Christian Books on Grief and Death: 15 Classics for the Grieving
If someone you love has just died, start with S. D. Gordon's A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep. It takes about an hour to read, and it is written for the first raw weeks, when you can't take in much. F. B. Meyer's Peace, Perfect Peace is just as short and just as gentle. If you have lost a child, go to John Flavel's A Token for Mourners or Theodore Cuyler's The Empty Crib, both written by fathers who had been through it.
The old Christian writers did not tell grieving people to stop crying. They knew Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. What they did was put the grief inside a bigger story. Christ is with you in it. He has been through death and come out the other side. Those who died in Him are with Him now, and they will rise. And the God who allowed the loss is still good, still wise and still your Father. Many of these books were written by pastors who buried their own wives and children, and you can hear it.
Here are fifteen of the best in TheWay Library, all free to read. Choose by where you are.
For the first days
1. A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep, by S. D. Gordon
Seven short, fireside chapters for the heartbroken. Gordon reminds you that Someone is beside you, that Christ's broken heart can mend yours, and that those who have gone are with the Lord.
Since the heart of our Lord Jesus broke, our breaking hearts can be repaired.
A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep, chapter 2
Read A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep.
2. Peace, Perfect Peace, by F. B. Meyer
Four chapters: the peace God gives to those who trust Him, how to bear sorrow, where the blessed dead are now, and how God comforts us so we can comfort others.
Where they were we are; and, by God's grace, where they are we shall be.
Peace, Perfect Peace, chapter 2
3. God's Light on Dark Clouds, by Theodore L. Cuyler
Twenty-two very short chapters that Cuyler wrote in his own bereavement: trusting God in the dark, living one day at a time, the everlasting arms, and hope at the grave of those asleep in Jesus. Good for reading one page before sleep.
The real victory of faith is to trust God in the dark and through the dark.
God's Light on Dark Clouds, Trusting God in the Dark
Read God's Light on Dark Clouds.
4. The Shepherd Psalm, by F. B. Meyer
Psalm 23, taken phrase by phrase. The chapter on the valley of the shadow of death is the one most mourners turn to, but the whole book is comfort: still waters, the restored soul, the table, the house of the Lord for ever. Read The Shepherd Psalm.
5. Christ Ever with You, by Octavius Winslow
A small book on Christ's promise, "Lo, I am with you alway." Winslow shows Christ present with His people in service, suffering, loneliness, bereavement, sickness and death. Read chapter 10, on bereavement, first. Read Christ Ever with You.
When you have lost a child
6. A Token for Mourners, by John Flavel
A Puritan pastor's book for parents grieving a child, built on Christ's words to the widow of Nain, "Weep not." Flavel knew this sorrow himself. He doesn't forbid tears. He shows when grief starts to crush us and pull us away from God, and he gives reasons and remedies drawn from God's goodness, the child's safety in His hands and the hope of the resurrection.
There is no sin in complaining to God, but much wickedness in complaining of him.
A Token for Mourners
7. The Empty Crib, by Theodore L. Cuyler
Cuyler's memorial of his little son Georgie, written for the many friends who sent condolences. A tender account of the boy is followed by short meditations on trial, quietness before God, the salvation of children and children in heaven, with poems for bereaved parents. Read The Empty Crib.
8. Submission to Divine Providence in the Death of Children, by Philip Doddridge
The sermon Doddridge preached after his own young daughter died, on the Shunammite mother who said "It is well." It is short, and the postscript, where he remembers her, is hard to read without tears. Read Doddridge's sermon.
When you have lost a husband or wife
9. The Widow Directed to the Widow's God, by John Angell James
When it came out, this was said to be the only book written especially for widows. James offers sympathy first, then counsel on submission and trust, the comforts God gives, the widows of the Bible, and letters to and from widows.
The abstinence from murmuring and repining words, then, is not submission, unless the heart be still.
The Widow Directed to the Widow's God, Part I: Submission
Read The Widow Directed to the Widow's God.
Where are they now? Books on death and what follows
10. Quiet Talks About Life After Death, by S. D. Gordon
Plain answers to the questions people ask at a funeral: what we can know about believers who have died, what death is, whether we can talk to the dead (Gordon warns firmly against spiritualism), and whether there is a second chance after death. Read Quiet Talks About Life After Death.
11. Christus Consolator, by H. C. G. Moule
Bishop Moule wrote this during the First World War for families who had lost sons. He faces the mystery of suffering honestly, then points to Christ the Sufferer, to the departed as being with Christ, and to reunion at His coming.
Beyond the shadow there is not less life but more.
Christus Consolator, chapter 10
12. Heaven: A Place, a City, a Home, by E. M. Bounds
Bounds insists that heaven is a real place, then writes of it as a kingdom, an inheritance and a home. Chapter 17, on meeting again those who have gone before, is the one to read first. See also our guide to E. M. Bounds' books. Read Heaven: A Place, a City, a Home.
13. The Dying Thoughts of Richard Baxter
The great Puritan's meditations as he faced his own death, on Paul's words "to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." Baxter weighs what is still good in this life, then why being with Christ is better still. It is a calm book, good for anyone who is dying or sitting with someone who is.
Perfect joyful complacency in God is the heaven which I desire and hope for.
The Dying Thoughts of Richard Baxter, chapter 4
For the longer road
14. The Night of Weeping and The Morning of Joy, by Horatius Bonar
Two companion books on Psalm 30:5, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." The Night of Weeping explains why God lets His children suffer and what He is doing through it. The Morning of Joy turns to the morning to come: Christ's resurrection, victory over death, the reunion of God's family and the presence of the Lord.
For every night God has provided a morning, so that as we have many nights, we have also many mornings even here.
The Morning of Joy, chapter 3
15. Memories of Bethany, by John R. Macduff
Meditations on the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, taken scene by scene through the sickness, death and raising of Lazarus. The chapters on the weeping Saviour and "Lazarus, come forth" have comforted mourners for generations. Read Memories of Bethany.
A word on reading while grieving
Grief makes reading hard. Don't try to finish anything. Read a chapter, or a page, and stop. The short books above, Gordon, Meyer and Cuyler, were written to be read that way. Later, when you can think again, Bonar, Baxter and Flavel will give you more to stand on.
If you like the older Puritan writers, our guide to the best Puritan books has more. You can find more of these authors' books on their pages: S. D. Gordon, F. B. Meyer and John Flavel.