Books

These lists of books have been cobbled together from IV chapters of Graduate Christian Fellowships, recommended reading lists from colleges and seminaries, books that have been studied or mentioned at events, and suggestions from chapter members. Many of these titles are available in a campus library. Views expressed in these books do not necessarily represent those held by UW-Madison GCF or the national IVCF. If you would like to add something to this list, please send an e-mail to the Communications Coordinator at communication@gcfmadison.org.

Download the Book PDF list here

* Starred titles are published by InterVarsity Press.

Basics of the Christian Faith

  • * Basic Christianity — John W. Stott (1958)
  • Introduction to Christianity — Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) (1969)
  • Mere Christianity — C.S. Lewis (1952)

Christian Discipleship and Community

  • Body Life — Ray Stedman (1972)
  • The Cost of Discipleship — Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1959)
  • Life Together — Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1954)
  • * Listening to God in Times of Choice: The Art of Discerning God’s Will — Gordon T. Smith (1997)
  • * A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society — Eugene Peterson (1980)
  • * A Peculiar People: the Church as Culture in a Post-Christian — Rodney Clapp (1996)

Christianity and Culture

  • Blue Like Jazz — Donald Miller (2003)
  • The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God — Dallas Willard (1998)
  • Eve’s Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body — Lilian Calles Barger (2003)
  • For the Beauty of the Earth: a Christian Vision for Creation Care — Steven Bouma-Prediger (2001)
  • Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age — Quentin J. Schultze (2002)
  • * The Making of the New Spirituality — James A. Herrick (2003)
  • Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology — Albert Borgmann (2003)
  • The Presence of the Kingdom — Jacques Ellul (1948)
  • * Reconciliation Blues — Edward Gilbreath (2006)
  • The Way of the (Modern) World, Or, Why It’s Tempting to Live As If God Doesn’t Exist — Craig M. Gay (1998)
  • Working: Its Meaning and Its Limits — Gilbert C. Meilaender (2000)
  • The Wounded Healer — Henri Nouwen (1972)

Christianity and Missions

  • Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered: the Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions — Gavin D’Costa (ed.) (1990)
  • * Christian Mission in the Modern World — John Stott (1976)
  • Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission and Reception of Faith — Andrew F. Walls (2002)
  • Foolishness to the Greeks — Lesslie Newbigin (1986)
  • The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith — Andrew F. Walls (1996)
  • The Recovery of Mission: Beyond the Pluralist Paradigm — Vinoth Ramachandra (1997)
  • Resident Aliens — Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon (1989)

Devotional Life and Spiritual Disciplines

  • The Call — Os Guinness (1998)
  • Celebration of Discipline — Richard J. Foster (1978)
  • Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups — Richard J. Foster (ed.) (1993)
  • Introduction to the Devout Life — Saint Francis de Sales (1950)
  • Keeping the Sabbath Wholly — Marva Dawn (1989)
  • Sacred Reading — Michael Casey (1996)
  • * Sacred Rhythms — Ruth Haley Barton (2006)
  • Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives — Dallas Willard (1988)
  • Toward God — Michael Casey (1996)

Evangelism and Apologetics

  • Engaging Unbelief: A Captivating Strategy from Augustine & Aquinas — Curtis Chang (2000)
  • * Evangelism Outside the Box — Rick Richardson (2000)
  • The Gospel in a Pluralist Society — Lesslie Newbigin (1989)
  • Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today — John G. Stackhouse (2002)
  • * Out of the Saltshaker and into the World — Rebecca Manley Pippert (1979)
  • Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith(2011) — Douglas Groothuis
  • Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (2003) — William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland
  • To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview (2004) — William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, and Francis J. Beckwith

Faith and Social Action

  • Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development — John M. Perkins (1993)
  • Decisive Issues Facing Christians Today — John W. Stott (1990)
  • England Before and After Wesley — J. Wesley Bready (1938)
  • * Neither Poverty nor Riches — Craig L. Blomberg (2001)
  • Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger — Ronald J. Sider (1977)

Foundations of the Faith

  • * Foundations of the Christian Religion — Blaise Pascal
  • * Handbook of Faith, Hope, and Love — St. Augustine
  • * The Imitation of Christ — Thomas à Kempis
  • * Orthodoxy — G. K. Chesterton
  • * A Plain Account of Christian Perfection — John Wesley

Jesus

  • * The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is — N. T. Wright (1999)
  • Jesus Through The Centuries: His Place in the History of the World — Jaroslav Pelikan (1999)
  • Following Jesus — Dave Roberts (2003)

Spiritual Journeys

  • Companions for your Spiritual Journey: Discovering the Disciplines of the Saints — M. Harris (2000)
  • The Cloister Walk — Kathleen Norris (1996)
  • * Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Thinking Christians — Kelly Monroe (1996)
  • * Finding God Beyond Harvard: The Quest for Veritas — Kelly Monroe Kullberg (2006)
  • Girl Meets God — Lauren Winner (2003)
  • Pilgrim Souls: A Collection of Spiritual Autobiography — Amy Mandelker (ed.) (1999)
  • The Seven Storey Mountain — Thomas Merton (1948)
  • Surprised by Joy — C. S. Lewis (1966)
  • Waiting for God — Simone Weil (1951)

Theology

  • The Beauty of the Infinite: the Aesthetics of Christian Truth — David Bentley Hart (2003)
  • Between Cross and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday — Alan E. Lewis (2001)
  • Biblical Theology: Issues, Methods, and Themes — James K. Mead (2007)
  • Martin Luther, Selections from His Writings — Martin Luther, John Dillenberger (1961)
  • The Institutes of the Christian Religion — Jean (John) Calvin (1960)
  • * Invitation to Theology — Michael Jinkins (2001)
  • Pattern of Redemption: The Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar — Edward T. Oakes (1994)
  • Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason — John Milbank (1990)
  • The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study — Colin E. Gunton (1998)
  • * Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace — James B. Torrance (1996)

Theology and the Arts

  • * Art & Soul: Signposts for Christians in the Arts — Hilary Brand and Adrienne Chaplin (1999)
  • The Biblical Rembrandt: Human Painter in a Landscape of Faith — John I. Durham (2004)
  • * Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment — Brian Godawa (2002)
  • Reading Is Believing: The Christian Faith through Literature and Film — David S. Cunningham (2002)
  • Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue — Robert Johnston (2000)
  • Sounding the Depths: Theology Through the Arts — Jeremy Begbie (ed.) (2002)
  • Theology, Music, and Time — Jeremy S. Begbie (2000)

The University and Intellectual Life

  • Recovering the Christian Mind — Harry Blamires (1988)
  • Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living — Cornelius Plantinga (2002)
  • * Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life As a Christian Calling — James W. Sire (2000)
  • The Idea of a University — John Henry Cardinal Newman (1852)
  • The Idea of the University: A Reexamination — Jaroslav Pelikan (1992)
  • Intellectuals Don’t Need God and Other Modern Myths — Alister E. McGrath (1992)
  • The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind — Mark A. Noll (1994)
  • The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief — George M. Marsden (1994)

Bibliographies on the Internet

Other Internet Resources

Special thanks to the IV Grad group at Stanford for their excellent lists

Resources