Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume our classic authors turn their words to the religion of Christianity. It’s a fascinating subject for our authors who can explore faith and belief in ways that we rarely subject ourselves to. Whatever your faith these stories raise questions and that are of interest to us all.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - Christianity - An Introduction

2 - Lazarus by Leonid Andreyev

3 - The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac

4 - The Strength of God by Sherwood Anderson

5 - God Sees The Truth But Waits by Leo Tolstoy

6 - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

7 - A Fragment of Stained Glass by D H Lawrence

8 - The Stranger of the Night by Edgar Wallace

9 - Benediction by F Scott Fitzgerald

10 - The Student by Anton Chekhov

11 - The Daughter of Pontius Pilate by Ivan Vazoff