Christian coffee table books: seven about Jesus, compared

The Christian coffee table books worth keeping tell the life of Jesus in pictures you want to leave open. Some come from one painter, as James Tissot's 350 watercolors do, some gather many, as Pierre-Marie Dumont's Jesus in Art and Literature does, and others use photographs, like Michael Belk's Journeys with the Messiah, or art made for every scene, like the CHRIST book.

We made the CHRIST book, so it is our pick, and below we make the case for it plainly. The other six are described from their publishers' and museums' own details, with the reader each one suits, so you can weigh that case fairly.

How we compared them

We compared the art, the words beside it, the length and the reader each book suits. Every detail comes from the publishers' own descriptions, with a library record and museum records for the two oldest. We left out prices and ratings, which change.

The CHRIST book is ours, so we have put it first and argued for it. The facts on the other six are there for you to test that argument against.

Which Christian coffee table books tell the life of Jesus?

Seven Christian coffee table books tell the life of Jesus for adults: the CHRIST book, Tissot's Life of Christ, Dumont's Jesus in Art and Literature, Grubb's The Life of Christ in Art, Timmons' Come… Meet Jesus, Doares' Immanuel, God With Us and Belk's Journeys with the Messiah. They differ most in their art and in the words beside it.

Book	The art	Beside the art	Length	Suits
The CHRIST book by Mercy & Light (ours)	more than 200 illustrations made for the book	Selected King James passages, each scene's passage named	about 300 pages	One book to keep out at home, or to give
Life of Christ, James Tissot	350 watercolors made 1886-1894	Varies by edition	Varies by edition	Lovers of the classic illustrated life
Jesus in Art and Literature, Pierre-Marie Dumont (2022)	150 color illustrations, early Christian to modern	Bible passages, literature and commentary	288 pages	Readers who enjoy art history
The Life of Christ in Art, Nancy Grubb (1996)	Works of art showing his life	Grubb's text	144 pages	A shorter survey
Come… Meet Jesus, Rich Timmons	67 paintings by many artists	Passages from the four Gospels	154 pages	Slow reading, alone or in a group
Immanuel, God With Us, Robert Doares (1994)	50 illustrations and 4 paintings by one artist	Doares' own text	128 pages	A family shelf
Journeys with the Messiah, Michael Belk	45 sepia photographs	A message with each photograph	108 pages	People who love photography

Why is the CHRIST book our pick?

Because CHRIST, Mercy & Light's art book of the life of Jesus, was made for the place a book like this ends up: open on a table at home, picked up for a few minutes at a time until the day it is given away. These are the reasons we would choose it.

Art made for every scene. Every one of its more than 200 illustrations was made for this book, so the life of Jesus keeps one look from the Nativity in Luke 2 to the Resurrection in Matthew 28, and the scenes follow the order the Gospels tell them.

The King James text, checked. Each illustration names the passage it shows. The verses printed beside the art come from the King James Version and were checked word for word against three independent sources, so what you read is what the King James Bible says.

Made to lie open. The CHRIST book is a clothbound hardcover with a thread-sewn binding that opens flat, printed on heavyweight matte art paper, and it measures nearly 10 × 13 inches. A spread stays open on the coffee table while you look, and matte paper keeps lamplight from glaring off the pictures. We go through how the book is bound, printed and checked in more detail elsewhere.

Made to be given. A dedication page at the front leaves lines for "This book belongs to" and "Given with love by", so the gift carries a few words in your own hand.

Easy to return to. Each scene stands on its own, so one spread is a complete visit on a busy morning, and the next is waiting tomorrow.

We would sooner you buy the right book than ours, so where another one suits you better, the guide below says so plainly. The CHRIST book sits with the rest of our books for the home.

Which books gather the great paintings?

Three of these books gather work by many artists, so you see the life of Jesus the way the centuries have painted it.

Jesus in Art and Literature by Pierre-Marie Dumont: for art history with commentary

Pierre-Marie Dumont calls his 2022 book a visual biography. Its 150 color illustrations run from early Christian art to modern works, Rembrandt's Resurrection of Lazarus and Rodin's The Hand of God among them, and each sits beside passages from the Bible and from writers such as Pascal and Tolstoy, which the book compares and discusses.

At 288 pages it reads as much as it shows. It suits someone who likes to know why a painting looks the way it does, and who enjoys a long evening with one chapter.

The Life of Christ in Art by Nancy Grubb: for a shorter survey

Nancy Grubb's book, published in 1996, tells the life of Christ through works of art in 144 illustrated pages, about half the length of Dumont's. It suits a reader who wants a shorter survey of how artists have shown him.

Come… Meet Jesus by Rich Timmons: for reading slowly, alone or with friends

Rich Timmons sets 67 paintings, by artists from Giotto and Grünewald to Tissot and Chagall, beside passages from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The story runs from the announcement of his birth through his ministry, the Passion and the Resurrection to his promised return, across 154 pages.

A free discussion guide on the book's own site makes it easy to use with a book club or a small group, a page or two each week.

Which books are one artist's vision?

These three are each the work of a single artist, so each keeps one voice from its first page to its last.

James Tissot's Life of Christ: for one painter's classic telling

The French painter James Tissot traveled to the Holy Land in 1886 and again in 1889 to study its places and people, then painted the life of Christ scene by scene: 350 works in opaque watercolor, made between 1886 and 1894. They drew crowds when they were first shown in Paris in 1894 and appeared as books in 1896 and 1897. The series now belongs to the Brooklyn Museum, which bought it by public subscription in 1900.

Modern editions reproduce some or all of the pictures, with different amounts of text, so look inside an edition before you buy one. If the places matter to you as they mattered to Tissot, our guide to where Jesus lived, with a map follows them town by town.

Immanuel, God With Us by Robert Doares: for a family shelf

Crossway's Immanuel, God With Us: The Life of Christ in Art holds fifty illustrations and four paintings by Robert Doares, who also wrote the text beside them. Each is a detailed re-creation of an event in Jesus' life, and together they follow his life, ministry, death and resurrection across 128 pages.

It was published in 1994, and its publisher describes it as a fine-art book for all ages. That makes it an easy book to share across generations, opened on a grandparent's lap.

Journeys with the Messiah by Michael Belk: for photography

Michael Belk conceived the project in 2008 and photographed it in Matera, Italy, where a first-century Jesus meets twenty-first-century characters. The coffee table book gathers 45 of the photographs in their original sepia, each paired with the message it depicts, in a linen-covered volume of 108 pages.

It suits someone who is moved by photography, or by seeing the Gospel meet modern life.

Which of the seven should you choose?

Choose by the art you want to live with, because you will look at it far more often than you read it.

• For one book to keep out at home and to give, choose the CHRIST book. It is ours, and it is the one we would put on our own coffee table.
• For one painter's classic scenes, studied in the Holy Land, choose Tissot.
• For the great paintings and their stories, choose Dumont, or Grubb for a shorter survey. Choose Timmons to read with others.
• For grandparents and grandchildren to share, Crossway made Immanuel for all ages.
• If photography moves you most, choose Belk.
• If you want whole books of the Bible set beside photography, our side-by-side of Alabaster's Bible books and ours covers that choice.

Giving one as a gift? Think about where it will live. A book left on a coffee table is opened by whoever sits down beside it, which is part of its quiet work. For the person you have in mind, see our Christian Christmas gift ideas by person and Christian books for women by season.

What should you look for in an illustrated life?

Look past the cover to the way the book works in a room. A large book that lies open by itself, on paper without glare, is one people actually leaf through; a book that snaps shut goes back on the shelf.

Then read the words. Scripture beside the art lets the picture and the passage explain each other, and a book that keeps the Gospels' order can be read straight through as well as opened anywhere. The copyright page tells you which translation it quotes.

If you want that order laid out, our life of Christ in order, event by event walks through it, and our guide to the most famous paintings of Jesus tells the stories behind the masterpieces these books draw on. For books about Jesus beyond picture books, see our guide to the best books about Jesus.

Frequently asked

What is the best illustrated book about the life of Jesus?

For a book to keep out at home, our pick is CHRIST, Mercy & Light's art book of the life of Jesus: art made for each scene beside the King James text, from the Nativity to the Resurrection. We made it, so weigh that. For one painter's classic telling, look at Tissot's Life of Christ, and for the great paintings with commentary, Dumont's Jesus in Art and Literature.

Is there an illustrated life of Jesus for adults, like a museum art book?

Yes. Dumont's Jesus in Art and Literature gathers works from early Christian to modern art, and editions of Tissot's Life of Christ reproduce his 350 watercolors. CHRIST, Mercy & Light's art book of the life of Jesus, is a large clothbound volume of illustrations made for each scene, with the King James text beside them.

Which of these books use the King James Version?

The CHRIST book prints its passages from the King James Version. For the others, check the copyright page of the edition you are considering, where publishers name the translation they quote.

Are any of these books suitable for children?

Crossway describes Immanuel, God With Us as a fine-art book for all ages. The CHRIST book was made for adults, but its pictures and short King James passages are easy to share with a child sitting beside you.

What makes a good Christian coffee table book?

A good Christian coffee table book is one people pick up: large enough to lie open on its own, on paper without glare, with art worth looking at again and Scripture beside it. It should be built to last, because a book that stays out gets handled every day, and it should suit the room it lives in.

Is the CHRIST book a Bible?

No. The CHRIST book is an art book of the life of Jesus: illustrations beside selected passages from the King James Version, from the Nativity to the Resurrection. Keep a Bible for the full text, and keep the book where the story can be seen.

Kept where it can be opened

Whichever book you choose, keep it where a hand will find it. These stories were always meant to be seen.

Passages cited: Luke 2; Matthew 28