SPIRITUAL CLASSICS

In this section, some of the world’s spiritual classics will be introduced – books dealing with spirituality, theology, or matters of faith.  

Some of the many spiritual classics may be listed as follows: 

Early Christian Classics 

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers 

City of God, Augustine 

The Cloud of Unknowing, Anonymous 

The Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila 

Dark Night of the Soul, St John of the Cross 

The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan 

Later Christian Writings 

True Spirituality, Francis A. Schaeffer 

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen 

The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis 

The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer 

Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton 

The Way of a Pilgrim, Anonymous 

Lives of Inspiration 

A Confession, Leo Tolstoy 

The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton 

The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee 

Community and Growth, Jean Vanier 

No Greater Love, Mother Theresa 

Alternative Approaches 

Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu 

Letters on the Sufi Path, Ibn Abbad of Ronda 

Spiritual Couplets, Rumi 

The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran 

Essays in Zen Buddhism, D.T. Suzuki 

The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle 

Source: The above list is based in part from James T. Russell, ed., Spiritual Classics: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Great Spiritual Books (London: Constable & Robinson, 2009).

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