100 books like The Book of Jerry Falwell

Falwell was the first in US history to attempt to organize white evangelicals into a voting group, and this is his manifesto. It’s a must-read because he introduces all the themes of the movement ever since.

This is a field-defining work. First published in 2001, McGirr’s book prompted a generation of historians to reexamine the rise and evolution of modern American conservatism. Focused on the suburbs of Orange County, California, Suburban Warriors explored how grassroots conservative activists mobilized to reshape the politics of the nation. Through the stories of ordinary people--housewives and defense workers, evangelical worshippers, and anti-communist activists--we learn how the modern American right evolved from a fringe movement into arguably the most powerful political force in the United States.

Strangely, very few books about the Christian right explain the differences between southern and northern evangelicals. Hill’s book is an eye-opener. It links theology directly to politics. A historian, Hill is a wonderful writer.

A liberal Southern Baptist, Leonard describes the fundamentalist takeover of the largest Protestant denomination. The take over accompanied the South’s transformation into a Republican stronghold and made the Christian right a serious force in American politics. Leonard is one of the best-known historians of the Convention and of contemporary religion in the South.

A central assertion of the Christian right is that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and should be again. But this argument, as Green documents in his meticulous study of historical and legal sources, is deeply embedded in Americans’ sense of their national history as exceptional. He examines a series of claims made about critical junctures in the early history of the nation that purportedly support this view--the religious founding of the English colonies, the American Revolution as a religious cause, American government formed to be Christian. His careful examination of the evidence for and against the crucial claims of the Christian nation thesis provides a nuanced history of the religious terrain of early America by studying those who made such assertions and why. Green concludes that these claims developed during the nineteenth century rather than during the nation’s founding. More importantly, they are largely mythic but… show more.

Ribuffo could have portrayed his subjects—three mid-century Christian fundamentalists—as social or cultural misfits. Instead, he made a powerful case that these men—and others like them— were a product of the American mainstream. First published in the 1980s, when the so-called new Christian right was in its ascendancy, the book encouraged readers to check any temptation they might have felt to dismiss Protestant fundamentalists as political outliers who would disappear of their own accord. Generous almost to a fault, Ribuffo gave me plenty of advice during my own research to avoid any suggestion that there was anything un-American about fascist sympathies in the interwar years. 

This Pulitzer prize-winning history, thoroughly researched and engagingly written, is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the history of American evangelicalism. While it now defines the religious right, evangelicalism has espoused different religious and political positions from its eighteenth-century founding to the present, as Fitzgerald thoroughly documents. Initially, a populist rejection of established churches, in the nineteenth-century evangelicals split over the issue of slavery; Southern evangelicals insisted that the Bible endorsed it. In the twentieth century, evangelicals separated from fundamentalists and became more politically engaged as American business interests used religion to wrest evangelicals from the Democratic Party and political conservatives identified abortion as the issue most likely to galvanize them.

Since the 1980s evangelicals have become a dependable voting bloc for the Republican Party, but Fitzgerald concludes, younger evangelicals are more open and concerned with climate change and gender equality. There is no book I can recommend… show more.

I have been a fan of Mr. Alcorn for years, not just as an author and pastor but as a Christian. He has applied his own financial teaching and an incredible way. When he was sued for picketing at an abortion clinic he didn’t want to because he knew the proceeds would go toward abortionists. This caused him to learn to live on very little.

In this book, he provides an eternal view of our temporary wealth and possessions. The primary focus, spread over the course of the book, can be boiled down to one point: the heavenly perspective we should have will help us be good earthly stewards. In Mr. Alcorn’s own words, the book is “thoroughly researched…a biblical comprehensive view,” and I completely agree that it is.

He strives to cover every conceivable topic related to money, such as investing, retirement, gambling, inheritances, giving, and the list goes… show more.

Larry Burkett founded Crown Financial Ministries, had an accompanying radio show, and wrote many financial books. I am thankful for Mr. Burkett and all of his contributions to God’s kingdom. His program has been used by many individuals and churches and is the closest rival to Dave Ramsey’s program.

He has many wonderful books I could have chosen, but I stuck with this one because of the foundation in Scripture. As the subtitle communicates, it is “An in-depth Bible study on personal finances.” I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know how to manage their finances according to biblical principles.

Ms. Pegue is a speaker and television host on TBN. She made a splash in 2005 with her book, 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue, which she then capitalized on by publishing a “30 Day Series.” This book was second in the series.

We want authors to have credibility, and Debra was an accountant for many years and a certified behavioral consultant. This has helped her understand not just finances but people’s behaviors. She brings those together in this book to help people manage their finances well.