Christian Literature

There are a lot of Christian books that don't qualify as literature, and many books legitimately called literature that are in no way Christian. While this category may seem a bit redundant for a bookstore like ours, Christian Literature is simply our way of telling the two apart. Only books that are both literary and explicitly Christian (or at least authored by self-professed orthodox Christians) are included here.

Books that don't qualify include Christian genre fiction, books for younger readers, stories that are merely moral without expressing specific Christian truths, and the like. Books that do qualify include spiritual autobiographies and memoirs, high-quality Christian novels (think Dostoevsky and G.K. Chesterton), classics of the faith, etc.

If you're looking for doctrine, theology, Bible curriculum, or materials of that sort, we have other categories named accordingly. The titles here are intentionally selected to reflect work that is universally accepted for its stylistic quality, while simultaneously reflecting a Christian worldview, sometimes explicitly and sometimes through allegory. Both fiction and nonfiction are represented.

But why Christian literature? For one thing, part of our goal at Exodus Books is to help families and individuals think biblically about every aspect of life; art (particularly good art) can help in this regard by applying Christian principles to the universal elements of human experience, activities and feelings with which all of us are familiar but few think about.

Another reason for Christian literature as a category is to help readers recognize the often overlooked presence of genuinely Christian writing that is also genuinely honest and realistic. Too often "Christian" books are filled with sunshine, impossibly resolved situations, or simply positive messages that ignore the presence of sin, despair, and fear in the world. These books are not like that.

The Brothers Karamazov, for instance, is very Christian, but it also takes seriously the atheist's dilemma, the fact of evil, and the presence of tribulation in the life of believers. St. Augustine's Confessions reveals a man running from God before surrending himself wholly to the Holy Spirit; the essays of C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton are pithy, funny, and perceptive; Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will is historically and theologically significant (and also makes excellent devotional reading).

All of these books are sometimes dark, sometimes lighthearted, always filled with the grace of Jesus. We don't necessarily endorse every idea you'll find in any of these titles, but we do heartily endorse the authors' desire to create beautiful works that illuminate God and our world from the perspective of the redeeming love and justice of Christ.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: Medieval Literature
Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works
Oxford World's Classics
by Anselm, edited and introduction by Brian Davies and Gillian Evans
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Ascent of Mount Carmel
by St. John of the Cross
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.95
Ascent to Love
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$16.00
Basic Writings of St. Anselm
by St. Anselm of Canterbury
2nd edition from Open Court Publishing
Medieval Theology for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
City of God
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translated by Henry Bettenson)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient/Medieval Theology for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
City of God
by St. Augustine, translated by Marcus Dods
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$26.00
City of God
by St. Augustine (translation by Marcus Dods)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
City of God (abridged)
by St. Augustine
Abridged from Image
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$19.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (introduction & translation by R.S. Pine-Coffin)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$10.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by John K. Ryan)
from Image
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Maria Boulding)
from Vintage Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.95
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Garry Wills)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Sarah Ruden)
from Modern Library
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Thomas Williams)
from Hackett Publishing Company
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Philip Burton)
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.60
Confessions of St. Augustine
by Saint Augustine (translation by Henry Chadwick)
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$7.95
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Frank J. Sheed)
2nd Revised Edition from Hackett Publishing Company
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Dante's Inferno
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Dante's Paradise
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
Dante's Purgatory
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Discarded Image
by C. S. Lewis
from Cambridge University
Medieval and Renaissance Lit Guide/Resource for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri (translation by John Ciardi)
from New American Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$21.00
Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$35.00
Divine Comedy - Dorothy Sayers trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers and Barbara Reynolds
from Penguin Putnam
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$39.95
Divine Comedy I
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Divine Comedy II
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$15.00
Divine Comedy III
Penguin Classics
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dorothy Sayers & Barbara Reynolds
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robert Pinsky
Revised from Farrar & Rinehart
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.00
Divine Comedy Volume 2: Purgatory
by Dante, translated by Mark Musa
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Divine Comedy Volume 3: Paradise
by Dante, translated by Mark Musa
Revised from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Penguin Classics
by Bede (translation by Leo Sherley-Price)
from Penguin Classics
Church History for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$15.00
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
by Bede (edited by Judith McClure & Roger Collins)
from Oxford University
Church History for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$13.95
Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays
Dover Thrift Editions
by Anonymous
from Dover Publications
Medieval Drama for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.00 $1.50 (9 in stock)
Imitation of Christ
by Thomas à Kempis
from Dover Publications
Devotional Material for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Imitation of Christ
by Thomas à Kempis
from Penguin Classics
Devotional Material for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$15.00
Imitation of Christ
by Thomas a Kempis
from Grosset & Dunlap
Devotional Material for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Imitation of Christ
by Thomas a Kempis
from Hendrickson Publishers
Devotional Material for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Imitation of Christ
by Thomas à Kempis
from Whitaker House
Devotional Material for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
On Christian Doctrine
by St. Augustine
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$8.95
On the Incarnation
by Athanasius
from St. Vladimir's
Ancient/Medieval Theology for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions
by CRC Publications
from CRC Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)
$10.00
Piers the Ploughman
by William Langland
from Penguin Putnam
for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Portable Dante
by Dante Alighieri, translated by Mark Musa
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Allegory/Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$24.00
Purgatorio
by Dante, translated by Joe Carlson
from Roman Roads Media
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Rule of St Benedict
by St. Benedict & Timothy Fry, editor
from Penguin Classics
Devotional Material for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Rule of St. Benedict in English
by St. Benedict & Timothy Fry, editor
from Liturgical Press
Devotional Material for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Song of Roland
Penguin Classics
by Dorothy Sayers, translator
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Poetic Epic for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.00
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi
by G. K. Chesterton
from Ignatius Press
for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.95
Summa of the Summa
by St. Thomas Aquinas, edited by Peter Kreeft
from Ignatius Press
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$25.50
Summa Theologica Selections
by Thomas Aquinas, edited by Anton C. Pegis
1st edition from Veritas Press
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$19.00