100 books like Coptic Civilization

By Gawdat Gabra (editor),

Here are 100 books that Coptic Civilization fans have personally recommended if you like Coptic Civilization. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Africa and Byzantium

Vince L. Bantu Author Of Those for Whom the Lamp Shines: The Making of Egyptian Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity

From my list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a love for the early Church in Africa since I took a trip to Egypt when I was in seminary. Since then, I’ve had a chance to visit all of the countries on the continent with ancient churches. It is my greatest joy to share what I learn with my students and any anyone else who will listen. I research and teach in the area of early African Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary and the Meachum School of Haymanot. I have published two monographs on this topic and hold a doctoral degree in languages and literatures of Northeastern Africa during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 

Vince's book list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism

Vince L. Bantu Why did Vince love this book?

This book assembles a massive collection of ancient African Christian art that has never come together at this level before.

This collection of essays narrates an art exhibit that was housed in 2024 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The thing I love about this book is that readers can continue to see these images in one collection for generations that follow the exhibition.

I also really love how this book not only narrates the history of early Christianity in Africa but is littered with beautiful images that help us to see and feel the way the ancients did when they entered sacred spaces. 

By Andrea Myers Achi (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Africa and Byzantium as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first exploration of the artistic and cultural intersections of the African continent and the Byzantine world

Medieval art history has long emphasized the glories of the Byzantine Empire, but less known are the profound artistic contributions of Nubia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and other powerful African kingdoms whose pivotal interactions with Byzantium had an indelible impact on the medieval Mediterranean world. Bringing together more than 170 masterworks in a range of media and techniques-from mosaic, sculpture, pottery, and metalwork to luxury objects, panel paintings, and religious manuscripts-Africa and Byzantium recounts Africa's centrality in transcontinental networks of trade and cultural exchange. With…


Book cover of Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of its Practices and Beliefs

Vince L. Bantu Author Of Those for Whom the Lamp Shines: The Making of Egyptian Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity

From my list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a love for the early Church in Africa since I took a trip to Egypt when I was in seminary. Since then, I’ve had a chance to visit all of the countries on the continent with ancient churches. It is my greatest joy to share what I learn with my students and any anyone else who will listen. I research and teach in the area of early African Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary and the Meachum School of Haymanot. I have published two monographs on this topic and hold a doctoral degree in languages and literatures of Northeastern Africa during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 

Vince's book list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism

Vince L. Bantu Why did Vince love this book?

This book is the best overall summary of Christianity in North Africa I have ever read. There are so many books that are close to this topic but are usually more specialized, focusing only on Augustine or archaeology.

This book not only surveys the influential theologians from North Africa, Perpetua, Tertullian, and Cyprian, but also illumines the lived worship practices of everyday Christians in what we now call Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria.

I love the well-rounded and comprehensive survey of North African Christianity that this book provides. 

By J. Patout Burns, Robin M. Jensen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Christianity in Roman Africa as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In-depth, illustrated exploration of how early North African Christians lived out their faith

Using a combination of literary and archeological evidence, this in-depth, illustrated book documents the development of Christian practices and doctrine in Roman Africa -- contemporary Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco -- from the second century through the Arab conquest in the seventh century.

Robin Jensen and Patout Burns, in collaboration with Graeme W. Clarke, Susan T. Stevens, William Tabbernee, and Maureen A. Tilley, skillfully reconstruct the rituals and practices of Christians in the ancient buildings and spaces where those practices were performed. Numerous site drawings and color…


Book cover of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido Church

Vince L. Bantu Author Of Those for Whom the Lamp Shines: The Making of Egyptian Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity

From my list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a love for the early Church in Africa since I took a trip to Egypt when I was in seminary. Since then, I’ve had a chance to visit all of the countries on the continent with ancient churches. It is my greatest joy to share what I learn with my students and any anyone else who will listen. I research and teach in the area of early African Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary and the Meachum School of Haymanot. I have published two monographs on this topic and hold a doctoral degree in languages and literatures of Northeastern Africa during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 

Vince's book list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism

Vince L. Bantu Why did Vince love this book?

Ethiopian Christianity is a rich and diverse phenomenon that has a nuanced history. So many books on the history of this ancient Church are highly specialized and not accessible to popular audiences. 

Ephraim Isaac’s book is the best overview of Ethiopian Christian history and practice that I have ever seen. It introduces the history of the Church and helpfully focuses on different aspects of worship, organization, and social engagement.

I refer back to this book often as it is so full of useful information, and I find new information every time.

By Ephraim Isaac,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido Church as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ethiopia is an extraordinary symbol of continuity amid a restive and crisis-ridden world. In a few decades, Africa has passed from colonialism, to modernity, to a congress of now largely independent black powers, whose views and votes are at long last heeded on the floor of the global parliament of nations. The capital of Ethiopia is also the headquarters of both the United Nations mission to the continent and of the indigenous continental African union. Ethiopia is unique, not only in the antiquity of her continuous religious and political history, but also in the ever accelerating involvement of the nation…


Book cover of Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia: Pagans, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Nile

Vince L. Bantu Author Of Those for Whom the Lamp Shines: The Making of Egyptian Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity

From my list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a love for the early Church in Africa since I took a trip to Egypt when I was in seminary. Since then, I’ve had a chance to visit all of the countries on the continent with ancient churches. It is my greatest joy to share what I learn with my students and any anyone else who will listen. I research and teach in the area of early African Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary and the Meachum School of Haymanot. I have published two monographs on this topic and hold a doctoral degree in languages and literatures of Northeastern Africa during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 

Vince's book list on Christianity in Africa before colonialism

Vince L. Bantu Why did Vince love this book?

Finding accessible books on ancient Nubian Christianity is very difficult. There are very few books that are entirely dedicated to the ancient Nubian Church, and the few that exist are usually very specific in terms of subject matter.

Welsby’s book is one of the few that does a great job of giving a comprehensive history of Christianity in the various kingdoms of the Nubian region. I especially love the images in this book which are numerous and very engaging. 

By Derek A. Welsby,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As well as discussing the turbulent political and religious history, Derek Welsby devotes much of his study to an examination of Nubian culture and society, and the impact of Christianity on every aspect of Nubian life. He examines in detail Nubian architecture, one of the most enduring legacies of the mediaeval kingdoms; Nubian art, literature and language; and finally, the economy and the importance of agriculture and trade. Broad-ranging and meticulously researched, "The Mediaeval Kingdoms of Nubia" is a fully comprehensive study of this intriguing subject.


Book cover of Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

Malinda Fugate Author Of The Other Three Sixteens

From my list on for Christians to revive a stalled faith journey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m just an everyday person. I don’t have a fancy title or lots of degrees, but I do have experience being close to God and a never-ending quest to know Him more. His love is so good that it absolutely must be shared. So if I, in all of my ordinariness, can learn extraordinary sacred things, then I can bring others along the journey, too. His presence in my heartaches, struggles, joy, and adventures has sustained my life, and I don’t know any credential that could testify any clearer that a journey with God is worth taking.

Malinda's book list on for Christians to revive a stalled faith journey

Malinda Fugate Why did Malinda love this book?

If scholars are still trying to completely understand the Bible, how are we supposed to navigate it?

Inspired steps back and takes a look at Scripture, inviting us to ask questions and know it better, from both a spiritual and literary perspective. While I didn’t agree with everything the author suggests, everything made me pause and think. It’s a rare book that both challenges and encourages, but this one most certainly does both.

By Rachel Held Evans,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Inspired as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If the Bible isn't a science book or an instruction manual, what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she embarked on a journey to better understand what the Bible is and how it's meant to be read. What she discovered changed her--and it can change you, too.

Evans knows firsthand how a relationship with the Bible can be as real and as complicated as a relationship with a family member or close friend. In Inspired, Evans explores contradictions and…


Book cover of Managing Your Emotions: Instead of Your Emotions Managing You

Roxane Lapa Author Of How I Overcame Panic Disorder Without Drugs

From my list on overcoming anxiety.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve experienced crippling anxiety personally, to the point of nervous breakdown. I’ve researched this topic extensively and have been panic-free for over a decade due to the knowledge and coping skills accrued.

Roxane's book list on overcoming anxiety

Roxane Lapa Why did Roxane love this book?

A book full of wisdom. Joyce Meyer tackles a myriad of bad emotions in this book from blinding anger and unforgiveness to mood swings and depression. Her aim is to help the reader attain emotional healing and start to practise emotionally balanced behaviour rather than manic highs, depressive lows and obsessive compulsions.

By Joyce Meyer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Managing Your Emotions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

God Gave You Emotions on Purpose! Our emotions play a vital role in living happy, healthy, successful lives. All emotions, from love and joy to anger and fear, have an important part to play in understanding ourselves and others. They help us discover the wonders of this life as well as warn us when we are in danger. But this diversity of feelings is meant to complement our life, not determine it! In this life-transforming book, Joyce Meyer reveals powerful truths from God's Word that will help you learn to manage all of your emotions in the right direction. Through…


Book cover of The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion

Jeffrey Hantover Author Of The Three Deaths of Giovanni Fumiani

From my list on what to read when the museum is closed.

Why am I passionate about this?

For four decades, I have written about art for publications in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. I have interviewed, among other artists, Frank Stella, Mary Ellen Mark, Dale Chihuly, Deng Lin (the daughter of Deng Xiaoping), the most celebrated Vietnamese contemporary painters, and the leading Japanese ceramicists. My ideal vacation is to wander the cobblestone streets of Italy, walking into a church to see the art of Caravaggio, Raphael, and Bernini. On a trip to Venice, I saw the immense illusionist ceiling painting by Giovanni Fumiani in the church of San Pantalon. Looking up at angels swirling in heaven, the idea for my second novel was born. 

Jeffrey's book list on what to read when the museum is closed

Jeffrey Hantover Why did Jeffrey love this book?

I have never been able to look at Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and child the same after reading this brilliant and controversial book. I promise your eyes will be opened as well. These paintings were not simple religious decoration. Christ’s genitalia, exposed or covered, was a visible element in theological arguments in the Renaissance about the humanity of Christ. In our secular world, Steinberg argues, we have lost sight of the sexual component of these images. Steinberg’s breadth of learning is astounding, and the extensive footnotes are as stimulating as the text.  

By Leo Steinberg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Steinberg argues in this work that the artists regarded the deliberate exposure of Christ's genitalia as an affirmation of kinship with the human condition. Christ's lifelong virginity, understood as potency under check, and the first offer of blood in the circumcision, both required acknowledgment of the genital organ. More than exercises in realism, these unabashed images underscore the crucial theological import of the Incarnation.


Book cover of The Screwtape Letters

Ryan Jordan Gutierrez Author Of Scars in Time

From my list on horror and sci-fi with a Christian message.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a bit of a contradiction in that I am a Christian pastor but also a horror aficionado. I love all things sci-fi and horror. My fascination with these genres stems from childhood, when I stumbled upon Star Wars, the old Addams Family cartoons, and even Scooby Doo. As I matured, my love of reading grew, and I soon consumed literature like a Dyson, especially sci-fi and horror. I often joke about how the odd combo of my two biggest writing influences, Stephen King (I’ve read his entire bibliography) and C.S. Lewis, perfectly sums up my character, and I think that’s what makes me perfect for this recommendation. 

Ryan's book list on horror and sci-fi with a Christian message

Ryan Jordan Gutierrez Why did Ryan love this book?

“A manual on how to damn someone to hell, written by a demon” is certainly not what you would expect from a renowned Christian author. I love this book because its premise is so insane and sounds deeply demonic.

Instead, as a Christian, what I got was what felt like a peek into my enemy’s playbook and an, at times, scathing insight into how I was failing and playing right into demonic hands. This book made me scared, made me laugh, and, at times, even made me want to cry. 

By C. S. Lewis,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Screwtape Letters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On its first appearance, The Screwtape Letters was immediately recognized as a milestone in the history of popular theology. Now, in it's 70th Anniversary Year, and having sold over half a million copies, it is an iconic classic on spiritual warfare and the power of the devil.

This profound and striking narrative takes the form of a series of letters from Screwtape, a devil high in the Infernal Civil Service, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior colleague engaged in his first mission on earth trying to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. Although…


Book cover of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution

Sam Torode Author Of Secrets of the Mind: Ralph Waldo Emerson's Keys to Expansive Mental Powers

From my list on uniting science and spirituality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the author of three books about Ralph Waldo Emerson, in addition to other books, and host of the Living from the Soul podcast. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a compelling interest in the “battle” between science and religion. I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian church, which taught that the Earth was created in six days about 6,000 years ago and denied evolution. But I also loved dinosaurs and paleontology; the information I was exposed to often contradicted my faith. Today, I consider myself a Transcendentalist. I believe that mind, not matter, is fundamental; and that our individual minds are tiny portions of the Universal Mind, which could be called God.

Sam's book list on uniting science and spirituality

Sam Torode Why did Sam love this book?

Kenneth R. Miller is a professor of cell biology at Brown University who’s co-written several widely-used biology textbooks and contributed to journals including Nature, Cell, and Scientific American. 

In 2000, I attended a conference on Intelligent Design, with leading speakers both for and against. Miller was unique as a believing Catholic who opposed Intelligent Design in favor of Darwinian evolution. I was predisposed against him, but wound up being convinced by his arguments.

Finding Darwin's God is an excellent book for explaining why no outside “Designer” is necessary to explain the origin of species, and also why this shouldn’t cause anyone to lose their faith in God or conclude that life is meaningless.

By Kenneth R. Miller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Finding Darwin's God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Miller is a believer, but he is also certain that we evolved - and this book is about why the two are not mutually exclusive; in fact, the idea of each enriches the other. There is an enormous market out there for whom this issue is of real interest and import. Much of contemporary thought on evolution has centered on the mistaken assumption that evolution requires a strictly materialist view of the origins of all organisms - including human beings. This book will debunk that myth, arguing that the real world is less certain and far more interesting than either…


Book cover of The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life

Gary Harpst Author Of Built to Beat Chaos: Biblical Wisdom for Leading Yourself and Others

From my list on applying Christian principles to business and leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

Following several years of working for the Ohio State University and Marathon Oil, I co-founded and became CEO of Solomon Software, originally named TLB, Inc. (The Lord’s Business) headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. We grew to more than 400 employees and $60 million in revenue, servicing over 40,000 clients worldwide, and then sold our company to Great Plains Software and that combined business was sold to Microsoft six months later. I later established Solomon Cloud Solutions, a technology consulting service firm for Microsoft Independent Software Vendors and Microsoft Business Solutions Channel Partners. Now, I assist businesses and organizations with implementing leadership development systems that will help them grow with a company called LeadFirst.ai.

Gary's book list on applying Christian principles to business and leadership

Gary Harpst Why did Gary love this book?

Os Guiness is my favorite author when it comes to thinking about the call of God and our most fundamental purpose in life.

He tears down the false dichotomy of the sacred versus the secular with regard to living in fullness. Whether baking bread, plowing the soil, or preaching a sermon, a life lived in and for Christ is holy.

We are all on a lifelong adventure to grow in the knowledge and relationship with our Creator. With this perspective, we can live through the difficult and the good times with equal joy.

By Os Guinness,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Call as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.

Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.

According…


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