Bible vs Mere Christianity: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Theology, History
Bible
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
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The purpose of The Original African Heritage Study Bible is to interpret the Bible as it relates specifically to persons of African descent and thereby to foster an appreciation of the multiculturalism inherent in the…
Mere Christianity
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says”
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First broadcast as informal radio "talks" and later published as three separate books, The Case for Christianity, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality are presented together in Mere Christianity. In his…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Bible highest: Bible 4.6 · Mere Christianity 4.4.
- Mere Christianity is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 23 for Bible.
- Mere Christianity has the widest readership — 472094 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Bible | Mere Christianity | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.6 (99903) | 4.4 (472094) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (26) | 4.5 (374) |
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Reception
| Bible | Mere Christianity | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 99903 | 472094 |
| Editions | 6107 | 109 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 25049 | 366174 |
| Reading it now | 39401 | 36239 |
| Written reviews | 3939 | 16870 |
| Wikipedia attention | 61541 | 9857 |
| Pages | 1284 | 141 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Bible or Mere Christianity?
Bible has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Bible 4.6/5, Mere Christianity 4.4/5).
Which is shorter to read: Bible or Mere Christianity?
Mere Christianity is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Mere Christianity (141 pages, ≈ 2 h 37 m); Bible (1284 pages, ≈ 23 h 47 m).
Which is harder to read: Bible or Mere Christianity?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Bible: Demanding; Mere Christianity: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Bible: 3 film adaptations; Mere Christianity: no film adaptation on record.