Top 25 Christian Classics

Christian History surveyed 70 of its authors to compile the 25 most influential Christian writings, after the Bible.   Martin Luther had three titles, second only to St. Augustine, who had four.  See the list and links after the jump.

From Christian History Magazine:

25 Classic Works

#1. Augustine, Confessions (c. 398)

#2. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (1265–1274)

#3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)

#4. Augustine, City of God (413–426)

#5. Martin Luther, 95 Theses (1517)

#6. John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)

#7. The Nicene Creed (325, revised 381)

#8. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952)

#9. Athanasius, On the Incarnation (c. 319)

#10. Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418–1427)

#11. Benedict, Rule (c. 540s)

#12. The Book of Common Prayer (1549)

#13. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (1937)

#14. Martin Luther, Freedom of a Christian (1520)

#15. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (1932–1967)

#16. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1320)

#17. Anselm, Why God Became Man (c. 1095–1098)

#18. Augustine, On Christian Teaching (397–426)

#19. Augustine, On the Trinity (c. 400–428)

#20. Westminster Confession (1646)

#21. Irenaeus, Against Heresies (c. 175–185)

#22. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777)

#23. Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections (1746)

#24. Pope Gregory I, Pastoral Rule (c. 591)

#25. Martin Luther, Lectures on Romans (c. 1515–1516)

Go here for several articles on the list and why these titles were included and others were not.

This is a pretty good list.  It’s arguably heavy on Reformed sources, but read the justifications.  Luther’s Freedom of a Christian and Lectures on Romans are indeed among his very best works and are well worth reading by all Christians.  Can you think of other classics that might be included?