Best Christian Books on the Person of Christ: 11 Classics on Jesus
If you want one warm, readable book on who Jesus is, start with S. D. Gordon's Quiet Talks About Jesus. If you want the story of His life laid out clearly, read James Stalker's The Life of Jesus Christ, which takes about four hours. If you want the deepest book in the library on the subject, it is John Owen's The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ.
The classic writers all asked the question Jesus asked Peter: "Whom say ye that I am?" And they gave Peter's answer: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus is truly God, the eternal Son, and truly man, born of Mary, one person forever. He is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the only Mediator between God and men, and the One who will come again to judge. They did not treat this as dry doctrine. To know who He is, they said, is to love Him, trust Him and want to be like Him.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9
Here are eleven of the best books on the person of Christ in TheWay Library, all free to read.
Start here
1. Quiet Talks About Jesus, by S. D. Gordon
Gordon says he has no theory to fit Jesus into, only what the Bible tells. He explains why Jesus came, traces God's plan for a King and a kingdom, follows the growing hostility that led to the cross, and walks through the great moments of His life: the Jordan, the wilderness, the Transfiguration, Gethsemane, Calvary and the resurrection.
Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that man can understand.
Quiet Talks About Jesus, The Purpose in Jesus' Coming
See our guide to S. D. Gordon's books. Read Quiet Talks About Jesus.
2. The Life of Jesus Christ, by James Stalker
A compact life of Christ written as a handbook for Bible classes. Stalker covers the birth and the quiet years at Nazareth, the world Jesus was born into, and the three years of ministry, which he calls the year of obscurity, the year of public favor and the year of opposition, then the end. It is still one of the best short overviews of the Gospels.
But the centre and soul of His preaching was Himself.
The Life of Jesus Christ, chapter 4
See our guide to James Stalker's books. Read The Life of Jesus Christ.
3. From Manger to Throne, by T. De Witt Talmage
A popular life of Christ in forty chapters, written after Talmage traveled through the Holy Land, and full of what he saw there. He tells the story from Herod's court and the manger to the cross and the ascension, and ends with one word for why Christ died: substitution.
The principle is the dominant one in our religion — Christ the Martyr, Christ the celestial Hero, Christ the Defender, Christ the Substitute.
From Manger to Throne, Conclusion
Who He is
4. The Christ of God, by Horatius Bonar
Bonar builds the book on Peter's confession in Luke 9:20. He shows the Christ in God's eternal purpose, the fullness of His names, Israel's promised Messiah in the New Testament, and what follows if Jesus of Nazareth really is the Christ.
Yes; if Jesus of Nazareth be the Christ of God, then is He the propitiation for our sins, — the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
The Christ of God, chapter 5
See our guide to Horatius Bonar's books. Read The Christ of God.
5. The Lord from Heaven, by Sir Robert Anderson
A short Bible study on the deity of Christ, first written for missionaries whose faith was being shaken. Anderson studies what "son" means in Scripture, the titles Son of Man and Son of God, and then the way each New Testament writer speaks of Christ.
If, for example, we let go the Deity of Christ, which is the foundation truth of Christianity, the doctrine of the Atonement is destroyed.
The Lord from Heaven, Preface to the Second Edition
For more on this, read what The Fundamentals taught about the deity of Christ. Read The Lord from Heaven.
6. The Christology of Jesus, by James Stalker
What did Jesus say about Himself? Stalker answers from the Gospels, title by title: the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer and the Judge. He shows that you cannot keep Jesus' teaching about life and throw out His teaching about who He is.
Evidently the Son is above not only men but angels, and knows more than they.
The Christology of Jesus, chapter 3
Read The Christology of Jesus.
7. The Crises of the Christ, by G. Campbell Morgan
Morgan studies the seven turning points of Christ's mission: His birth, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Each crisis is examined from several sides. It is a big book, but the plan is clear and every part rewards slow reading.
In all the works of God there is to be discovered an unvarying method of process and crisis.
The Crises of the Christ, Introductory
See our guide to G. Campbell Morgan's books. Read The Crises of the Christ.
For worship and devotion
8. The Lord of Glory, by Arno C. Gaebelein
About thirty short meditations on the names and glory of Christ, first printed on the front pages of Gaebelein's magazine. Read one a day: the Lord of Glory, the Firstborn, the Wonderful, Psalm 22, the waiting Christ.
Not a creature but the Creator, the one who images forth God, because He is God.
The Lord of Glory, The Firstborn
9. Colossians and Philemon, by Alexander Maclaren
No letter in the New Testament lifts up Christ like Colossians, and Maclaren is the best guide to it in the library. Read chapter 5, on the glory of the Son in His relation to the Father, the universe and the church, then keep going. See our guide to Alexander Maclaren's books. Read Maclaren on Colossians.
Go deeper
10. The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ, by John Owen
The great Puritan's study of Christ's person, joined in this edition with his Meditations on the Glory of Christ. Owen begins with Peter's confession and the church built on Christ, then writes of faith in Him, love to Him, obedience to Him and the union of His two natures. The second work compares seeing His glory now by faith with seeing it in heaven by sight. Slow going, and worth every page.
For love proceeding from sight, is the life of the church above; as love proceeding from faith is the life of the church below.
The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ, chapter 12
See also the best Puritan books. Read The Glorious Mystery.
11. Imago Christi, by James Stalker
Knowing who Christ is leads to wanting to be like Him. Stalker's book shows the example of Jesus in every part of ordinary life: in the home, in the state, in the church, as a friend, a man of prayer, a student of Scripture, a worker and a winner of souls.
The Jews expected the Messiah to be a prince; but God decreed that He should be born a working man.
Imago Christi, chapter 9
Where to start
Read Gordon first, then Stalker's Life. When you want to go further, read Bonar and Anderson on who He is, and Morgan on what He did. Save Owen for when you are ready to read slowly, and read it with a pencil.
For His work on the cross, see our guides to the best books on the cross and the best books on the atonement. For His rising from the dead, see the best books on the resurrection. For His coming again, see the best books on the second coming.