Recommended Reading

Several weeks, OK, months ago, I sent out some emails to a few of my professors asking them to list the books that were most influential in their lives. I am going to try to consolidate the list into a single reference, and I will try to indicate who recommended each book. Here goes:

Books Recommended by More Than One Professor

• A Theology of the New Testament by George Eldon Ladd and Donald A. Hagner (Schreiner, Ware)
• Desiring God by John Piper (Ware, Haykin)
• Knowing God by J. I. Packer (Allison, Ware)
• Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Allison, Haykin)
• Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings edited by Timothy Lull (Allison, Plummer)

Everything Else

• A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D. A. Carson (Plummer)
• The Apostolic Fathers (Allison)
• Baptists and the Bible by Tom Nettles and Russ Bush (Moore)
• Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting by John W. Cooper (Allison)
• The Book of Common Prayer by Thomas Cranmer (Haykin)
• The Christian Tradition: Volume 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 by Jaroslav Pelikan (Allison)
• The Confessions: St. Augustine (Haykin)
• The Confession of St. Patrick (Haykin)
• Creeds of Christendom by Phillip Schaff (Allison)
• The Cross of Christ by John Stott (Ware)
• Dialogue with Trypho the Jew by Justin Martyr (Moore)
• Exegetical Fallacies by D. A. Carson (Plummer)
• The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock (Allison)
• George Muller of Bristol: His Life of Prayer and Faith by A. T. Pierson (Ware)
• The Gospel and the Kingdom by George Eldon Ladd (Moore)
• Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton (Ware)
• Hudson Taylor by Howard Taylor (Ware)
• The Hymns and Letters of Ann Griffiths (Haykin)
• The Hymns of Charles Wesley (Haykin)
• Inspiration and Authority of the Bible by B. B. Warfield (Allison)
• Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin (Allison)
• The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer (Ware)
• The Letter to Diognetus (Haykin)
• Letters by John Newton (Haykin)
• Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry (Moore)
• Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy (Moore)
• The Memoirs of Samuel Pearce by Andrew Fuller (Haykin)
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (Plummer)
• The Olney Hymns by John Newton and William Cowper (Haykin)
• On the Apostolic Preaching by Irenaeus (Moore)
• On the Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owen (Haykin)
• On Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards (Haykin)
• On Spiritual Friendship by Ailred of Rievaulx (Haykin)
• The Person & Work of Christ by B. B. Warfield (Allison)
• Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics by Stephen Westerholm (Schreiner)
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (Allison)
• The Pleasures of God by John Piper (Ware)
• Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics by Richard A. Muller (Allison)
• The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis (Moore)
• Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper (Ware)
• Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Allison)
• Toward a Theology of the Body by Mary Timothy Prokes (Allison)
• Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism by Carl F. H. Henry (Moore)
• The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis (Haykin)

Dr. Schreiner recommended any book from John Piper, D. A. Carson, J. I. Packer, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Augustine (especially against Pelagius), Martin Luther, and Martin Lloyd Jones (despite his occasional charismatic tendencies). In addition, Dr. Sills pointed me to his web site for a list of his recommended books that he compiled at one time from Southern Seminary professors.

Thanks to Gregg Allison, Michael Haykin, Russell Moore, Rob Plummer, Tom Schreiner, David Sills, and Bruce Ware.

Most Influential Books - John Piper

Here is Piper's personal list of the books (and authors) that most influenced his life. Bet you can't guess which one is first! ;-)

Todd

Book Recommendations from DesiringGod.org

I recently found a list of recommended books at the Desiring God website including books on the following topics:

• General, Historical, and Systematic Theology
• Attributes of God
• The Trinity
• The Person of Christ
• Providence and Predestination
• Diving Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
• Open Theism
• Doctrine of Scripture
• Doctrine of Humanity and Sin
• Law and Gospel
• The Life of the Mind
• Preaching
• Apologetics
• Biographies
• Biblical Studies
• History
• Counseling
• Children
• Youth
• Parenting
• Marriage
• Literature
• and lots more!!!

I think a good strategy for personal growth might be to pick one of these topics, purchase and read all the books in the category, then move to another category. Some categories might be more valuable than others to begin with (particularly, we might start with the category on "Reading"). What a great education we could receive from reading these books, not to mention the great library we would treasure when we finish!

Todd

"Why Can't They See This?"

Tom Nettles recently wrote this article discussing some of the struggles we face when communicating with brothers who have "an aversion to the Doctrines of Grace." In this article, Nettles explores some of the reasons one might feel such aversion, and he prescribes patience, love, and a gracious attitude to those who seek to "teach for reformation."

Thanks Justin!

Todd

Meditation

Something that might help all of us grow in our faith is the subject of a recent post on Faith Refined; it is an excerpt from Thomas Watson's The Christian Soldier that reveals the importance of meditation. Thanks Kara!

5 Things I Dig About Jesus

Well, my friend Kara just tagged me to write a list of "5 things I dig about Jesus." Unfortunately, I'm going to have to break the rules, since I don't have many blogging friends, and she already tagged my wife! Here are the rules:

• list 5 things you dig about Jesus
• tag 5 other bloggers
• the 5 other bloggers must post a comment with their name and a link to their list

So, I didn't read Kara's list yet, because I didn't want to copy or be influenced by her answers. Here's my "5 things I dig about Jesus:"

• Jesus lived life moment by moment, feeling splinters, scraped knees, hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation, stress, deadlines, personality conflicts, personnel issues, rejection, condemnation, grief, intense suffering, and death - yet he lived his entire life in a way that is completely foreign to us; he found his every desire fulfilled in his obedience to God...
• Jesus loved people (Lazarus, the Rich Young Ruler, et. al.), and he loves me so fully that he corrects me, guides me, motivates me, comforts me, and conforms me to his magnificent image...
• Jesus is a warrior, as I believe he is portrayed in a pre-incarnate form in Joshua 5:13-15; not only is he a warrior, but he is the commander of the army of the LORD of Hosts, the greatest warrior that ever lived...
• Jesus never gave in to sin; he warred against temptation his entire life, sweating profusely while being tempted to abandon his mission in the garden of Gethsemane, but never yielding, never caving, always finding his supreme joy and fulfillment in pleasing his Heavenly Father...
• Jesus died to pay for my sin and to give to me all that his life of obedience had earned; he paid my debt and gave me fellowship with God - nothing less than everything do we owe him!

Loving Jesus for who he is and what he has done,

Todd

What Calvinism is Not

Tim Challies recently posted a brief definition of hyper-Calvinism, and he does a good job helping us understand the differences between an enthusiastic Calvinist, a 6 or 7-point Calvinist, and a "Calvinist" that takes Calvinism beyond its biblical boundaries.