<p>The <strong>ECPA bestseller list</strong> is the main sales chart for Christian books in the United States. Each month the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) takes the previous month's point-of-sale data from <strong>Circana BookScan</strong>, keeps only books from ECPA member publishers, and ranks them: a Top 50 plus separate lists for fiction, nonfiction, children's books, Bibles, Spanish titles and more. It measures copies sold to readers at reporting retailers, not copies printed, shipped or given away.</p>
<p>The October 2026 lists, covering September sales, were released on October 13, 2026. Two new arrivals led the Top 50: <em>The Elijah Mandate</em> by Amir Tsarfati and Tolik Piflaks, and Lysa TerKeurst's <em>Making Peace With What I Can't Control</em>. Below is how the chart is built, what it leaves out, and how to read a "bestseller" claim on a Christian book.</p>

<h2>Who makes the ECPA list</h2>
<p>ECPA is a trade association of Christian publishers. It does not count sales itself. The numbers come from Circana BookScan (formerly NPD BookScan), the sales-tracking service that much of the US book trade uses. ECPA's job is to filter that data down to its own members' books and publish the rankings.</p>
<p>That filter matters. A Christian book from a publisher that is not an ECPA member will not appear, however well it sells. And a book from a member publisher can appear even if most shops would not shelve it in a Christian section, because membership, not subject, is the test.</p>

<h2>How the ranking is built, step by step</h2>
<p>ECPA describes its method in four steps:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Receive the previous month's BookScan data.</strong> The October list reflects September sales, so the chart always runs about a month behind.</li>
<li><strong>Keep only ECPA member publishers.</strong> Everything else is removed before ranking.</li>
<li><strong>Rank the Top 50.</strong> This headline list includes adult nonfiction, fiction and adult coloring books. It leaves out children's books, Bibles and books priced under $6, which have their own lists.</li>
<li><strong>Rank the category lists.</strong> Top 25 lists cover nonfiction, fiction, juvenile, young adult, books under $6, Bibles, Bibles under $10, new releases, Spanish titles, Spanish juvenile, Spanish under $6, Spanish Bibles and Spanish Bibles under $10. A separate Top 10 ranks Bible translations by adding up sales of complete Bibles in each translation.</li>
</ol>
<p>Because Bibles have their own chart, a study Bible that outsells every book in a month still will not top the Top 50. When you see a devotional or novel at No. 1, it is No. 1 among non-Bible adult titles from member publishers.</p>

<h2>Where the sales data comes from</h2>
<p>BookScan collects point-of-sale data each week from a panel of reporting retailers. The current list published with ECPA's methodology includes Amazon.com, Barnes &amp; Noble, Books-A-Million, Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, Christianbook.com, Bookshop.org, Mardel and Deseret Book, among many others. Independent Christian stores are added through a partnership with The Parable Group, and those sales are partially weighted.</p>
<p>Some big names have dropped out over the years, and that changes what the chart can see. The same retailer list notes that Lifeway's stores stopped reporting in 2019, when the chain closed its shops, and Lifeway.com stopped reporting in mid-2024. Family Christian, once a major Christian bookstore chain, stopped in 2017. If a book sells mostly through a channel that does not report, the ECPA chart will undercount it.</p>

<h3>What about book-signing and event sales?</h3>
<p>Christian authors often sell many books at conferences, church events and tours. For years those sales were left out. ECPA now says Circana has a procedure that lets qualifying event sales count, but only if the publisher notifies Circana at least 30 days ahead, the books are sold through an approved reporting retailer, and the sales are reported in the week of the event. Books bought in bulk by an author or church and then resold do not count, because that would double-count copies. Even when the rules are followed, Circana can exclude questionable data, and in a short review window doubtful sales usually stay out.</p>

<h2>What the ECPA list does not measure</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Bulk and church orders outside reporting stores.</strong> Copies a church buys straight from a publisher for a sermon series or small groups are a big part of Christian publishing, and they generally do not show up in point-of-sale data.</li>
<li><strong>All-time totals.</strong> The list is monthly. A book's lifetime sales come from publisher announcements, not from ECPA rankings. Our list of the <a href="/blog/best-selling-christian-books-of-all-time">best-selling Christian books of all time</a> explains where those big lifetime numbers come from.</li>
<li><strong>Non-member publishers.</strong> Strong-selling Christian books from publishers outside ECPA are invisible on this chart.</li>
<li><strong>Exact copy counts.</strong> ECPA publishes rank positions, not sales figures, because the underlying numbers belong to Circana.</li>
</ul>
<p>That last point is also why we do not reprint the full lists here. ECPA states that the lists contain Circana's proprietary information and should not be copied to other websites without Circana's written consent. The official place to read them is ECPA's consumer site, <a href="https://readgoodbooks.com/bestseller/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ReadGoodBooks.com</a>, with older months archived on <a href="https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ChristianBookExpo.com</a>.</p>

<h2>ECPA list vs. the New York Times and Amazon</h2>
<p>Christian books are often promoted with more than one "bestseller" label. They measure different things:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ECPA bestseller list:</strong> monthly, ECPA member publishers only, ranked from Circana BookScan point-of-sale data. Best for comparing Christian titles with each other.</li>
<li><strong>The New York Times best sellers:</strong> weekly and open to all publishers. The Times says its rankings reflect unit sales reported confidentially by vendors, and it does not publish its full list of sources. A Christian title on the Times list is competing with every genre at once.</li>
<li><strong>Amazon Best Sellers Rank:</strong> based only on Amazon's own sales and updated hourly. A book can be "No. 1 in a category" on Amazon for a few hours after a launch or a promotion. That is a real signal of momentum, but it is not a chart position in the usual sense.</li>
</ul>
<p>A book described as a "Christian bestseller" without naming a list usually means it reached the ECPA chart. "National bestseller" or "New York Times bestseller" are stronger general-market claims. The pattern is the same in music, where the <a href="/blog/billboard-hot-christian-songs-chart-explained">Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart</a> mixes several data sources, and in film, where <a href="/blog/highest-grossing-christian-movies">box office rankings</a> depend on which grosses are counted.</p>

<h2>How to read a Christian bestseller claim</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>Ask which list.</strong> ECPA, the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly and Amazon all use different data and time frames.</li>
<li><strong>Check the month or week.</strong> "ECPA bestseller" can mean one month on the Top 50 or years on the chart. Some titles stay for a long time: on the October 2026 lists, Sarah Young's 2004 devotional <em>Jesus Calling</em> was still in the nonfiction hardcover top five.</li>
<li><strong>Look at the category.</strong> No. 1 on the Spanish, children's or under-$6 list is real, but it is a smaller pool than the Top 50.</li>
<li><strong>Separate sales from awards.</strong> Sales lists count buyers. Awards are judged by panels.</li>
</ol>

<h2>ECPA's awards are separate from the sales chart</h2>
<p>ECPA also runs the <strong>Christian Book Award</strong>, presented since 1978 to the year's best Christian books across nonfiction categories plus an overall Christian Book of the Year, and the <strong>Christy Award</strong> for Christian fiction, which announced its 2026 finalists in nine categories on September 11, 2026. Entries for the next Christian Book Awards, for titles published between October 2025 and October 2026, closed at the end of September. A book can win an award without ever reaching the bestseller list, and many top sellers never win. If you follow faith-based awards in music too, see our guide to <a href="/blog/gospel-music-awards-explained">gospel and Christian music awards</a>.</p>

<h2>Frequently asked questions</h2>
<h3>How often is the ECPA bestseller list updated?</h3>
<p>Monthly. Each list covers the previous calendar month's sales and is usually released around the middle of the following month. The October 2026 lists came out on October 13, 2026.</p>
<h3>Does the ECPA list include Bibles?</h3>
<p>Not in the Top 50. Bibles have their own Top 25 lists, including a list for Bibles under $10 and Spanish Bibles, and a Top 10 that ranks Bible translations by combined sales of complete Bibles.</p>
<h3>Why is a popular Christian book missing from the ECPA list?</h3>
<p>Usually for one of three reasons: its publisher is not an ECPA member, most copies were sold through channels that do not report to BookScan (such as direct church orders or non-qualifying event sales), or it sold well over a long period without having one strong month.</p>
<h3>Where can I see the full ECPA bestseller list?</h3>
<p>On ReadGoodBooks.com, ECPA's reader-facing site, which shows the current Top 50 and category lists. Past months are archived on ChristianBookExpo.com.</p>

<p>More rankings and chart explainers are on the <a href="/blog">ChristianRanks blog</a>.</p>
<p><em>Sources: ECPA, <a href="https://www.ecpa.org/page/BestsellersReporting" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Bestseller Reporting</a> (methodology, proprietary-data notice and event-sales rules); ChristianBookExpo.com, <a href="https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/methodology/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ECPA bestseller methodology and Circana BookScan reporting retailers</a>; ECPA, <a href="https://www.ecpa.org/news/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Industry News</a> (October 2026 lists released October 13, 2026; Christy Award 2026 finalists, September 11, 2026); ReadGoodBooks.com, <a href="https://readgoodbooks.com/bestseller/top-50/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Top 50 Bestsellers, October 2026</a>; ECPA, <a href="https://www.ecpa.org/page/cba_submissions" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Christian Book Award submission information</a>; <a href="https://christianbookawards.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Christian Book Award</a>. Checked October 27, 2026.</em></p>


How the ECPA Christian bestseller list works: monthly Circana BookScan data, member publishers only, Top 50 and category lists, and what it does not count.

ECPA Bestseller List Explained: How the Christian Book Chart Works

<p>Leave the Bible aside, which Guinness World Records puts at an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies, and the best-selling Christian books of all time are led by <strong>C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia</strong> (more than 100 million copies), the <strong>Left Behind</strong> novels (65 to 80 million) and two modern devotional giants, <strong>The Purpose Driven Life</strong> and <strong>Jesus Calling</strong>, each reported at more than 50 million. Jesus Calling is the newest name at that level: its publisher announced the 50 million milestone in January 2026.</p>
<p>Book sales are much harder to rank than box office or streaming, because nobody counts every copy. Below is our top 12, the source and caveat behind each number, the classics that are too old to measure, and how to read a sales claim before you repeat it.</p>

<h2>How we ranked these books</h2>
<p>There is no official chart for lifetime book sales. Publishers announce milestones, older figures come from historians and newspapers, and some numbers are copies <em>printed or distributed</em> rather than sold. So we used three rules:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Christian content or worldview.</strong> Books written to teach, encourage or tell a story from a Christian point of view. Tolkien's Middle-earth books are left out because they are not presented as Christian books, even though Tolkien was a devout Catholic.</li>
<li><strong>The most credible documented figure, not the most generous one.</strong> Where sources disagree we show the range and rank on the better-supported number.</li>
<li><strong>Series are marked as series.</strong> A seven-book set and a single title are not the same thing, so we say which is which.</li>
</ul>

<h2>The top 12 best-selling Christian books</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>The Chronicles of Narnia</strong> by C.S. Lewis (1950 to 1956, series of seven): more than 100 million copies in 47 languages, with some estimates near 120 million. It is Lewis's best-selling work and has been in print continuously since 1956. The first book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is the best known on its own.</li>
<li><strong>Left Behind</strong> by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (1995 to 2007, 16-book series): about 65 million copies by 2016 by one count, and more than 80 million including spin-offs according to its publisher, Tyndale House. Several volumes reached No. 1 on The New York Times list, and book 10 debuted there.</li>
<li><strong>The Purpose Driven Life</strong> by Rick Warren (2002): more than 50 million copies in all formats, according to Warren's ministry. It had sold over 18 million by 2008 and has long been promoted as one of the best-selling hardback books in US history.</li>
<li><strong>Jesus Calling</strong> by Sarah Young (2004): more than 50 million copies across the Jesus Calling brand in over 35 languages, HarperCollins Christian Publishing said on January 29, 2026. That total includes the children's and themed editions, so the single original title is lower, but it still sells millions of copies a year.</li>
<li><strong>In His Steps</strong> by Charles M. Sheldon (1896): estimates run from more than 8 million (Encyclopaedia Britannica) to over 30 million in other accounts. Its copyright was flawed from the start, so dozens of publishers printed it and nobody kept a total. The book's question, "What would Jesus do?", later became the WWJD bracelet slogan.</li>
<li><strong>Steps to Christ</strong> by Ellen G. White (1892): printed in about 160 languages. Totals of tens of millions are often quoted, but much of its circulation came through Seventh-day Adventist distribution rather than retail sales, which is why we rank it below the titles with clearer sales data.</li>
<li><strong>The Late Great Planet Earth</strong> by Hal Lindsey (1970): more than 28 million copies in 54 languages. It was the best-selling non-fiction book of the 1970s in the US and the first prophecy book from a mainstream publisher to sell on that scale.</li>
<li><strong>The Shack</strong> by William Paul Young (2007): more than 10 million copies by 2009, when it received the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Diamond award, and over 20 million in later reports. It began as a self-published novel printed for friends and family.</li>
<li><strong>The 5 Love Languages</strong> by Gary Chapman (1992): more than 20 million copies worldwide, translated into about 50 languages. Chapman is a Baptist pastor and the book grew out of his counselling work; it had spent 297 weeks on the New York Times list by 2013.</li>
<li><strong>Heaven Is for Real</strong> by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent (2010): more than 10 million copies, reaching the ECPA Diamond award in 2014. The 2014 film version earned $91.4 million at the US box office.</li>
<li><strong>The Prayer of Jabez</strong> by Bruce Wilkinson (2000): about 8 million copies in its first year alone, which made it the best-selling non-fiction book of 2001, and past 10 million by 2008.</li>
<li><strong>More Than a Carpenter</strong> by Josh McDowell (1977): more than 10 million copies, according to a widely cited Christian literary agency list. The short apologetics book has been handed out by churches and campus groups for almost 50 years.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Honourable mentions</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ</strong> by Lew Wallace (1880): by many accounts the best-selling American novel of the 19th century, though lifetime totals are disputed.</li>
<li><strong>The Power of Positive Thinking</strong> by Norman Vincent Peale (1952): more than 5 million copies and 186 weeks on the New York Times list. Peale was a minister, but the book reads more like self-help than Christian teaching.</li>
<li><strong>The Divine Comedy</strong> by Dante Alighieri (early 1300s): a Christian epic that still sells steadily in many translations, but with no meaningful lifetime total.</li>
</ul>

<h2>The classics too old to count</h2>
<p>Several books have almost certainly outsold everything above, but no reliable total exists, so ranking them next to modern titles would be guesswork:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>The Pilgrim's Progress</strong> by John Bunyan (1678). Translated into more than 200 languages and never out of print in nearly 350 years.</li>
<li><strong>The Imitation of Christ</strong> by Thomas à Kempis (around 1418). Often described as the most widely read Christian book after the Bible.</li>
<li><strong>Foxe's Book of Martyrs</strong> by John Foxe (1563) and the <strong>Book of Common Prayer</strong> (first edition 1549), both printed in countless editions for centuries.</li>
</ul>
<p>Any figure you see for these, from 100 million to 250 million, is an estimate built on other estimates.</p>

<h2>How to read a book sales claim</h2>
<p>Like the music and film charts, a book number is only as good as its source. Before quoting one, check four things:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Sold, printed or distributed?</strong> "Copies in print" counts what the publisher printed, not what readers bought. Church giveaway books can reach huge totals without being sold at all.</li>
<li><strong>One title or a brand?</strong> Jesus Calling and Left Behind totals include spin-offs, editions for children and study guides. That is fair to report, but it is not one book.</li>
<li><strong>Who measured it?</strong> Publisher announcements are usually rounded milestones. Point-of-sale data such as Circana BookScan only covers stores that report, and only since the early 2000s, so it misses older sales.</li>
<li><strong>Which awards back it up?</strong> The ECPA gives sales awards to Christian titles; its Diamond award marks 10 million copies, which is a useful independent checkpoint for books like The Shack and Heaven Is for Real.</li>
</ul>
<p>The same thinking helps with other rankings on this site. Our explainer on <a href="/blog/billboard-hot-christian-songs-chart-explained">how Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart works</a> covers song charts, and the list of <a href="/blog/highest-grossing-christian-movies">the highest-grossing Christian movies</a> shows how several of these books, including Narnia, Heaven Is for Real and The Shack, did when they reached the big screen.</p>

<h2>What the best sellers have in common</h2>
<h3>They are easy to give</h3>
<p>Devotionals like Jesus Calling, short apologetics like More Than a Carpenter and relationship books like The 5 Love Languages are bought in bulk by churches and given as gifts. A book that people buy for someone else can sell for decades.</p>
<h3>They work outside church walls</h3>
<p>Narnia, The Shack and Left Behind are stories first. Readers who would never pick up a theology book read them as novels, which is how they reached general bestseller lists and then film adaptations.</p>
<h3>They meet a moment</h3>
<p>The Late Great Planet Earth caught the 1970s interest in prophecy, The Prayer of Jabez spread through churches in 2000 and 2001, and The Purpose Driven Life arrived with a 40-day church campaign that turned whole congregations into buyers.</p>
<p>Awards are another way to follow which Christian books, songs and films are connecting right now: see our guide to <a href="/blog/gospel-music-awards-explained">the main gospel and Christian music awards</a> and the <a href="/blog/2026-dove-awards-winners-results">2026 Dove Award winners</a>.</p>

<h2>Frequently asked questions</h2>
<h3>What is the best-selling Christian book of all time?</h3>
<p>The Bible, at an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies according to Guinness World Records. After the Bible, The Chronicles of Narnia is the best-documented best seller with more than 100 million copies, while The Purpose Driven Life is among the best-selling single non-fiction titles.</p>
<h3>Has Jesus Calling sold 50 million copies?</h3>
<p>The Jesus Calling brand passed 50 million copies worldwide, HarperCollins Christian Publishing announced in January 2026. That figure covers the whole family of Jesus Calling books, not only the original 2004 devotional.</p>
<h3>Is Pilgrim's Progress the second best-selling book after the Bible?</h3>
<p>It is often described that way, and it has been translated into more than 200 languages, but no reliable sales total exists for a book first published in 1678. Treat any exact figure with caution.</p>

<p>More rankings and explainers are on the <a href="/blog">ChristianRanks blog</a>.</p>
<p><em>Sources: Guinness World Records via Wikipedia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books" rel="noopener" target="_blank">List of best-selling books</a>; HarperCollins Christian Publishing, <a href="https://www.harpercollinschristian.com/2026/01/29/jesus-calling-50-million-copies-milestone/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Jesus Calling brand surpasses 50 million copies</a> (January 29, 2026); <a href="https://www.purposedriven.com/about-pastor-rick" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Purpose Driven, About Pastor Rick</a>; NPR, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/25/487382209/tim-lahaye-evangelical-legend-behind-left-behind-series-dies-at-90" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Tim LaHaye obituary</a> (2016); Encyclopaedia Britannica, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/In-His-Steps" rel="noopener" target="_blank">In His Steps</a>; <a href="https://5lovelanguages.com/learn" rel="noopener" target="_blank">5 Love Languages</a>; Wikipedia entries for The Chronicles of Narnia, The Late Great Planet Earth, The Shack, Steps to Christ, The Prayer of Jabez and The Pilgrim's Progress; The Steve Laube Agency, <a href="https://stevelaube.com/best-selling-christian-books-time/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The best-selling Christian books of all time</a>. Checked October 26, 2026.</em></p>


The best-selling Christian books of all time, from Narnia and Left Behind to Jesus Calling (50 million in 2026): the top 12 ranked, with sources and caveats.

Best-Selling Christian Books of All Time: The Top 12 Ranked

<p>The biggest Christian movie ever at the North American box office is still <strong>The Passion of the Christ</strong>, with $370.3 million in the US and Canada after its 2004 release. Next come the first <strong>Chronicles of Narnia</strong> film ($291.7 million) and <strong>Sound of Freedom</strong> ($184.2 million). The newest name in the top ten is Angel's animated <strong>David</strong>, which opened in December 2025 and finished on $80.4 million, the best result for a faith film since 2023.</p>
<p>Those numbers come from Box Office Mojo's "Christian Theme" keyword list, the most widely used public chart for this question. Below is the top 15, what the list does and does not measure, the patterns behind the hits, and the two big releases that could reshuffle the ranking in 2027.</p>

<h2>The top 15 Christian movies at the domestic box office</h2>
<p>Lifetime gross in the US and Canada, as listed by Box Office Mojo under its Christian Theme keyword (checked October 25, 2026). Figures are not adjusted for inflation.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>The Passion of the Christ</strong> (2004, Newmarket Films): $370.3 million. Opened to $83.8 million.</li>
<li><strong>The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe</strong> (2005, Disney): $291.7 million.</li>
<li><strong>Sound of Freedom</strong> (2023, Angel): $184.2 million.</li>
<li><strong>The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian</strong> (2008, Disney): $141.6 million.</li>
<li><strong>The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</strong> (2010, 20th Century Fox): $104.4 million.</li>
<li><strong>Heaven Is for Real</strong> (2014, TriStar): $91.4 million.</li>
<li><strong>I Can Only Imagine</strong> (2018, Roadside Attractions): $83.5 million.</li>
<li><strong>David</strong> (2025, Angel): $80.4 million.</li>
<li><strong>War Room</strong> (2015, TriStar): $67.8 million.</li>
<li><strong>Miracles from Heaven</strong> (2016, TriStar): $61.7 million.</li>
<li><strong>God's Not Dead</strong> (2014, Freestyle Releasing): $60.8 million.</li>
<li><strong>The King of Kings</strong> (2025, Angel): $60.3 million.</li>
<li><strong>Son of God</strong> (2014, 20th Century Fox): $59.7 million.</li>
<li><strong>The Shack</strong> (2017, Lionsgate): $57.4 million.</li>
<li><strong>Jesus Revolution</strong> (2023, Lionsgate): $52.1 million.</li>
</ol>

<h2>How this chart works (and what it leaves out)</h2>
<p>Like any chart, this ranking is only as useful as its rules. Four things are worth knowing before you quote it.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>It is domestic only.</strong> "Lifetime gross" here means ticket sales in the US and Canada. Worldwide totals can be very different: David, for example, added about $10.7 million internationally for roughly $91.1 million worldwide.</li>
<li><strong>It is not adjusted for inflation.</strong> The 1953 Bible epic The Robe sits at $36 million on the list, which badly understates how big it was in its day. Recent films also get a lift simply from higher ticket prices.</li>
<li><strong>It depends on a keyword tag.</strong> A film is on the list because Box Office Mojo has tagged it "Christian Theme". That is why the Narnia films and Sound of Freedom appear next to Bible stories and church dramas, and why some faith-friendly films are missing. Treat it as a strong guide, not an official definition of a Christian movie.</li>
<li><strong>It counts theatre tickets, not streaming.</strong> A series released to cinemas for a few nights, or a film that goes straight to streaming, can reach far more viewers without ever ranking high here.</li>
</ul>
<p>The same caution applies to music charts: a ranking always reflects its data source and its rules. Our explainer on <a href="/blog/billboard-hot-christian-songs-chart-explained">how Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart works</a> walks through the same questions for songs.</p>

<h2>What the biggest Christian hits have in common</h2>
<h3>A story audiences already know</h3>
<p>Four of the top 15 retell the Bible directly: The Passion of the Christ, Son of God, The King of Kings and David. Three more are Narnia films, built on C.S. Lewis's Christian allegory. A familiar story is easy to explain to a church group, and it gives families a reason to go together.</p>
<h3>True stories with a personal hook</h3>
<p>Heaven Is for Real, Miracles from Heaven, I Can Only Imagine and Jesus Revolution are all based on real people. I Can Only Imagine, the story behind MercyMe's song, is the clearest example of what a well-known true story can do. It opened to $17.1 million in only 1,629 theatres in March 2018, far above expectations, and ran to $83.5 million.</p>
<h3>Church groups and long runs</h3>
<p>Faith films rarely open as big as studio blockbusters, but the best of them hold well week after week as churches book group outings. War Room opened to $11.4 million in 1,135 theatres and finished on $67.8 million. God's Not Dead opened to $9.2 million in just 780 theatres and reached $60.8 million. The Kendrick brothers' Fireproof (2008) made $33.5 million while never playing in more than 905 theatres.</p>
<h3>New distribution models</h3>
<p>Angel (Angel Studios) now has three of the top 12: Sound of Freedom, The King of Kings and David. Its releases are chosen with input from a paying member community, the Angel Guild, which also helps promote them. Whatever you think of the model, the results show up clearly on the chart.</p>

<h2>Recent results: 2024 to 2026</h2>
<p>The last two years show how uneven this market can be.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>David</strong> (December 2025) opened to $22.0 million in 3,118 theatres, the biggest opening for any film on the list since 2014, and finished on $80.4 million.</li>
<li><strong>The King of Kings</strong> (April 2025), an animated film based on Charles Dickens's telling of the life of Jesus, opened to $19.4 million and reached $60.3 million.</li>
<li><strong>The Best Christmas Pageant Ever</strong> (November 2024) took $40.0 million, and <strong>The Forge</strong> (August 2024) took $29.1 million.</li>
<li><strong>Homestead</strong> ($20.8 million), <strong>Unsung Hero</strong> ($20.3 million), <strong>Cabrini</strong> ($19.5 million) and <strong>Ordinary Angels</strong> ($19.2 million) all landed around the $20 million mark in 2024.</li>
<li><strong>Sarah's Oil</strong> (November 2025, Amazon MGM Studios) made $11.7 million.</li>
<li><strong>I Can Only Imagine 2</strong> (February 2026) is the cautionary tale. It opened wider than the original, in 3,105 theatres, but took $7.75 million in its first weekend and finished on $18.6 million in the US and Canada, against a reported $18 million budget. The 2018 original made more than four times as much.</li>
</ul>
<p>The lesson in the numbers: a sequel or a famous brand helps, but the films that climb this list are the ones church audiences recommend to each other for weeks after opening.</p>

<figure class="yt-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uv9V3dk98PM" title="DAVID | Official Trailer | Now Streaming | Angel" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe><figcaption>Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv9V3dk98PM" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">DAVID | Official Trailer | Now Streaming | Angel</a> by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AngelStudiosInc" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Angel</a> (YouTube)</figcaption></figure>

<h2>What could change the ranking next</h2>
<p>Two 2027 releases have a realistic chance of moving into the upper half of the list.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Narnia: The Magician's Nephew</strong>, Greta Gerwig's Netflix adaptation of C.S. Lewis, moved from a Thanksgiving 2026 IMAX plan to a wide theatrical release on February 12, 2027, with IMAX sneak previews from February 10, before it reaches Netflix on April 2, 2027. The three earlier Narnia films already sit at #2, #4 and #5.</li>
<li><strong>The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One</strong>, Mel Gibson's follow-up to The Passion of the Christ, is dated for May 6, 2027 (Ascension Day) by Lionsgate. It is the most direct challenger to the #1 spot the genre has had in two decades.</li>
</ul>
<p>Whether either one counts on this particular chart will depend on how Box Office Mojo tags it, which is one more reason to read rankings with their rules in mind.</p>

<h2>How to check a film's box office yourself</h2>
<ol>
<li>Search the title on <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genre/sg3923767553/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Box Office Mojo</a> or The Numbers. The title page shows the opening weekend, the widest release (most theatres) and domestic, international and worldwide totals.</li>
<li>Remember that weekend figures published on Sunday are studio estimates. Actual numbers usually follow on Monday and can move up or down.</li>
<li>Compare like with like: opening weekend against the number of theatres, and lifetime gross against the budget where it is reported.</li>
</ol>
<p>Awards are another way to see which faith films connect with audiences. Our guide to <a href="/blog/gospel-music-awards-explained">the main gospel and Christian music awards</a> explains how the Dove and K-LOVE Fan Awards also honour films, and the <a href="/blog/2026-dove-awards-winners-results">2026 Dove Award winners</a> list has this year's results.</p>

<h2>Frequently asked questions</h2>
<h3>What is the highest-grossing Christian movie of all time?</h3>
<p>The Passion of the Christ (2004). It earned $370.3 million in the US and Canada, more than any other film on Box Office Mojo's Christian Theme list.</p>
<h3>What is the most successful Christian movie of the 2020s?</h3>
<p>Sound of Freedom (2023) at $184.2 million domestic, if you count it as a Christian film as Box Office Mojo does. Among Bible stories, David (2025) leads with $80.4 million.</p>
<h3>How much did I Can Only Imagine 2 make?</h3>
<p>About $18.6 million in the US and Canada and $18.7 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, compared with $83.5 million domestic for the 2018 original.</p>
<h3>Are these box office numbers adjusted for inflation?</h3>
<p>No. They are the actual ticket sales recorded at the time, so older films such as The Robe (1953) look much smaller than they really were.</p>

<p>More rankings and explainers are on the <a href="/blog">ChristianRanks blog</a>.</p>
<p><em>Sources: Box Office Mojo, <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genre/sg3923767553/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Genre Keyword: Christian Theme</a>, <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt34888646/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">I Can Only Imagine 2</a> and <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1710063617/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">David</a>; Variety, <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/greta-gerwig-narnia-netflix-release-date-1236735796/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Greta Gerwig's Narnia moves to 2027</a> (May 1, 2026); IMDb, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5795232/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One</a>. Checked October 25, 2026.</em></p>


The highest-grossing Christian movies at the US box office, from The Passion of the Christ to David (2025): the top 15, how the chart works and 2027 contenders.

ChristianRanks

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