There is a lure to lists, especially book lists. In various stretches of my life, I have kept track of the books I read. I would write down the title and author each time I finished one. I somehow quit recording them somewhere when things got too busy, but when I come across the main list from a long stretch of years, I am heartened by the titles, the authors and, often, the fact that some of them were seminal books that have had a place in sustained public discussion.There is a lure to lists, especially book lists. In various stretches of my life, I have kept track of the books I read. I would write down the title and author each time I finished one. I somehow quit recording them somewhere when things got too busy, but when I come across the main list from a long stretch of years, I am heartened by the titles, the authors and, often, the fact that some of them were seminal books that have had a place in sustained public discussion.I especially recall how much respect I gave to a recommended list of book titles I was given in 7th grade English books one should read before college. I launched into that list and read a large number of fiction and non-fiction works that shaped my thinking. My wife, a prolific book reader, has had the discipline to write down titles of all her books. At the end of each year, I always make note of the total in our family Christmas newsletter and wistfully wished I had the time to be so committed to the rich world of books.So we see that Christianity Today magazine, founded by the Rev. Billy Graham, recently compiled the list of The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals. It calls them landmark titles that change the way we think, talk, witness, worship and live. More than 60 people, including evangelical leaders like Tony Campolo, Anne Graham Lotz, Haddon Robinson, Jim Wallis and Philip Yancey, made nominations. Magazine staff then vigorously debated the titles and ranked them. Some wanted the titles to be ranked within subgroups, like those that shaped social action or their spiritual lives. Its mildly interesting to ponder whether C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity or Francis Schaeffers Escape from Reason influenced evangelical apologetics more, the magazine editors said. Editors said the list would invariably spark debate and prompt e-mails. Some books were very well known and got mixed rankings: The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (No. 42); The Hiding Place: by Corrie ten Boom (No. 48); The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey (No. 33); Dare to Discipline by James Dobson (No. 29); The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson (No. 32.); Christy by Catherine Marshall (No. 27); and Evangelism Explosion by D. James Kennedy (No. 10).Among books with heavy teaching were The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F.F. Bruce (No. 47); The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll (No. 45); Darwin on Trial by Philip Johnson (No. 40); The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism by F.H. Henry (No. 15); and Whats So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey (No. 17). Getting a high ranking (No. 6) is The Living Bible, the familiar, easy-to-read Bible that Kenneth Taylor introduced in 1971. So lets count down the top five books for impact on evangelicals by consensus of Christianity Magazine. 5) Knowing God by J. I. Packer who convinced us that the study of God is the most practical project anyone can engage in; 4) The God Who is There by Francis A. Schaeffer, which accomplished something startling and necessary: It made intellectual history a vital part of the evangelical mental landscape, opened up the world particularly of art and philosophy to a subculture that was suspicious and ignorant of both; 3) Mere Christianity By C.S. Lewis, a work of apologetics that editors at Christianity Today editors determined doesnt need any explanation; 2) Understand Church Growth by Donald Anderson McGavran who is credited with creating a science in the examination of church growth and for coining the homogeneous unit principle term and spawning serious examination of the phenomenon of growth; and 1) Prayer: Conversing With God by Rosalind Rinker, in which the author taught us something revolutionary, shifting prayer meetings from formal prayer speeches to a conversation with God, so that today evangelicals assume that casual, colloquial, intimate prayer is the most authentic way to pray. The rankings can be seen at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html.

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