Each month, the Parson’s Bookshelf will be featuring recommendation lists of different books for different purposes. The books listed here are probably never going to make “best seller” lists, but are a substantive alternative to some of the Christian reading that is on the market today.These are books that the Parson uses frequently and by which he has been greatly blessed.
Note: You might want to check on the availability of some of these titles at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library…a link appears to the left in the “Christian Reading” section of my links.
November 2009
- John R.W. Stott, The Cross of Christ: 20th Anniversary Edition. An astoundingly good book that I have somehow not managed to read until now.
- Teaching Hebrews in Sunday School class, so I’m also reading: Let Us Go On: A Devotional Commentary on Hebrews by W.H. Griffith Thomas, Hebrews by Donald Guthrie in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, Hebrews by Charles R. Erdmans, and Hebrews, James and Peter by H.A. Ironside.
October 2009
The Parson’s reading list for October is A.W. Tozer on Worship and Entertainment: Selected Excerpts (Compiled by James L. Snyder) and Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King, Experiencing God.
September 2009
Reading Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1950). A great book, considered a classic on the subject.I’m preaching a series on the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”–taking a verse a week, correlated to Scripture verse. What a rich hymn!
August 2009
F.D. Coggan’s The Ministry of the Word (Canterbury Press). A general work on the ministry of preaching. Excellent points, still very relevant, though originally published in 1945. Highly recommend.
July 2009
Read a fictional work–Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry.This book was widely acclaimed.
Christian non-fiction books I read, or am reading:
The Prayers of the New Testament by Donald Coggan, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury. (publication date: 1967)
The Galileo Connection: Resolving Conflicts Between Science and the Bible by Charles E. Hummel (publication date: 1986)
Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel by Eugene H. Merrill (publication date 1996)
J.I. Packer, A Biography by Alistar McGrath (publication date 1998).
Growing Up In Grace: The Use of Means For Communion With God by Murray Brett (publication date 2009)
June 2009
I recently obtained two copies of George Morrison’s (1866-1928) sermons: The Weaving of Glory: Sunday Evening Addresses from a City Pulpit and Gateway To the Stars. Morrison’s books are getting hard to come by, but they are well worth the cost if you want to read how one of the great Scottish preachers of the last century handled a text. Morrison was very eloquent. His homeltical style would probably not be as popular today sa it was then: he was a “text” preacher, taking a phrase out of a Bible verse or passage and building a sermon around it, but there is much, much wisdom and grace in his words.
May 2009
A very intriguing book has engaged my attention this month: John Ashley Null’s Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power to Love (Oxford Press, 2000). Null gives a great overview of the medieval ideas on repentance and penance, and then charts the development of thought in Cranmer. Cranmer’s doctrine comes out clearly in his written works, including the classical Book of Common Prayer, of which he was the principal architect. This is a scholarly book, and merits careful attention.
I finished the biography of Calvin mentioned last month. A good read.
April 2009
Here are my reading notes for April:
- John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life by Herman J. Selderhuis. This has been an interesting biography of Calvin, published by IVP and recommended by Timothy George of Beeson Divinity School, among others. Selderhuis writes in an interesting way, offering a series of vigniettes about Calvin in order to paint his portrait of the man. This book was published in 2009. It is brand new.
- Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction by Bryan M. Litfin. This book was published by Brazos Press in 2007. I haven’t gotten that far into this book yet, but I like what I’m reading.
- I’m also reading John Stott’s Christian Mission in the Modern World. This book was originally published by IVP in 1975. This is a new Americanized edition, published in 2008.
- In addition, I’ve been reading W.C.E. Newbolt’s The Ministry of the Word, a book which was published in 1913 by Longman, Green, and Co. I have been astounded at how “contemporary” many of the issues Newbolt addressed almost 100 years ago are.
March 2009
- I had a week of vacation this month, and I read Eric Russell’s biography of J.C. Ryle, That Man of Granite with the Heart of a Child. Excellent. The paperback of this book was published in 2003 by Christian Focus.
February 2009
I’ve been teaching through the Pentateuch in Sunday School, and I want to commend W.H. Griffith Thomas’s Devotional Commentary on Genesis. It is out of print, but you can often find it listed on eBay and other used book sites, such as Abebooks.
January 2009
- Another resource for the study of the Old Testament: Specifically, the Pentateuch.
W.H. Griffith Thomas’s The Pentateuch, Chapter By Chapter is still in print, one of the few works by Thomas still available new today. I obtained this for a class I am taking on the Pentateuch.This book will be a valued addition for Sunday School teachers and preachers who are working through the first five books of the Bible. This book was a posthumous volume, put together by Thomas’s daughter from columns Thomas wrote for a religious publication.
DECEMBER 2008: Focus on Biography
I’m not going to put up several biographies, but instead, just one title that is a collection of short biographies.
- Living With the Giants by Warren Wiersbe–What a great book! Anyone interested in the history of Christian preaching over the last couple of hundred years will especially like this book, but I expect pastors will appreciate this book the most. I have turned to this book over and over again, and have never been disappointed by Wiersbe’s recommendations to look more closely at some of the preachers/pastors/theologians he profiled. In fact, many of the titles in my library today are there precisely because of this book. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to pastors. I wish I could thank Warren Wiersbe in person for writing it. His counsel and even assessment throughout this book has provided me much help down through the years.
NOVEMBER 2008: Focus on “Words on the Word”
1. Why I Trust the Bible by John MacArthur–A great little book for those seeking to understand the issues surrounding inspiration, inerrancy, and biblical infallibility.
2. Protestant Biblical Interpretation by Bernard Ramm–For many years, this was a standard scholarly work in the field.
3. How We Got Our Bible by W.H. Griffith Thomas–This is a small paperback that is a good introduction to canonical studies. It is out of print, but is a great treatment of the subject. Anything Thomas wrote is worth owning.
4. Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present by Gerald Bray–Bray’s skills as a scholar and writer are considerable. Coming in at over 600 pages, this book is not for the faint of heart, but it is a vastly important book for serious Bible scholars or for anyone seeking to identify various schools of thought in biblical interpretation. This book will be most of interest to pastors and scholars who need a ready reference guide when evaluating commentaries or when looking for the major interpretive schools of the last few centuries.
OCTOBER 2008: Focus on Basic Bible References. This list features a mix of scholarly and non-specialist titles.
1. What the Bible Is All About by Henrietta Mears
Mears’ book was given out by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for a long time. It is an excellent, easy to understand survey of the Bible. Highly recommended.
2. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Geoffrey W. Bromily, General Editor
This four volume series is for the serious Bible student who needs encyclopedic material on a wide-range of biblical subject matter. Individual articles vary in stance.
3. The Unfolding Message of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan
In this lengthy book of Morgan’s, the major themes of Bible books are explored. This is a great book for those just beginning to know more about the contents of the Scriptures. It is out of print, but obtainable online.
4. Methods of Bible Study by W.H. Griffith Thomas
This volume was last published by Moody Press in the 1970s, fifty years after Thomas died, but it is still a great book, if you can find it. Thomas was a great Bible expositor. His methods are well worth studying. I wish someone would reissue this fine book.
5. Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present by Gerald Bray.
Bray’s book is exhaustive (608 pages), but hardly exhausting! The serious Bible student will find much to ponder and profit from in this excellent survey of major developments in this keenly written book. Bray is research professor of divinity at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School.
6. The Message of the New Testament by F.F. Bruce. This book is a good introduction to the New Testament’s major doctrines from a scholarly Evangelical perspective.
7. A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman L. Geisler. This is as the title suggests, an easy to read, easy to understand introduction to the Old Testament by a prominent Christian educator. It is an affordable title that will have much appeal to the layperson. For those wanting a more indepth, more specialized survey of the Old Testament, Gleason Archer, Jr.’s A Survey of Old Testament Introduction is another alternative. It is more geared to the serious Bible student.
SEPTEMBER 2008: Focus on theology.
1. Knowing God by J.I. Packer. This is a true Christian classic. Packer provides basic theology for the believer who wants to know the God of the Bible deeply and personally. This is recommended for readers of any level/background. The chapter on guidance by God is worth the price of the book.
2.Theologians of the Baptist Tradition, Timothy George and David Dockery, editors. If you want to get a glimpse of the major developments in Baptist theology, this is a great place to start. This work is a revision and abridgement of an earlier and much larger book edited by George and Dockery entitled Baptist Theologians. Baptist pastors and laypeople alike will appreciate this volume.
3. Introducing Christian Doctrine by Millard J. Erickson. Erickson’s book was a textbook at the Baptist college I attended. It is a great, basic evangelical theology. Anyone can benefit from this book.
4.The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink. Pink’s book is very dependent on the Puritan Stephen Charnock’s book by the same title, but is more accessible than Charnock. It is a great introduction to theology proper.
5. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches by John S. Hammett. This is a highly engaging book on ecclesiology. Hammett brings out tremendous insights on the church ordinances. I think the chapters on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper alone make the book worth the price.
6. Being the Body by Charles Colson and Ellen Vaughn. This work on the church’s mission and calling in today’s world ought to be required reading for every serious believer. I wish every American Christian would read the chapter on what to look for in a church.
7.Essentials of Evangelical Theology by Donald Bloesch. A fine evangelical theology in two volumes.
8. The Incomparable Christ by John Stott. Very good book on Christology. Originially given as a series of lectures. This is Stott at his best. Very profitable.
9. Principles of Theology by W.H. Griffith Thomas. This work an exposition of the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, but as Warren Wiersbe once said, “you don’t have to be an Anglican to appreciate” this book. There is plently enough good, orthodox Christian theology in this volume to make it valuable for any evangelical Christian, regardless of tradition or denomination.
10. The Fundamentals. R.A. Torrey, editor. This was a widely published series of essays produced at the turn of the century. The contributors are a virutal “who’s who” of late 19th and early 20th century evangelicals: G. Campbell Morgan, J.C. Ryle, W.H. Griffith Thomas, Thomas Spurgeon, and B.B. Warfield, just to name a few, have entries. To produce a work which cut across so many denominations while expressing what it meant to uphold the orthodox, evangelical faith of Christianity was a real achievement. These books, available in a two-volume set from Baker are very affordable and ought to be read.
AUGUST 2008: Focus is on devotional reading.
1. Thoughts for Sundays (AMG Publishers, Walk in the Word Series, 1997) by H.C.G. Moule. Moule was an Evangelical Anglican who wrote three series of articles for Sunday devotionals-a goldmine of serious devotion. There are three “books” within this book, which are three courses of 52 readings, each with a different focus, and based on a Bible verse or passage.
2. Meditations on the Gospels (AMG Publishers, Walk in the Word Series, 1996) by George H. Morrison. Morrison served in Scotland. He died in 1928. His sermons are expository in nature. There is a companion volume to this book entitled Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms. AMG has done a real service to believers by publishing these two books, as well as the one by H.C.G. Moule mentioned above.
3. My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.This book is well loved by evangelicals as a daily devotional. Chambers is always challenging and always thought-provoking. We gave this to all our Sunday School teachers one Christmas at the church I serve.
4. The Valley of Vision (Banner of Truth Trust).This book is a collection of Puritan prayers. It is a fine “prayer starter” and might just make you blush over the content of your prayers. It certainly put me on notice!
