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

1. A SHEPHERD LOOKS AT PSALM 23, by W. Phillip Keller (Zondervan)
2. NORMA, by Norma Zimmer (Tyndale)
3. HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE, by Francis A. Schaeffer (Revell)
4. JONI, by Joni Eareckson (Zondervan)
5. ANGELS: GOD’S SECRET AGENTS, by Billy Graham (Doubleday)
6. HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN, by Billy Graham (Word Books)
7. I LOVE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
8. MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, by Oswald Chambers (Dodd, Mead)
9. WHAT WIVES WISH THEIR HUSBANDS KNEW ABOUT WOMEN, by James Dobson (Tyndale)
10. TESTED BY FIRE, by Merrill and Virginia Womack (Revell)
11. BORN AGAIN, by Charles W. Colson (Chosen/Revell)
12. IT’S INCREDIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
13. ON BEING A CHRISTIAN, by Hans King (Doubleday)
14. EACH NEW DAY, by Corrie ten Boom (Revell)
15. WHAT IS A FAMILY, Edith Schaeffer (Revell)

Paperback Christian Book Bestsellers of 1977

1. JONI, by Joni Eareckson and Joe Musser (World Wide)
2. BORN AGAIN, Charles W. Colson (Spire)
3. MERE CHRISTIANITY, by C.S. Lewis (Macmillan)
4. ACT OF MARRIAGE, by Tim and Beverly LaHaye (Zondervan)
5. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN PRAY, by Evelyn Christenson (Victor)
6. NORMA, by Norma Zimmer (Tyndale)
7. I’M OUT TO CHANGE MY WORLD, by Ann Kiemel (Impact Books)
8. THE LATE, GREAT PLANET EARTH, by Hal Lindsey & C.C. Carlson (Zondervan)
9.  PRISON TO PRAISE, by Merlin Carothers (Logos)
10. GOD CALLING, by A.J. Russell (Spire)
11. HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES, by Hannah Hurnard (Tyndale)
12. LIFE AFTER LIFE, by Raymond A. Moody Jr. (Bantam)
13. HOW TO LIVE LIKE A KING’S KID, by Harold Hill (Logos)
14. I LOVE THE WORD IMPOSSIBLE, by Ann Kiemel (Tyndale)
15. THE HIDING PLACE, by Corrie ten Boom (Spire)

Bestselling Bibles of 1977

1. THE LIVING BIBLE, paraphrased by Kenneth N. Taylor (Tyndale)
2. THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (Collins World, Moody and Nelson)
3. GOOD NEWS BIBLE (American Bible Society, Collins World and Nelson)
4. NEW SCOFIELD REFERENCE BIBLE, edited by C.I. Scofield (Oxford Univ. Press)
5. THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT (Zondervan)
6. THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, edited by Alexander Jones (Doubleday)
7. THE NEW CHAIN-REFERENCE BIBLE, by Frank Charles Thompson (Kirkbride)
8. 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)