What we read affects us deeply, with long-term results. What books have influenced you the most? The following are the responses given to a survey of Christian leaders, sent out by R. Kent Hughes (*note that many of these leaders have entered into the presence of God).
Specific questions asked on the survey were:
(1) What are the five books, secular or sacred, which have influenced you the most?
(2) Of the spiritual/sacred books which have influenced you, which is your favorite?
(3) What is your favorite novel?
(4) What is your favorite biography?
JOHN W. ALEXANDER
(1) Charles Sheldon, In His Steps; H. B. Wright, The Will of God and a Man’s Life Work; H. J. Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics; William Manchester, American Caesar; Garth Lean, God’s Politician.
(2) H.J. Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics.
(3) Charles Dickens, David Copperfield.
(4) William Manchester, American Caesar
HUDSON T. ARMERDING
(1) The Bible; Calvin’s Institutes; J. I. Packer, Knowing God; J. O. Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion; S. E. Morison, History of the U.S. Navy in World War Two.
(2) After the Bible, Calvin’s Institutes.
(3) Dostoyevski, Crime and Punishment and Ernest Gordon, Through the Valley of the Kwai.
(4) Pollock, Hudson Taylor.
JAMES M. BOICE
(1) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 vols.); B. B. Warfield, Inspiration and Authority of the Bible; T. M. Lindsay, History of the Reformation (2 vols.); John Stott, Basic Christianity; Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans (10 vols.- most recently issued in 4 vols.).
(2) Calvin’s Institutes.
(3) Ernest Hemingway, Over the River and into the Trees.
(4) Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield (2 vols).
BRYAN CHAPELL
(1) C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
(2) Calvin’s Institutes.
(3) J. Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of Christian Religion.
(4) John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress.
(5) Sidney Greidanus, Sola Scriptura.
RICHARD CHASE
(1) Charles Colson, Loving God; Werner Jaegei Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture (3 vols.); Sir Robert Anderson, The Silence of God; David J. Hassel, City of Wisdom; Nathan Hatch, The Democritization of American Christianity.
(2) Charles Colson, Loving God.
(3) Mary Stewart’s novels: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment (favorite).
(4) Charles Colson, Born Again.
CHARLES COLSON
(1 & 2) C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; St. Augustine, Confessions; Armando Valladares, Against All Hope; Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago; Richard John Neuhaus, The Naked Public Square; Donald Bloesch, Crumbling Foundations; Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship; St. Augustine, The City of God; Jonathan Edwards, Treatise on Religious Affections; R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture; William Wilberforce, Real Christianity; Jacques Ellul, The Political Illusion and The Presence of the Kingdom; J. I. Packer, Knowing God; Paul Johnson, Modern Times; John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress.
(3) John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress.
(4) St. Augustine, Confessions
JAMES C. DOBSON
Rather than select several books which exceed all others in their impact on my life, I prefer to commend the authors whose collection of writings are most highly prized. This is easier because the best writers require several books to state their cases and leave their mark. First, I admire the memory of Dr. Francis Schaeffer and the anthology he left to us. Second, I have great appreciation for the writings of Chuck Colson. His best book, I believe, is Loving God. His life is a demonstration of its theme.
LYLE DORSETT
(1) Besides the Bible, which I would, of course, rank #1, E. M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer; George Muller, A Life of Trust; G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy; Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest; Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism.
(2) Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.
(3) C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce.
(4) Catherine Marshall, A Man Called Peter.
ELISABETH ELLIOT
(1) Romano Guardini, The Lord; George MacDonald, Salted with Fire; Amy Carmichael, Toward Jerusalem; Janet Erskine Stuart, Life and Letters; Evelyn Underhill, The Mystery of Charity.
(2) Impossible to say.
(3) Sigrid Undeset, Kristin Lavransdatter.
(4) St. Augustine, Confessions.
LTG. HOWARD G. GRAVES
The Bible; Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest; Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?; J. I. Packer, Knowing God; James Stockdale, A Vietnam Experience, Ten Years of Reflection; Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life.
(2) Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.
(3) Herman Wouk’s series, Winds of War and Remembrance.
(4) The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
HOWARD G. HENDRICKS
(1) C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
(2) Adler Mortimer, How to Read a Book.
(3) Calvin’s Institutes.
(4) Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That Is Spiritual.
(5) A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
CARL F. H. HENRY
The Bible; James Orr, The Christian View of God and the World; John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion (this is all Dr. Henry provided).
DAVID M. HOWARD
(1) John Stott, The Baptism and Fulness of the Holy Spirit; Earle Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries; Alexander Whyte, Bible Characters; Carolina Maria de Jesus, Child of the Dark; Dwight Eisenhower Crusade in Europe.
(2) Earle Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries.
(3) Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina.
(4) Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty.
JERRY JENKINS
(1) Roger Kahn, The Boys of Summer.
(2) Charles Colson, How Now Shall We Live?
(3) Charles Colson, Born Again.
(4) Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty.
(5) Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor.
KENNETH S. KANTZER
(1) St. Augustine, The City of God; John Calvin, Institutes; Jonathan Edwards, The Distinguishing Marks of a Revival of the Spirit of God; James Orr, The Christian View of God and the World; Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina.
(2) St. Augustine, The City of God.
(3) Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina.
(4) Carl E H. Henry, The Confessions of a Theologian.
JAY KESLER
(1) Jacques Ellul, The Presence of the Kingdom; John Bright, The Kingdom of God; Alan Paton, Too Late the Phalarope; Carl Sandburg, Lincoln; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; Fyodor Dostoyevski, Crime and Punishment.
(2) Jacques Ellul, The Presence of the Kingdom.
(3) Alan Paton, Too Late the Phalarope.
(4) Carl Sandburg, Lincoln; see also Lee, Jefferson, Sadat, Wesley, Judson, Truman, Churchill.
DENNIS F. KINLAW
(1) Clarence Hall, Portrait of a Prophet: The Life of Samuel Logan Brengle; Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret; The Standard Sermons of John Wesley; Yehekel Kaufmann, The Religion of Israel; A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
(2) The Standard Sermons of John Wesley.
(3) Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
(4) Clara H. Stuart, Latimer, Apostle to the English.
HAROLD LINDSELL
(1) John Calvin, Institutes; Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church; Matthew Henry, Commentary; Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression – Its Causes and Its Cure.
(2) Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.
(3) None.
(4) Hudson Taylor, Spiritual Secrets.
DUANE LITFIN
(Most influential authors rather than most influential books)
(1) C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce; Mere Christianity; God in the Dock.
(2) A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
(3) J. I. Packer, Knowing God.
(4) St. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine).
(5) Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching.
WAYNE MARTINDALE
C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce; C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; Charles Sheldon, In His Steps; Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor.
Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor.
Fyodor Dostoyevski, Brothers Karamazov.
Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor.
ROBERTSON MCCUILKIN
(1) Romans, John, Luke, 2 Timothy; C. S. Lewis, Miracles; Warfield, Inspiration and Authority of Scripture; Johnstone, Operation World; Pollock, Course of Time.
(2) Pollock, Course of Time.
(3) C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces; Tolkien, Lord of the Rings; many of Shakespeare’s plays.
(4) Robert McQuilkin, Always in Triumph.
CALVIN MILLER
(1) Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines; Bill Moyers, World of Ideas II; Virginia Stem Owens, If You Do Love Old Men; Larsen, Passions; Williams, Islam.
(2) Jean Pierre de Causade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment or Mother Teresa’s Life in the Spirit.
(3) War and Peace, Anna Karenina, anything by Dickens, Dostoyevski, Tolkien.
(4) Troyat’s Tolstoy or Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra.
HAROLD MYRA
(1) C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; C. S. Lewis, Perelandra; Paul Tourniet, The Meaning of Persons; Helmut Thielicke, The Waiting Father; Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ; Oswald Chambers books.
(2) C. S. Lewis, Perelandra.
(3) Fyodor Dostoyevski, Brothers Karamazov.
(4) William Manchester, The Last Lion.
STEPHEN F. OLFORD
(1) Alvin Toffler, Future Shock; Carl Henry, God, Revelation and Authority; Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ; A. J. Gordon, The Ministry of the Spirit; John Stott, The Cross of Christ.
(2) Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor in the Early Years: The Growth of a Soul.
(3) Lloyd Douglas, The Robe and Lew Wallace, Ben Hur.
(4) Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor in the Early Years: The Growth of a Soul.
J. I. PACKER
(1) John Calvin, Institutes; John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress; Goold, John Owen Works (Vols. 3, 6, 7); Richard Baxter, Reformed Pastor; Luther, Bondage of the Will.
(2) John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress.
(3) Fyodor Dostoyevski, The Brothers Karamazov.
(4) Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield (2 vols.).
PAIGE PATTERSON
(1) F. W. Krummacher, The Suffering Savior.
(2) Leonard Verduin, The Reformers and Their Stepchildren.
(3) Courtney Anderson, To the Golden Shore.
(4) Roland Bainton, Here I Stand.
(5) Francis Schaeffer, Escape from Reason.
EUGENE H. PETERSON
(1) Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans; Fyodor Dostoyevski, The Idiot; Charles Williams, Descent of the Dove; Herman Melville, Moby Dick; George Herbert, Country Parson and the Temple.
(2) Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans.
(3) Fyodor Dostoyevski, The Brothers Karamazov.
(4) Meriol Trevor, 2 volumes on Newman: The Pillar of the Cloud and Light in Winter.
C. WILLIAM POLLARD
(1) C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
(2) C. S. Lewis, Surprised by joy.
(3) Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?
(4) Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker.
(5) Peter Drucker, Managing for Results and Managing for the Future.
JIM REAPSOME
W. H. Griffith Thomas, Christianity Is Christ; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God; Dr. and Mrs. Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret; D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression – Its Causes and Its Cure.
HADDON ROBINSON
(1) Richard C. Halverson, Christian Maturity; H. Grady Davis, Design for Preaching; S. I. Hayakawa, Language in Thought and Action; Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
(2) James Stuart, Heralds of God.
(3) Olov Hartman, Holy Masquerade.
(4) Stockford Brooks, Life and Letters of E W Robertson.
R.C. SPROUL
(1) Jonathan Edwards, Freedom of the Will; M. Luther, Bondage of the Will; J. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion; James Collins, God and Modern Philosophy; William Simon, A Time for Truth; Ben Hogan, Power Golf.
(2) Martin Luther. Bondage of the Will because of its theological insight and its literary style.
(3) H. Melville, Moby Dick.
(4) W. Manchester, American Caesar.
CHARLES R. SWINDOLL
John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress; A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God; J. I. Packer, Knowing God; Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor; J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership; Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students; Philip Yancey, Where Is God When It Hurts?
BILL WALDROP
(1) The Bible; A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God; A. W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy; Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty; Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline.
(2) A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy.
(3) Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace.
(4) William Manchester, The Last Lion.
WARREN WIERSBE
(1) A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God; Jill Morgan, Campbell Morgan, A Man and the Word; Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ; Henry David Thoreau, Walden; Phillips Brooks, Yale Lectures on Preaching.
(2) Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ.
(3) Herman Melville, Moby Dick.
(4) Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson.
OTHER THAN THE BIBLE, BOOKS MENTIONED MORE THAN ONCE
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (10)
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (8)
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (6)
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (5)
Fyodor Dostoyevski, Brothers Karamazov (5)
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (5)
John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress (5)
Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty (4)
Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret (3)
Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (3)
C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (3)
J.I. Packer, Knowing God (3)
Charles Sheldon, In His Steps (2)
James Orr, The Christian View of God and the World (2)
William Manchester, American Caesar (2)
William Manchester, The Last Lion (2)
The Article/Listing of favorite books above was adapted from “Appendix C” in R. Kent Hughes. Disciplines of a Godly Man. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2001, p. 241.
LifeCoach4God 