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Christian Classics

Books that have shaped Christian faith for centuries — read them free, online, one chapter at a time. Every edition here is in the public domain.

c. 1420

The Imitation of Christ

Thomas à Kempis

The most widely read Christian devotional book after the Bible: four short books of counsel on humility, inner peace...

c. 400

The Confessions of St. Augustine

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine's prayer-autobiography: his restless youth, conversion in a Milan garden and reflections on memory, time...

c. 94

Antiquities of the Jews

Flavius Josephus (trans. William Whiston)

Josephus' history of the Jewish people from creation to the war with Rome — an indispensable background to the...

c. 75

The Wars of the Jews

Flavius Josephus (trans. William Whiston)

An eyewitness history of the Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.

1563

Foxe's Book of Martyrs

John Foxe (ed. W. B. Forbush)

Stories of Christians who suffered and died for their faith, from the early church through the Reformation.

1692

The Practice of the Presence of God

Brother Lawrence

Conversations and letters of a 17th-century monastery cook who learned to walk with God in every ordinary task.

1948

The Pursuit of God

A. W. Tozer

Tozer's classic call to know God personally and hunger for his presence.

1908

Orthodoxy

G. K. Chesterton

Chesterton's witty account of how he came to believe the Apostles' Creed as the best explanation of life.

1896

In His Steps

Charles M. Sheldon

The novel that asked “What would Jesus do?” — a congregation pledges to ask that question before every decision for one year.

1907

Power Through Prayer

E. M. Bounds

A searching book on the place of prayer in the life of the preacher and every believer.

1884

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness

Andrew Murray

Twelve short chapters on humility as the root of every Christian virtue, with a closing prayer.

1666

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

John Bunyan

Bunyan's spiritual autobiography: his struggles with doubt and sin, conversion and imprisonment for preaching.

1678

The Pilgrim's Progress

John Bunyan

Bunyan's allegory of Christian's journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City — one of the most-read...