Recommended Christian books for a newbie?

Question

I have never ever had anything to do with God, religion, or the Bible. My boyfriend grew up with it (his father is a pastor) and I recently got saved and accepted God into my life. Other than the Bible, I need a book to help me understand exactly what Christianity is, and what I'm getting into. I don't know the story of the Bible, I am basically clueless and I don't know where to start.

Answer 1

Get the book, Searching for a God to Love by Chris Blake. It is an excellent modern version of where to start. Another book that I found interesting but a little difficult for modern new believers is called Steps to Christ by Ellen White. Learn how to pray, so you can pray to invite the Holy Spirit to guide you to understanding and revelation before you begin your reading, and during as well as after your study of the book and The Book. May God bless you in this exciting new adventure to the rest of your eternal life. I will say a prayer for you.

Answer 2

If you don't already know these things,
how can you accept them?

"The Be·roe'ans ... received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so." Acts 17:10,11

Following is a list of links to some sample (online) Scriptural articles about the Bible:

[These fresh on the Web site, this AM]:

Understanding the Bible--A Pleasure Open to You
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20060401a/article_01.htm

What Will Help You Understanding the Bible?
- Preparing the Heart and the Mind
- Obstacles to Having the Right Attitude
- The Challenge of Being Taught
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20060401a/article_02.htm

The Book That Explains Future Paradise
http://watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_02.htm

The Bible--An Oriental Book
http://watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_03.htm

The Bible--Just a Good Book? :
- Cherished and Suppressed
- A Textbook for Modern Living
http://watchtower.org/library/w/2000/12/1/article_01.htm

Where Can You Find Answers?
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2004/6/22/article_03.htm

Why You Can Trust the Bible
http://watchtower.org/library/t13/why_trust.htm

Why You Can Trust Bible Prophecy
http://watchtower.org/library/w/1999/7/15/article_01.htm

You Can Understand the Bible
http://watchtower.org/library/w/2001/7/1/article_01.htm

Why I Believe the Bible
- A Nuclear Scientist Tells His Story
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2004/1/22a/article_01.htm

Why Look to the Bible for Guidance? http://watchtower.org/e/200601b/article_01.htm

How You Can Benefit from Godly Principles
http://watchtower.org/library/w/2002/2/15/article_01.htm

True Teachings That Please God
http://watchtower.org/e/20050715/article_01.htm

"When YOU received God’s word, which YOU heard from us, YOU accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God ..." 1 Thessalonians 2:13

OK, so much for the Bible in general ...

What Kind of Education Can Make Your Life a Success?
- Benefit From the Best Education Available!
- - True Christianity--An Education
- - Motivated to Change
- - You Can Find the Best Education
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2005/10/15/article_01.htm

Why Believe in Jesus Christ?
- How Can Jesus Change Your Life? :
- - His Teachings - Deeds - & Sacrifice
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/1999/7/1/article_01.htm

What Does the Messiah's Coming Mean to You? :
- Do We Need a Messiah?
- “We Have Found the Messiah”
- - Messianic Credentials
- - A Composite Picture
- - Geneology and Messiah's Identification
- - A Chance Fulfillment in Jesus?
- - Messiah's "Coming"
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20060215/article_01.htm

Is There Any Hope of Salvation?
- Jesus Saves--How?
- - Mankind Faces a Difficult Problem
- - God Provides a Perfect Solution
- - Jesus' Death Has Great Value http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/11/15/article_01.htm

What Influence Does Jesus Christ Have on You?
- Set Priorities in Life
- Cultivate Friendship With God
- Establish Good Relationships With Others
- Get to the Root of the Problem
- “Return Your Sword to Its Place”
- You Can Benefit From ALL of Jesus’ Teachings
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2005/3/15a/article_02.htm

By reading the Scriptures along with the articles, you can quickly get a strong foundation of understanding started.

"Make sure of all things -- Hold fast to what is fine."
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20000622/diagram_01.htm
(1 Th 5:21)

Answer 3

Well, these are fiction books, but based on the end of the world prophecies that are in the last book of the Bible called Revelation. They are the Left Behind books, although 15 are in the series (3 pre books and 12 in the series) it is a broken down view of what will probably take place in the end of the world. They are written by two amazing End of the World Prophecy pastors and speakers Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

And also, congratulation on becoming a believer!
May God Bless you in this exciting time for you!

There is also a movie called The Ten Commandments, rent the old one, it may have been made in the 1960's but it is more acurate than the one that they just made. It's about the story of Moses, who concieved the 10 commandments in the desert. That story is in the book of Esodus, which is the second book in the Bible. (there are 66 books total in the Bible.)

Again, congrats and may God Bless you in your new life!

Answer 4

Congratulations! I am so glad that you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior. First, I think you should start with the Bible. John is a good book to start with. Romans is another good book. If you don't know much how the world was created then you might want to start with Genesis. I like all the books of the Bible. Pray about what God wants you to read and pray for His understanding of His Word before you start reading. God does speak to us through His Word. Also talk to your pastor to see if they're are any Bible studies in your area.

Answer 5

In all honesty, the best thing to do is read the Bible. But begin by reading the gospel according to John. What's more, don't read the King James Version. For a new believer, it can be confusing. Try reading it from the New International Version. The problem with reading books right now is that due to your lack of Biblical knowledge, you can become easily strayed into thinking like someone else, rather than believing God's Word.

After John, read through the New Testament. There's a prayer in Psalm 119:18 that says... "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law."

Also, don't just read to finish. Read to learn.

Remember, "a butterfly covers more ground, but a bee gathers more honey." Be like the Bee!

Answer 6

Find a modern translation of the New Testament and READ it. Get very familiar and comfortable with it first.

There are a lot of good books out there but for a newbie and a veteran believer, if you are not well grounded in what the bible teaches you will be easily led astray by others opinions, writings and personal beliefs....not always biblical.

Later on try books by Max Lucado....

Answer 7

There is Only ONE Purpose for the Christian.....

(Matthew 6:33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS Righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

That entails OBEDIENCE to the Word of GOD, James 1:22 and Luke 6:46.

Perhaps a free Bible Software, www.e-sword.net so that you can do Word Studies?

Also a great site, with Daily teaching, is www.gty.org They have a site and real good Bible Teaching. Grace to You is the Ministry.

Thanks, RR

Answer 8

The bible is the best thing for you right now. Make sure you have a translation of the bible that you understand. Some of the old English language can be confusing. There is a good site on the web called bible gateway dot com. You can see all the different translations there and get a better idea of what is being conveyed. There are also commentaries (long discussions on difficult scriptures) that are good on there.
Stay in church and in fellowship with other believers!
Congratulations!

Answer 9

Well you are in it for the rest of your life, so just start simple and begin to read your Bible and slowly learn about your faith in Christ. Recognize that the Bible is the sole source of authority for what you believe and examine everything else in the light of it. If you want an excellent daily devotional to read look up Oswald Chambers on the net and read it each day. At first it may not seem right to you because you are rebuilding your thinking along the lines of God rather than along the lines of human thinking. Hang in there and it will begin to make sense as you grow in grace and in your faith. God bless you in your new life.

Answer 10

Dear Seeker of God,
I recommend to you that you stick with the scriptures, first of all, for now.You have to be very careful in my opinion with reading many books until you are rooted and grounded in the scripture which is the basis of all doctrine and source of all wisdom concerning salvation in Jesus Christ.

For some light yet profound reading there are the excellent "Day by Day with The English Puritans", and "Day by Day with The early church Fathers" , both of them absolutely wonderful striking a perfect balance between light and heavy. Both are highly recommended and published by Hedrickson publishers.

The commentary on the bible by Mathew Henry (unabridged version)is trustworthy, since a good commentary will have scripture alongside of comments which you can see and compare for yourself along side of the authors opinion. You need a faithful servant of God , not some disobedient lustful person to advise you, for a lustful person will always take the side of sin, doubt and pleasure. A good bible in fact an excellent bible is the new GenevaBible http://www.americanvision.org/store/pc-538-4-1599-geneva-bible.aspx
with commentarywritten alongside it.
The Archaeological Study bible by Zondervan is another good choice.http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=HPT&category=Bibles&N=1014722&Ne=1000000&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold

Two books which affected me greatly for good are, "Pilgrims Progress" by John Bunyan , St.Augustines "Confessions".
Other authors that are faithful yet old are Charles Spurgeon, A.W.Tozer, C.S.Lewis, John Wesley.
Now personal unsolicited advice:
What you really need to do is ask God to lead you and give you an empowering of grace through the Holy Spirit. Youwill notice from scripture that unless a person has received this gift there is no knowing anything or acceptance with God. You do not want to be fille dwith words or opinions but with power, joy, peace, love, righteousness from the Holy spirit reigning within you.
You must never abandon this purpose, you must be in it for the long haul or do not start at all. You will encounter times of questions of your own ignorance and you must not think that because you do not have an answer that there is none, the life that is pleasing to God does not draw back but is victorious over sin and death and this world. I commend you to God and the power of his grace m that is able to keep you from falling and pray that by his will you will know what it means to cry abba Father.(hint look it up in a concordance)