After a search across the internet for the most influential texts in Christian history came up empty, I decided to create my own.  It is admittedly biased toward western, evangelical, Protestant books with a skew toward more recent publications.  I define influential based on the number of people impacted, its prevalence and persistence as a key seminary text or its consideration as foundational to a specific denomination.  I’m sure there are a lot of gaps on the list, so I’d love your ideas for how to improve the it.  It’s ordered by date and includes texts such as creeds and Bible translations.

• The Didiche (~100)
• Against Heresies (180) – Irenaeus
• On the Incarnation (318) – Athanasius
• Nicean Creed (325)
• Codex Sinaiticus (mid-300s)
• Life of Antony (360) – Athanasius
• Confessions (400) – Augustine
• Latin Vulgate (405) – Jerome
• City of God (413-426) – Augustine
• Creed of Chacedon (451)
• The Rule of St Benedict (530) – Benedict
• The Philokalia (400-1500) – Various
• On Loving God (1128) – Bernard
• Book of Sentences (1150) – Peter Lombard
• Summa Theoligica (1272) – Thomas Aquinas
• Revelations of Love – Julian of Norwich
• Imitation of Christ (1418-1427) – Thomas a Kempis
• Gutenberg Bible (1456)
• 95 Theses (1517) – Martin Luther
• Bondage of the Will (1525) – Martin Luther
• German Bible translation (1522, 1534) – Martin Luther
• Commentary on Galatians (1535) – Luther
• Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) – John Calvin
• The Divine Comedy (1555) – Dante Alighieri
• Acts and Monuments (aka Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) (1563) – John Fox
• Dark Night of the Soul (1584) – John of the Cross
• Spiritual Exercises (1522-1524) – Ignatius
• Common Book of Prayer (1549) – Thomas Cranmer
• Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
• King James Bible (1611)
• Westminster Confession (1646)
• Death of Death (1647) – John Owen
• Reformed Pastor (1657) – Richard Baxter
• Paradise Lost (1667) – John Milton
• Pensees (1669) – Blaise Pascal
• Pia Desideria (1675) – Philip Jacob Spener
• Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) – John Bunyan
• Institutes of Elenctic Theology (1679-1685) – Francis Turretin
• Attributes of God (1682) – Stephen Charnock
• New England Primer (1687)
• Body of Divinity (1692) – Thomas Watson
• Practice of the Presence of God (~1700) – Brother Lawrence/Joseph de Beaufont
• Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707) – Isaac Watts
• Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1728) – William Law
• Religious Affections (1746) – Jonathan Edwards
• Diary of David Brainerd (1749) – Jonathan Edwards
• Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1766) – John Wesley
• Lectures on Revival (1835) – Charles Finney
• Missionary Travels (1857) – David Livingstone
• Holiness (1877) – JC Ryle
• Systematic Theology (1871) – Charles Hodge
• Diary of George Muller – George Muller
• In His Steps (1897) – Charles Sheldon
• Lectures on Calvinism (1898) – Abraham Kuyper
• Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906) – Albert Schweitzer
• Orthodoxy (1908) – GK Chesterton
• The Scofield Study Bible (1909) – Cyrus Scofield
• The Fundamentals (1910-1915) – RA Torrey
• Christianity and Liberalism (1923) – J Gresham Machen
• My Utmost for His Highest (1924) – Oswald Chambers
• Church Dogmatics (1932 – 1967) – Karl Barth
• Cost of Discipleship (1937) – Dietrich Bonheoffer
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) – CS Lewis
• Christ and Culture (1951) – Richard Neibuhr
• Mere Christianity (1952) – CS Lewis
• Late Great Planet Earth (1970) – Hal Lindsey
• Knowing God (1973) – JI Packer
• The Celebration of Discipline (1978) – Richard Foster
• Desiring God (1986) – John Piper
• The Purpose Driven Life (2002) – Rick Warren

The list is compiled from a variety of sources, but one of the most interesting is this bake off for the best Christian book of all-time

For a list of the top 100 events in Christian history, look through this issue of Christian History magazine.