In tribute to this wonderful article, I want to suggest a list specifically for Christians. This is not, I might add, because Christians need their own everything, including top 10 lists. Rather, it is because Christians have their own peculiar shibboleths and a similar penchant for lying to themselves and others.
Here then are the top 10 books Christians like to think they've read, but haven't...
10. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
9. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (or anything else by Lewis)
8. The Confessions of St. Augustine
7. The God Who Is There by Francis A. Schaeffer
6. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
4. Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
3. Knowing God by J.I. Packer
2. The Institutes by John Calvin
1. The Bible
Mr. Domenech put it well in the article linked above:
Maybe you rationalized it by reasoning that you had a familiarity with the book, or knew who the author was, or what the story was about, or had glanced at its Wikipedia page. Or maybe you had tried to read the book, even bought it and set it by your bed for months unopened, hoping that it would impart what was in it merely via proximity (if that worked, please email me).
Feel free to create your own lists below.
Joseph and his wife, Heidi, have five children, Tate, Eliza Jane, Moses, Fiona and Annabel. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and Clearnote Pastors College. He is currently planting Christ Church in Cincinnati with several other families.
