the 5 best books for new christians (add these to your library today)
Pre-S: The book links in this post are all affiliate links for my amazon store front. If you make a purchase through these links, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Me and my latte fund thank you!
Obviously, THE book that all new believers should want to read consistently is the Bible. If you need help choosing a translation, I have my personal favorites linked here.
Aside from building a habit of reading the Bible, what’s really helpful is to learn from grounded and biblically sound Christian voices - authors, Bible teachers, pastors, etc.
A shortlist of my favorites are: Tim Keller, John Bevere, Jen Wilkin, Phylicia Masonheimer, and Kristi McClelland.
Where you start learning is not where you end up (here’s why that’s a good thing)
The books and authors you love today may not be (and probably shouldn’t be) where you eventually end up 1 or even 3 years from now. What do I mean by this?
An example from pre-pre-baby-Christian-me: early, early on right as I was about to be saved I was introduced to Rob Bell . His work is popular in new age circles and with liberal believers. I read his book What is the Bible and I learned things I’d never heard before.
Although that’s one of the teachers I explored in the beginning of my journey, it’s not what I’d read or recommend today (for a variety of reasons). I can appreciate what I learned from him in the season I was in. But as I got deeper into what my theology was, and what was biblical, I found teachers that were more aligned with my needs in the growth stage I was in.
Spiritual growth is a good thing and it’s vital to your growth as a believer. Stagnancy is usually what leads to complacency. Find authors that stretch you but that also back up what they teach with scripture over feelings. This is a biggie as (most of us) unwind from the self-help learning style toward more biblically sound learning.
And, don’t forget it’s ok to follow the threads of your theological questions and interests!
how to find the right faith-based book for your current season of life
What questions does the Holy Spirit keep bringing to your mind to learn more about or study? Do you want to learn more about the Christian faith as a whole?
Maybe you want to learn about something specific like: end times and eschatology, spiritual gifts, women in leadership, Christian history, or you’re looking for a devotional to take you deeper into loving the Psalms…
If you don’t have a very specific subject in mind, it can be helpful to have baseline, foundational books to help you grow in your faith-based interests. This deepens your understanding of why you believe what you do and ensures your roots are strong in your faith. This is always a good place to start as a newer believer.
That’s why I’d love to share 5 favorite books for new believers that cover a few of the top important themes that will be relevant for you as a new Christian.
5 best books for new christians
There are truly so many amazing books available for new Christians to explore and learn more about faith and love of Jesus. What I thought would be helpful would be to match a book that I would recommend to a friend (like you) who might be a new believer or wants to go deeper in a certain area of your faith.
Some of the common needs I see in friends and clients who are new believers and have questions about certain subjects are:
learning and applying the 10 commandments
Basic theology - what + why you believe what you do
God’s purpose for your life
Fear of God
Prayer
I’ve also added 2 bonus book suggestions at the end of this list. A favorite devotional I use and love (even if you’re like me and wouldn’t describe yourself as a ‘devotional person’) and my favorite apologetics book.
With these themes in mind keep scrolling for the best books I recommend for new believers. I’d also love to hear your book recommendations. Feel free to share you favorites on these subjects in the comments below.
ten words to live by
by: jen wilkin
Topic: learning and applying the 10 commandments
Ten Words to Live By is a good book for new believers because, well, most of us can only kinda sorta remember what the 10 commandments are. And, it’s important that we not only know them but understand the deeper meaning about why God commanded these things in the first place.
Jen is a great teacher and she’s helped me to know the 10 commandments but also understand how they still matter today. If you’re an ex new ager chapter 2 might be especially eye opening for you re: idol worship. I know it was for me!
What’s nice (and that I really loved) about this book is that there’s an accompanying 10-day video devotional you can get for free. Each video touches on a chapter of the book and helps you to work through the material - so good if you’re a visual learner.
every woman a theologian
by: phylicia masonheimer
Topic: Theology - what you believe and why
If you haven’t heard of Phylicia you have to! She’s a podcaster (seriously worth a binge) and blogger and gives the most generous theological breakdowns and teachings on Insta.
So, when Every Woman a Theologian came out I obviously pre-ordered it and it doesn’t disappoint. Whether you’ve been a believer your whole life or you’re a brand new baby Christian this book will be a solid resource for you.
Each chapter breaks down a doctrine of our faith: scripture, God, creation, Christ, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and last things. I know when I was new to faith I had no education - none - about nearly any of these. So having a book I can reference and recommend is so helpful instead of looking all over the internet for answers.
I appreciate Phy’s grounded, clear, concise approach. She’s also not trying to sway you to believe what she believes. Instead, she gives you the information to form your own conclusions when it comes to non-salvific topics like: what denomination you might be or your view of end times.
the purpose driven life
by: rick warren
Topic: God’s purpose for your life
If I’m honest I’ve heard a lot about this book (it’s one of best selling books of ALL time!) but it wasn’t until recently when I saw Pastor Rick Warren’s church getting kicked out of the SBC for ordaining women pastors that I started to take a closer look at his teachings.
The Purpose Driven life is a good book for new believers because we all have questions about our purpose and this book will remind you over and over again that God has a purpose for you. What I love most about this book is how heavy it is with scripture.
Side note for ex new agers: I don’t tend to like books by pastors or Bible study teachers that teach to inspire me, I want to see the references from the Word of what God has to say about it. This book does that really well. I think this is common for ex new agers because so much of the new age was a game of telephone rather than having a source and answer for why to believe what we’re taught.
It’s laid out to be read as a daily 40-day plan with A LOT of extra videos to go deeper with. In each section of the book you’ll learn 1 of the 5 purposes for your life.
Purpose #1 You were planned for God’s Pleasure
Purpose #2 You were formed for God’s family
Purpose #3 You were created to become like Christ
Purpose #4 You were shaped for serving God
Purpose #5 You were made for a mission
In the new age, or just in secular living before Christ, there’s so much focus on following your dreams and living out your purpose in a self-focused way. I find this book to give actual, practical help to those of us unhooking from those remnants of self-help culture.
the awe of God
by: john bevere
Topic: Fear of God
The Awe of God is a good book for Christians who want to understand and apply the question: what is the fear of God and how do I live from that place? The book is broken down into short chapters meant to be read devotional-style over 6 weeks.
Pastor John is a passionate teacher. His stories about the way the Holy Spirit moves in his ministry are so inspiring. He and his wife have a podcast I love, this is one of my fav episodes.
In the book, one of my favorite topics he covers is about being obedient to God. That we should be obedient even when: it doesn’t make sense, there’s nothing in it for us, and even when it’s painful. I’m interested in intimacy with God and I know that my closeness to God is a result of my obedience to Him. But it’s sometimes easier in theory than action. This book really helped me to put things into perspective and guide my God-fearing actions more consistently.
He says: ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord leads to long life, the fear of the Lord eradicates all other fear.’ Amen.
the circle maker
by: mark batterson
Topic: Prayer
There are a lot of books about prayer! The Circle Maker is a good book for Christians who want to have a deeper relationship with God through prayer. If I’m honest prayer is a place in my life I could be doing a lot better. Reading this book I took so many notes because I had so many little light bulbs insight moments.
One thing I loved that Pastor Mark said was that God’s grace and power have no limits. Are you limiting God with your small prayer requests?
We know He can.
We don’t know if He will.
But we can pray with holy confidence.
I’ve been learning to pray circles around my dreams at the same time I’m praying around what burdens my heart. And I’ve loved all the stories the author shares about answered prayers and the way God moves for us all. So good!
A little word of warning, I did find the author’s talk about answered prayer specifically focused around money a little bro-inspirational. If you can get past that, there are a lot of great teachings in this book.
bonus #1
best devotional for new christians
my utmost for his highest
by: oswald chambers
Topic: Devotional
I hinted earlier that I’m not a devotional girl. I like learning and studying more than I like inspirational suggestions so the majority of the devotionals I’ve flipped through haven’t made it home.
But My Utmost for His Highest is different. It’s a conventional devotional in the aspect that there’s one message for each of the days of the year but the messages are so heavy hitting.
If you’re wondering, January 30, the Dilemma of Obedience (of course, lol) is my favorite.
The reference is to 1 Samuel 3:9: Speak Lord for your servant is listening.
Chambers is encouraging us to get in the habit of saying this phrase: ‘speak, Lord’ over every situation. But not just to say it, but to 1. say it, and, 2. make intentional effort to listen for God. He writes that over time our ears will become more sensitive and like Jesus, we will hear God all of the time.
bonus #2
best apologetics book for all believers
evidence that demands a verdict
by: josh mcdowell and sean mcdowell
Topic: Apologetics
Evidence that Demands a Verdict is the best apologetics book for all believers, imo. But, it’s a HUGE book. If you’re unfamiliar, apologetics is the discipline of defending your faith through discussion and conversation with unbelievers.
In 1 Peter 3:15 Christians are commanded to give a reason for the hope we have in Jesus (but with gentleness and respect). And this book gives an answer for every seeming question about the faith. If you’re a person that’s always asking the questions ‘yeah, but’ OR you’re defending what you believe from others pointing those kinds of questions at you, I think you’d really like this book.
Also, it’s definitely worth subscribing to Sean McDowell’s YT channel. He answers so many of the common questions new believers can have but he also goes deeper for those who’ve been believers for a very long time. I love that balance.
happy reading!
One of the things I love so much about being a believer is that there’s so much to learn!! I’m sorry but the non believers who tell me I’m basic and boring honestly don’t know how fun it feels for God to put a question in your heart and for you to explore the answers.
Jesus is a JOY.
Learning how to love him well requires learning about who He is and who we are as children of God. I hope that these book recommendations will spark your joy for God.
