As we near Holy Week, I know the assertion that every Christian book is about Easter won’t change anything in publishing. The seasonal best-seller lists, bookseller promotions, online keyword searches, and publishers require marketing hooks to advertise. But let’s face it: All Christian books are really about Easter Sunday morning. Christian books all have a key pivot point of their message in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christmas books, where Jesus joined human history as Emmanuel, are just Easter prequels. But for marketing’s sake, we call them Christmas books.
So, what themes of Easter find their way into every Christian book?
- Deity of Christ
- Christ’s victory over sin and death
- Christ’s transforming power
- Hope that comes from life after death
Of course, Holy Week overall has many more implications. Still, we have enough to fuel a billion-dollar publishing industry from Easter alone. If you are part of a Christian tradition that uses the church calendar as a framework for worship, look at each season and draw a straight line to the Resurrection as its center, reason, and purpose.
For Christian books, here are some additional proofs:
Christian fiction of all kinds: Has conflict, resolution, and restoration. Without restoration, it’s just a story like any other.
Kids’ books: Everything points to Jesus as God’s Son and how he makes all things new and different than before. That newness came at Easter. The living Jesus and the hope we have are encouraging to every child.
Bible commentaries/studies: Always show the cohesive single story of all Scripture and God’s plan of salvation through Christ as the aiming point. Readers begin connecting the dots, which are more than just added information. Lives are transformed when we know the risen Savior.
Christian living: No matter the topic–parenting, marriage, singleness, community life, church life, conflict resolution, overcoming past, present, and future trials, or whatever else–is hinged on the transformative power of the resurrected Christ for every area of life. Nothing is the same after the empty tomb.
Ministry/leadership: Christ’s hope-giving, redemptive power fuels every aspect. No church or ministry can continue without the fact that Christ defeated sin and death. Books for ministry leaders build courage, confidence, faithfulness, hope, and strength fueled by the risen Savior. Without him, these books are just business concepts for a nonprofit social club gathering to sing songs.
Theology: With the Resurrection, theology is a never-ending, exciting pursuit of discovery. Without the Resurrection, books become an academic exercise of personal illumination that puffs up a reader with knowledge simply for knowledge’s sake.
Reference: Just names and approximate dates to memorize until the Resurrection infuses everything with meaning and purpose. Easter answers the “So what?” question.
Comparative religions: This is the easy one. Christianity is the only religion where the founders’ bones aren’t dust. The tomb is empty.
So there you have it. Christian writers are very focused, as everything they write eventually circles back to the first Easter not so long ago; from God’s perspective, it has been only a couple of days.
In this darkness I can’t sleep
’cause things are now severe,
but I will not despair, nor weep
for I know that Christ is here,
and with love He animates
every word I write
about the pain that devastates
every day and night,
and thus cancer’s transcended,
and thus new clarity.
My body is not mended,
but with new eyes I see
the truth that’s present in this room,
the truth of Life, the Empty Tomb.
Andrew, holding you close in prayer.
Pam, thank you so much.
I have to keep going. Sometimes, lots of times now, I don’t know how.
Dan. This is Awesome.
I love how a flicker of light so quickly turns into a Daylight of Visual Action on a Dark Night in a gigantic sports stadium.
Thanks to you and all of the amazing creative people there in Phoenix at the Steve Laube Literary Agency.
Blessings in Jesus Name.
Bill McBride
SEARCH GOOGLE:
“Bill McBride is a
Christian Author
from San Jose California.”
Simple, but profound, insights. Thank you, Mr. Laube. I was especially blessed by the following words:
“Christmas books, where Jesus joined human history as Emmanuel, are just Easter prequels.”
“Nothing is the same after the empty tomb.”
Amen! Thank you for writing this post. It is a wonderful reminder that Jesus is the Beginning, the End, and Everything-in-Between!
Wishing you and your family a joyous Resurrection Day!
This all makes sense to me, Dan. Thank you! I especially love your view on Christmas books as Easter prequels!!
Sounds like a great book idea. Except Lee Strobel has already written it. OTOH…maybe a different angle….???
Yes Dan, ‘Without restoration, it’s just a story like any other’. Spot on! Without the empty tomb there would be no Christians, no not one! I just finished the first draft of my semi-fictional, historical/romance novel entitled, ‘Jesus and the Minstrel’. Diligent biblical research has revealed many little-publicized, hidden gems that point to this one amazing fact, the empty tomb. All the sermons Jesus preached, the declarations He made, and the miracles He performed, attest to this one factual truth. Jesus was crucified on the day before High Sabbath, that year, and three nights later the tomb was empty. No ‘dusty bones’ remained. Praise Almighty God!
I never thought of it that way before, but now it makes perfect sense. It’s nice to know that even fictional stories point back to a very real God! Thanks, Dan and God Bless!
Comment:
Dan, thank you for this reflection. I listened closely and was stirred by your message—that every Christian book ultimately circles back to Easter. It reminded me again how central the Resurrection truly is.
But something else echoed deeper. How often we, as the Body of Christ, isolate parts of the Body while forgetting the whole. Ministries call others to partnership, yet each one tends to speak from the knee, the hand, or the eye—rarely from the unity of the full Body.
Jesus, who is the Vine, said He would never leave us. He gave us His grace, undeserved and complete, and through Him we’ve become God’s righteousness—not by structure, rank, or tradition, but by abiding. As Colossians declares, He holds all things together.
So while I may not fit into every framework, I am held. Held in the Vine.
May we all write, speak, and serve from that place, where Easter isn’t just the center of a season but the heartbeat of every believer.