Introduction
WELCOME TO ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN CLASSICS
Every year, hundreds of new Christian books are published. And though the advance of technology has increased this output over recent decades, Christian books have been prominent in publishing since Johannes Gutenberg christened his world-changing invention—the moveable type press—by printing a Bible.
Since that event in 1455, countless Christian books have been written, edited, printed, and distributed. Whether doctrinal works, gospel tracts, or hymn books, practical living titles, histories and biographies, or fictional stories that teach biblical truths, this literature has spanned the width and breadth of Christian experience.
But what makes some of these books classics? And what constitutes an “essential Christian classic”?
Certainly, a classic must stand the test of time. While many bestselling books address pressing issues for readers of their time, they are not read fifty, twenty, or even ten years after their release. For a book to be read and appreciated a hundred, or two hundred, or four hundred years after it was written clearly indicates its message goes beyond the need of the day. This kind of book can be described as “timeless.”
And that’s the type of book you’ll find in Essential Christian Classics. In the pages to follow, you’ll be introduced (or reintroduced) to four very different books that have spoken deeply to readers for at least a century—and in some cases, several centuries:
The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life: The beloved Christian living title by Hannah Whitall Smith, first published in 1870.
Foxe’s Christian Martyrs: The shocking—yet encouraging—history first published by John Foxe in 1563.
In His Steps: The 1897 novel that first asked the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” written by Charles M. Sheldon.
The Pilgrim’s Progress: John Bunyan’s allegory—one of the most significant Christian books of all time—first published in 1678.
Though the message of these books is timeless, their language (and their readers) have changed over the centuries. So Essential Christian Classics presents these four titles in carefully abridged versions, with language lightly updated for ease of understanding. But the powerful, primary thoughts of each book have been maintained—with the expectation that these “essential Christian classics” will continue to change lives in our unsettled and often unsettling twenty-first century.
Each book is preceded by a brief historical and biographical note to place its message into a clear context.
We hope you’ll find challenge, encouragement, and inspiration from these four books. They are truly essential Christian classics.
THE EDITORS