Book Covers Hall of Shame - Word and Spirit

I’ve achieved something of a milestone this week. At Stoneleigh Bible Week in 1999 Terry Virgo recommended two books: The NICNT Commentary on Philippians by Gordon Fee, and Jesus and the Victory of God by N T Wright. I bought Philippians first and that took me over a year to read. Last summer I bought Jesus and the Victory of God. Both were outstanding books, but there is one problem: they have dreadful front covers.

Now I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover - but these books look boring. If by any chance you are a theological book cover designer please take note. Not everyone appreciates ancient religious art. I’m embarrassed to have these books on my desk at work when I’m reading through them.

I could give many examples of awesome books that have dreadful covers. Here I will show the worst three offenders. I don’t mind if a bad book has a bad cover - but these are really worth reading.

1. Jesus and the Victory of God - N T Wright

N T Wright paints a historically credible picture of Jesus - unlike this painter:

Just Around the Vicars on the Green book cover

2. NICNT Philippians - Gordon Fee

I have no idea what is supposed to be happening here:

Philippians book cover

Let the Nations be Glad - John Piper

This challenging and life changing book just looks cheap and cheerful:

Let the Nations Be Glad book cover

Jeremy Pierce 19 January 2005

My Piper book has a nice cover. Some may be offended by the colors of green it uses, but I like the design. This version of it is pretty downright awful. I never thought about the pictures on the NIC volumes. I like the colors, so I like the covers. The same is true with the first two Wright books in that series. I don't like the colors on the third one.