The old PBS program Reading Rainbow opened with a song that argued that reading allows us to go anywhere and be anything, even if only for a moment. While PBS has aired more than its share of silliness, that point is important. Reading really does open whole new vistas for the reader and makes it possible for us to travel to distant lands and learn new ideas from the comfort of a favorite sitting chair.
Words, in themselves, are wonderful, almost magical, things. They encapsulate and convey our thoughts beyond our minds. As Bradley Green delightfully explains in his book The Gospel and the Mind (Crossway, 2010), the wonder and nature of words are wrapped up in the wonder and nature of The Word. Our ability to cast our thoughts beyond ourselves is ultimately derived in God’s creative act of speaking the universe into existence through, by, and for Jesus Christ.
Yet our spoken words are limited by space and time. Writing, in some measure, overcomes these barriers. Our thoughts are cast not only beyond our interior being, but also they are set down for transfer across vast spaces and can be preserved through the ages. This is a mystery, and it is marvelous in our sight. Reading allows us, if only for a moment, to overcome some of our human limitations. We gain some small measure of God-like perspective as we cast our minds back over thousands of years and miles only to return to our snug dens and bedrooms with the blink of an eye. “Take a look . . . in a book” and revel in the goodness and manifold wisdom of God.
Below you will find our recommendations for especially good journeys waiting between the covers of good books. We hope that you will find something beneficial and enjoyable. Be sure to leave a comment, letting us know about your favorite journey over the last quarter.
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Cameron Cole, Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 206 pages.
I met Cameron Cole through Rooted Ministry, and he graciously provided the foreword to my book a few years ago. His new sobering and hopeful book, Therefore I Have Hope, is an extended and raw reflection on suffering. In November of 2013, Cameron’s three-year-old son Cam passed away inexplicably. Cameron demonstrates that in the midst of our life’s worst moments, Biblical truth offers us profound grace, hope, faith, and more. This book brought me to tears many times, not only because his story was grief-ridden but also because of the amazing hope and news he shares in these pages. We all hope the worst doesn’t happen to us, but we can’t control that. Therefore, I commend this book to you to prepare you for difficult times and to give you a greater sense of our Father’s loving comfort.
—Recommended by Christopher Talbot
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Gordon Fee, Jesus the Lord According to Paul the Apostle: A Concise Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018), 200 pages.
How did the apostle Paul go from persecuting Jewish Christians for blasphemy to following the resurrected Christ? Through his Damascus Road experience, Paul also came to the conclusion that Jesus is the divine Son of God. I was excited last year to discover that the material from Gordon Fee’s 700-page Pauline Christology had been distilled into Jesus the Lord According to Paul the Apostle, which makes the material much more accessible to the average Christian.
Fee’s goal is rather simple: to demonstrate from the writings of the apostle Paul that he and the earliest Christians believed that Jesus was the divine, eternal, pre-existent Son of God. One way that Fee seeks to demonstrate this is by examining Paul’s use of the word Lord in reference to Jesus. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament), Lord is used as a substitute for Yahweh out of reverence for God. But in the New Testament, the apostles consistently refer to Jesus as Lord. This is no coincidence. The implication is that the Son is Lord and that He is equal with the Father. This is merely one example of the many valuable and Biblical arguments that Fee provides for understanding and defending the deity of Christ.
—Recommended by Jesse Owens
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Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (New York: Penguin Press, 2018), 352 pages.
Some readers may remember that I recommended Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind in our summer recommendations post in 2018. Haidt is back with a collaborator in this timely, and frankly disturbing, book about the state of American higher education and its complicity in reinforcing “three great untruths” of our time: “What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker,” “Always trust your feelings,” and “Us versus them” (or the idea that anyone who doesn’t agree with me is an enemy to be opposed and shamed).
Drawing on extensive experience on university campuses, social psychology, and other research, Haidt and Lukianoff explain the origins, manifestations, and problems surrounding these three great untruths. They explain how contemporary parenting reinforces these lies, and how these values and beliefs are a core part of the modern university. Conservatives and historic liberals alike would appreciate most of what they present. I had a hard time putting this one down. I especially commend this book to those involved in or considering campus ministry or student and children’s ministry, as well as parents with children still in the home.
—Recommended by W. Jackson Watts
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Carl F. H. Henry, Christian Personal Ethics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), 615 pages.
During the 2018 fall semester, I took a course in contemporary theological ethics, and one of the books I read is Carl F. H. Henry’s Christian Personal Ethics. Without question, the text I enjoyed the most, and the one with which I most identified as an evangelical, was that one. Christian Personal Ethics is long, but it’s worth the time and effort. In section one (chapters one through three), Henry gives an excellent overview of speculative philosophy and the moral quest, reviewing naturalistic, idealistic, and existential ethics in the ancient and contemporary world. In contrast to these, Christianity represents revelational ethics, which is the subject of section two (chapters four through twenty-five). Christian Personal Ethics is Biblical ethics at its finest and the best book in Biblical ethics that I’ve read.
—Recommended by Matthew Steven Bracey
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Ronald H. Nash, The Meaning of History (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1998), 181 pages.
Christianity is intrinsically historical because God is a God of action in time and space. Therefore, throughout Church history, Christians have wrestled with the nature of history and their place in it. Ronald Nash’s The Meaning of History provides a wonderful introduction to this subject from a Christian perspective. Accessible yet robust, Nash’s book is a valuable resource for curious novices and professional historians alike.
—Recommended by Phillip T. Morgan
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Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Viking, 2015), 320 pages.
Tim Keller is a household name for many Christians. His books on apologetics, prayer, marriage, and more have benefited many. In my own experience, his books on pastoral ministry have always proven insightful and beneficial, especially this one. Sitting on a tarmac, waiting to fly home for Christmas, I couldn’t put it down! First, Keller adds clarity to the “expositional preaching versus topical preaching” debate often seen in evangelical circles. With characteristic clarity and nuance, he also presents a Biblically faithful and culturally discerning way of preaching the Scriptures week after week to the modern church. But he also addresses important themes like preaching Christ from all the Scriptures, the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching, and how to challenge the worldviews that shape the hearts and lives of modern Christians and seekers alike. I highly commend this book as an intermediate text on preaching.
—Recommended by W. Jackson Watts
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J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Culture (America: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011), 40 pages.
Though J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Culture is technically an essay, you can purchase it in a small paperback form online. Therefore, I’ve included it in my recommendations. How I had overlooked Gresham’s treatment of Christian cultural engagement until now is beyond me! I’m glad I found it and read it now. Gresham is writing decades before H. Richard Niebuhr’s seminal taxonomy, and thus provides a fresh treatment on Christianity and culture. Gresham argues that there are three approaches for believers: (1) subordinate Christianity to culture, (2) destroy or ignore culture, or (3) consecrate culture. What is especially helpful is that Gresham ties the first two approaches to an intellectual posture. Those who would subordinate Christianity are often those who focus on the intellect but who also reject any supernatural epistemology. Those who would destroy or ignore culture are more focused on emotions, emphasizing piety and zeal. Machen offers a third way, and for that reason I highly recommend this book.
—Recommended by Christopher Talbot
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David Murray, Reset: Living a Grace-paced Life in a Burnout Culture (Wheaton: Crossway, 2017), 208 pages.
Each year I try to read several books in the basic genre of productivity and professionalism. One of my favorite books in this genre from the last couple of years has been Cal Newport’s Deep Work. I also recently enjoyed Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy’s Living Forward. Yet the grind of life and of work can become undoubtedly exhausting.
If you’re someone who feels pushed in on all sides and needs help recalibrating, I believe that you’ll benefit from David Murray’s Reset, which my friend and colleague Barry Raper recommended to me. Murray discusses the importance of sleep, exercise, Christian devotion, pleasure reading, failing well, and daily routine. These aren’t yet more things to add to your already full plate. Instead they’re what will give your life balance and, in the long run, increase the quality and quantity of your work productivity.
—Recommended by Matthew Steven Bracey
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Roger Scruton, An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Culture (South Bend, ID: St. Augustine’s, 2000), 173 pages.
Understanding our culture is important for all people, but it’s especially important for Christians trying to be in but not of the world. Philosopher Roger Scruton’s An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Culture provides a wonderful overview of our cultural moment and its development. Full of rich analysis and insightful connections, Scruton’s writing traces how the birth of modernity strangled traditional culture and replaced it with a commodified saccharine pop-culture that is aimed directly at the belly. As the title suggests, Scruton assumes the reader has a working knowledge of western philosophy, art, and politics from the past three centuries. While that assumption may serve as a hurdle for some readers, the book is well worth the challenge.
—Recommended by Phillip T. Morgan
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Gene Edward Veith, God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 176 pages.
Gene Edward Veith’s God at Work is one of the best books on work that I have read, though Tim Keller’s Every Good Endeavor is equally as excellent. In this work, Veith reminds readers that our work is one of God’s primary means for providing for the human race. This certainly echoes Martin Luther’s notion that we are the “masks of God” as we go about our daily tasks. By this, Luther meant that “God milks the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid” (73). Veith also emphasizes the fact that our vocations are not limited to what we do in the workplace, wherever that may be. Rather, our vocations also include our place in the family, in the church, and in society at large. In each role, God has given us responsibilities and duties that He calls us to fulfill faithfully. Veith’s writing is certainly moving and convincing. Any Christian would benefit from reading this excellent book.
—Recommended by Christa Thornsbury
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Peter J. Williams, Can We Trust the Gospels? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 153 pages.
High school and university students increasingly face a barrage of attacks on their Christian faith. From academics such as Bart Ehrman, to celebrities such as Bill Maher, to artifacts of popular culture such as The Da Vinci Code, students commonly encounter critiques of the Bible. In such a setting, Peter J. Williams’s Can We Trust the Gospels? is a valuable resource that demonstrates the historical reliability of the four Gospels. Certainly, Williams is a world-renowned scholar, but this work is accessible for college students, and even many serious-minded high school students.
The essence of Williams’s argument is that the Gospels are historically and geographically accurate. Their contents are affirmed by non-Christian sources of the same historical period. And they contain material that would not be included if one were simply making up material, particularly “the shameful death of Jesus through crucifixion” (ch. 8 in digital format). Therefore, the most likely conclusion is that the Gospels are in fact what they claim to be: accurate representations of the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus Christ. This short work could prove very helpful for many Christians who want and need to know more about the validity of the four Gospels.
—Recommended by Jesse Owens
February 8, 2019
Excellent recommendations! In the spirit of Keller’s Preaching book I would add Dennis Johnson’s, “Journeys with Jesus: Every Path in the Bible Leads Us to Christ.” This is an abridged (and less academic) version of “Walking with Jesus through His Word: Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures.” I am always on the lookout for books to recommend to the interested layman at my church. This is one of those books. In light of Luke 24, (Jesus’s illumination on the Scriptures witness of himself to the two disciples while on the road to Emmaus) Johnson proves that Jesus is the heart and soul of the biblical message of redemption. Johnson does a good job explaining the different tools (covenant, typology, offices of prophet, priest, and king, etc.) that help us to follow the paths and markers in the Bible leading ultimately to Christ. As a pastor I found this book useful for preaching. Some of the information was a recap, but the way Johnson conveys the information is overall very helpful.