# Recommended reading for Christians

Technically, all a Christian needs is [their Bible](bible.md).

- There's typically more value in reading a book of the Bible twice than in reading through one of the below books.

However, even the Bible wasn't created in a vacuum.

- It was built over millennia by God's direct inspiration to people who had lived in those times.
- If all written history was wiped away by a successful propaganda purge in the style of Nineteen Eighty Four or Fahrenheit 451, the existence of the Bible would bring all the wisdom we needed back into existence.

With that said, there are *many* other documents within the lens of history that add tremendous value to believers.

This is a list of recommended reading for believers.

- It's "recommended" insomuch as it's interesting to someone, and would be "puffed-up knowledge" if someone was reading it for anything outside of [fun](fun.md) ([1 Corinthians 8:1](https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/8-1.htm)).
- I've ordered the categories based on the book's approximate benefit to a normal person.
- If it isn't for anything else, it keeps smart people out of trouble.

[For ethical reasons](https://theologos.site/ip/), I aim for public domain works and publicly downloadable content as much as possible.

Also, here are a few sources with massive piles of books:

- [Christian Classics Ethereal Library](https://ccel.org/)
- [Internet Archive pile](https://ia601705.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/3/items/CHRISTIANBOOKSCOLLECTIONS_201709/CHRISTIAN%20BOOKS%20COLLECTIONS.zip)
- [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/)

## Daily devotionals

Morning & Evening - Charles Spurgeon (~1854-1892)

- [PDF](https://spurgeongems.org/chs_morning-and-evening.pdf)
- [Website](https://morningandevening.org/)

## Spiritual warfare

[The Bondage Breaker - Neil T Anderson (1990)](https://ia601705.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/3/items/CHRISTIANBOOKSCOLLECTIONS_201709/CHRISTIAN%20BOOKS%20COLLECTIONS.zip&file=The%20Bondage%20Breaker%20by%20Neil%20T%20Anderson.pdf)

## Addressing persecution

[Preparing for the Underground Church - Richard Wurmbrand (~1960)](https://www.richardwurmbrandfoundation.com/pdfs/puc-english.pdf)

## Mysticism

[Theologia Germanica - Unknown (compiled by Martin Luther 1518)](https://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Theologia%20Germanica.pdf)

## Theology

[Institutes of the Christian Religion - John Calvin (1536)](https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.toc.html)

[The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee (1928)](https://biblesnet.com/watchman-nee-the-spiritual-man.pdf)

## Philosophy

[Confessions - Saint Augustine (400)](https://ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess)

[City of God - Augustine (426)](https://ccel.org/ccel/augustine/city)