a blog or web site I read regularly.

We will begin with the titles that found their way onto at least 3 best-0f lists:

• This Is Our Time by Trevin Wax
• Reset by David Murray
• Our Secular Age, edited by Collin Hansen
• The Imperfect Disciple by Jared Wilson

If you are looking for something to read or something to buy for a gift, you probably can’t go wrong with any of them!

And now here are each of lists of the best Christian books of 2017. You can visit the sites to read the rationales or to purchase the books. Alternatively, I’ve supplied links to Amazon. Please note that I am simply listing these books without endorsing them. In the majority of cases I have not read them!

The Gospel Coalition (read their reviews)

• This Is Our Time by Trevin Wax
• Uncomfortable by Brett McCracken
• Sanctification by Michael Allen
• Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology by James Smith
• The Mentoring Church: How Pastors and Congregations Cultivate Leaders by Phil Newton
• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis byKenneth Stewart
• Dream with Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win by John Perkins
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Gregory Koukl
• Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global by Andy Johnson
• God and the Transgender Debate by Andrew Walker
• The Economics of Neighborly Love: Investing in Your Community’s Compassion and Capacity by Tom Nelson
• God’s Very Good Idea: a True Story of God’s Delightfully Different Family by Trillia Newbell and Catalina Echeverri
• Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids David Murray
• This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years by Jaquelle Crowe
• Mi Casa Uptown: Learning to Love Again by Rick Perez
• Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor by Collin Hansen
• The New City Catechism: 52 Questions and Answers for Our Hearts and Minds (The Gospel Coalition) by Kathy Keller
• The New City Catechism Devotional: God’s Truth for Our Hearts and Minds (The Gospel Coalition) by Collin Hansen
• Glory in the Ordinary: Why Your Work in the Home Matters to God (Gospel Coalition) by Courtney Reissig
• Coming Home: Essays on the New Heaven and New Earth by D.A. Carson

Desiring God (read their reviews)

• The Imperfect Disciple by Jared Wilson
• The Messiah Comes to Middle-Earth: Images of Christ’s Threefold Office in The Lord of the Rings by Philip Ryken
• Exodus by T. Desmond Alexander
• The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels by Brandon Crowe
• Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World by Larry Hurtado
• God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs by Tim and Kathy Keller
• God’s Very Good Idea: a True Story of God’s Delightfully Different Family by Trillia Newbell and Catalina Echeverri
• A Reader’s Guide to the Major Writing of Jonathan Edwards edited by Nathan Finn and Jeremy Kimble
• True Feelings: God’s Gracious and Glorious Purpose for Our Emotions, by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Mahaney Whitacre
• Making All Things New: Restoring Joy to the Sexually Broken by David Powlison
• Entering into Rest: Ethics as Theology  by Oliver O’Donovan
• Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson
• Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life by Sam Storms
• Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture by John Piper
• Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas
• Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk by Michelle DeRusha
• Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography by Herman Selderhuis

Kevin DeYoung (read his reviews)

• All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism by James E. Dolezal
• The Presbyterian Philosopher: The Authorized Biography of Gordon H. Clark by Doug J. Douma
• How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs
• The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides by Arnold Kling
• Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger
• John Witherspoon’s American Revolution: Enlightenment and Religion from the Creation of Britain to the Founding of the United States by Gideon Mailer
• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters by Thomas M. Nichols
• Retrieving Eternal Generation by Fred Sanders and Scott R. Swain
• When Everything Is Missions by Denny Spitters

Trevin Wax (read his reviews)

• Confessions by Augustine (translated by Sarah Ruden) 
• The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase by Mark Forsyth
• Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich
• The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton
• Doctrine That Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life by Robert Smith
• The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary by Jonathan T. Pennington
• Mere Sexuality: Rediscovering the Christian Vision of Sexuality by Todd A. Wilson
• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
• Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63 by Taylor Branch
• Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor by Collin Hansen

Scott Slayton (read his reviews)

• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• Momentum by Colin Smith
• The Sermon on the Mount by Charles Quarles
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
• The Last Lion by William Manchester and Paul Reid
• Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Shepherd’s Life Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

David Qaoud (read his reviews)

• The Doctrine of God by Gerald Bray
• Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament by Christopher J. H. Wright
• Church History, Volume One: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context by Everett Ferguson
• From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch by T. Desmond Alexander
• Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ by Andrew Naselli
• Introducing Paul by Michael Bird
• C.H. Spurgeon- The People’s Preacher by Peter Morden
• New Pastor’s Handbook, The: Help and Encouragement for the First Years of Ministry by Jason Helopoulos
• Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings for the Christian Faith by Wayne Grudem
• Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving by Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman and Donald Guthrie

Aaron Armstrong (read his reviews)

• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• Counseling Under the Cross by Bob Kellemen
• This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel by Trevin Wax
• The Curious Christian by Barnabas Piper
• Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt
• The Imperfect Disciple by Jared C. Wilson
• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
• God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World by Stephen Prothero
• Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Russell Moore (read his reviews)

• As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God by Eugene Peterson
• Joy: 100 Poems by Christian Wiman
• How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs
• Milosz: A Biography by Andrzej Franaszek and Aleksandra Parker
• Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All The Way by Ryan White
• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• Autumn: A Novel by Ali Smith
• A Crazy, Holy Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory by Frederick Buechner
• Johnny’s Cash and Charley’s Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music by Peter Cooper
• Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor by Collin Hansen

Christianity Today (read their reviews and complete picks)

• Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
• This Is Our Time by Trevin Wax
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Gregory Koukl
• Winsome Persuasion: Christian Influence in a Post-Christian World by Tim Muehlhoff
• Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New Perspectives by Stephen Chester
• Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ by Cynthia Westfall
• This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years by Jaquelle Crowe
• The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch
• Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World by Kelley Nikondeha
• Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. by Skye Jethani
• God’s Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church by Brad Roth
• You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir by Melissa Ohden
• Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to  Delight Daily in God’s Good Gifts by Trillia Newbell
• Giving the Devil His Due: Demonic Authority in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky by Jessica Hooten Wilson
• Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura
• Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography by Herman Selderhuis
• PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire by John Wigger
• Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World by Bryant L. Myers
• Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World by Jon Huckins
• Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective by Mark R. Amstutz
• Restoring the Soul of the University: Unifying Christian Higher Education in a Fragmented Age by Perry Glanzer
• Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren
• The Science of Virtue: Why Positive Psychology Matters to the Church by Mark McMinn
• Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering by Kelly M. Kapic
• Scripture as Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church by Hans Boersma

Darryl Dash (read his reviews)

• The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can’t Get Their Act Together by Jared Wilson
• No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry by Daniel Im
• This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel by Trevin Wax
• Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home by Jen Pollack Michel
• 8 Hours or Less: Writing Faithful Sermons Faster by Ryan Huguley
• Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
• George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father by Thomas Kidd
• Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom by Matt Carter
• The Loyal Son: The War in Ben Franklin’s House by Daniel Mark Epstein
• Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong by Eric Barker
• Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. by Skye Jethani