Forty-five years ago this spring (March 12, 1978), The New York Times ran a story giving the best-selling books of 1977. They created the list by sampling 2,500 Christian bookstores affiliated with the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA).
While bestseller lists of Christian books are derived differently now, this list is interesting and shows how the Christian publishing market has changed–or not–in 45 years.
Hardcover Christian Book Bestsellers of 1977
- A SHEPHERD LOOKS AT PSALM 23, by W. Phillip Keller (Zondervan)
- NORMA, by Norma Zimmer (Tyndale)
- HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE, by Francis A. Schaeffer (Revell)
- JONI, by Joni Eareckson (Zondervan)
- ANGELS: GOD’S SECRET AGENTS, by Billy Graham (Doubleday)
- HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN, by Billy Graham (Word Books)
- I LOVE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
- MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, by Oswald Chambers (Dodd, Mead)
- WHAT WIVES WISH THEIR HUSBANDS KNEW ABOUT WOMEN, by James Dobson (Tyndale)
- TESTED BY FIRE, by Merrill and Virginia Womack (Revell)
- BORN AGAIN, by Charles W. Colson (Chosen/Revell)
- IT’S INCREDIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
- ON BEING A CHRISTIAN, by Hans King (Doubleday)
- EACH NEW DAY, by Corrie ten Boom (Revell)
- WHAT IS A FAMILY, Edith Schaeffer (Revell)
Paperback Christian Book Bestsellers of 1977
- JONI, by Joni Eareckson and Joe Musser (World Wide)
- BORN AGAIN, Charles W. Colson (Spire)
- MERE CHRISTIANITY, by C.S. Lewis (Macmillan)
- ACT OF MARRIAGE, by Tim and Beverly LaHaye (Zondervan)
- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN PRAY, by Evelyn Christenson (Victor)
- NORMA, by Norma Zimmer (Tyndale)
- I’M OUT TO CHANGE MY WORLD, by Ann Kiemel (Impact Books)
- THE LATE, GREAT PLANET EARTH, by Hal Lindsey & C.C. Carlson (Zondervan)
- PRISON TO PRAISE, by Merlin Carothers (Logos)
- GOD CALLING, by A.J. Russell (Spire)
- HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES, by Hannah Hurnard (Tyndale)
- LIFE AFTER LIFE, by Raymond A. Moody Jr. (Bantam)
- HOW TO LIVE LIKE A KING’S KID, by Harold Hill (Logos)
- I LOVE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
- THE HIDING PLACE, by Corrie ten Boom (Spire)
Bestselling Bibles of 1977
- THE LIVING BIBLE, paraphrased by Kenneth N. Taylor (Tyndale)
- THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (Collins World, Moody and Nelson)
- GOOD NEWS BIBLE (American Bible Society, Collins World and Nelson)
- NEW SCOFIELD REFERENCE BIBLE, edited by C.I. Scofield (Oxford Univ. Press)
- THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT (Zondervan)
- THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, edited by Alexander Jones (Doubleday)
- THE NEW CHAIN-REFERENCE BIBLE, by Frank Charles Thompson (Kirkbride)
- THE OPEN BIBLE, edited by Manfred G. Gutzke (Nelson)
Miscellaneous Christian books releasing in 1978
THE CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE, by Richard Foster (Harper & Row)
THE PICTURE BIBLE, by Iva Hoth (David C. Cook)
THE BOOK OF DUN COW, by Walter Wangerin (HarperCollins)
THE STRONG-WILLED CHILD, by James Dobson (Tyndale)
Who and What I’m Looking for (Bob Hostetler)
I’m really not surprised to see
here, on this bestseller list,
my fave, Mere Christianity,
for it my pagan life did twist
from a New Age Buddhist thing
onto quite another road;
I forswore light-hearted bling
for in my heart I craved a load
that would bend and shape my back
to conform to something greater;
in casual ease I’d found a lack
of Creation and Creator
which from ol’ C.S. I learned
that my soul had always yearned.
I read 12 of these books but not all in 1977. More like over the years. Most of them profoundly changed my life. I don’t know what the top Christian books are now but it would be interesting to compare and contrast with what we are reading now.
I’ve only read 2 books on that long list: A Shepherd’s Look at the 23rd Psalm and Hinds’ Feet on High Places. And NOT in 1977. In 1977, I was busy graduating from high school, and I was reading Lord of the Rings. Haha!
But I’m thankful for the two I read. Hinds’ Feet completely changed my faith. I long to be as passionate and devoted as Much Afraid as she cries, “Do not let me leave you!”
A Shepherd’s look brought new meaning to the 23rd Psalm. I loved learning the details of caring for sheep.
What the 23rd Psalm did for me the most was remind me of my true Home. We had moved in with my MIL because she needed care. I left my home of 28 years … and I was homesick! I kept telling myself to snap out of it. “You’re a middle aged woman, not a child at camp!” But the feeling continued, and I wept a lot. “I want to go home! I want to go home!”
One Sunday, I stood in church and asked God to please, please give me something fresh! When the pastor said he was going to read the 23rd Psalm, my heart sank. Imagine! But I dutifully read along, wanting to weep as I felt God had let me down.
Then we got to the last line, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I wept again, but with joy.
Isn’t God so good??
So sweet, Pammy!
I love it when God does this for me. He does it so often! Why do I forget?
Love you!
Pam, your words about not being a child at camp hit me dead centre, for that’s now me, defined.
May I dedicate this to you, in thanks for the inspiration, and for giving me the courage to write it?
I used to think myself the champ,
I used to feel ’twas mine to roam,
but I’m really just a child at camp;
dead Daddy, come and take me home!
I can’t keep up this fresh facade
that I put on to shine my pride;
its mirrored shades are scratched and flawed,
and now I just would like to hide
my eyes against Your mighty chest,
to feel Your heartbeat next to mine.
Perhaps, OK, I’ve failed a test,
but as long as I am Thine
I will rest and be content,
and not care where ego’s glory went.
Thank you, Andrew! You captured it beautifully! For me, especially the lines that talk about feeling His heartbeat next ours. I want that so much!
We really are longing to GO HOME, aren’t we?
I still have many of these books in my library. Hiding Place and Prison to Praise changed my life. My dad was saved after reading Born Again. I still read My Utmost for His Highest. So many. Plus our daughter was born in 1977. Banner year!
My seminary days so I was busy but I read most of ’em then and in the next few years. Have found “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” to be the one that’s stuck in my mind, possibly because of my preaching and teaching and funeral conducting. Thanks, Andrew, for your last poem.
Those are some of my favorites! I was so inspired after reading A Shepherd’s Look at Psalm 23 that I wrote a whole Bible study based around it called Becoming Ewe, A Woman’s Journey from You to Ewe.
This list compiled some writers whom I most look forward to meeting in heaven for a long chat while sipping on some heavenly coffee. It’s going to be so amazing to all be together and to finally experience in full the One all our words have been pointing to this whole time.
I remember many of these books and they were in my parent’s library (sadly when we were cleaning up their estate, some books got recycled, and I kept a few of them for my own library.) I was 17 in 1977 and I remember my mother reading many of the Billy Graham books and we’d have some family discussions about “what my mother read” around the family dinner table. She wasn’t a great reader, however many of those book titles were required reading for her bible study classes at church. One of the best allegory books from that era was “Hinds Feet”. I still remember that book, like I had read it yesterday! In 1996, at media scrub in Toronto (being raised Baptist and hearing Billy and Ruth Graham’s name, like they were related to my family) I was introduced to Billy Graham, and we chatted for a few minutes. Who would know that he would be known as of the greatest Christian author, speaker, and preacher of our century. I’m still reading and re-reading his books for ongoing knowledge!
I was surprised to see that I’d read almost every one of those books when they came out. Great reading material!
Like Roberta, I’ve read most of the books on that list–a far higher percentage than those that I found on a list of best selling Christian books of 2022. (Though, some, like Jesus Calling, were still on that list!). I’m not sure what this says about me. Maybe I had more time for reading back then?
Fascinated by the prolific author I had never heard of, Ann Kiemel. Couldn’t help but look up several of her books and read the Amazon reviews. Thanks Dan.
Oh, wow! I’ve actually read six of these … not including the different versions of the Bible. So wonderful!
Thanks, Dan, for this list that brought me back to some of the best-loved books I’ve read and still have on my bookshelves. Some I’ve given away over the years to friends so they could have the pleasure of good books.
Thank you for sharing, Dan. May we never forget these very impactful works on the lives of countless Christians.
Have you ever made a list of the Top Ten Books Christians Should Read, Top Twenty Books Christians Should Read?
I’m dating myself, but I remember when many of these books were published. I was a young Christian in 1977 and read several of them.