# Besides the Bible



## GoodTreeMinistries.com (May 15, 2013)

What Christian books would you recommend for non Christians, New Christians, and Christian growth?


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## Andres (May 15, 2013)

The Westminster Standards.


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## Christopher88 (May 15, 2013)

Three forms of unity, spot on.


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## CharlieJ (May 15, 2013)

I give non-Christians or new Christians Timothy Keller's _The Prodigal God_. I think it does a good job orienting the Christian life while expositing Scripture. I have also given people John Piper's _Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die_, since it provokes reflection on the cross. Other important materials might be things that explain the whole scope of the Bible, such as T. Desmond Alexander's _From Eden to the New Jerusalem_. J. I. Packer's _Knowing God_ and A. W. Tozer's _Knowledge of the Holy_ are good for introducing theology proper.


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## Reformedfellow (May 15, 2013)

Non Christians, All of Grace
New Christians, WCF 
Christian growth, The Christian in Conplete Armour.


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## chuckd (May 15, 2013)

Holiness by J.C. Ryle


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## earl40 (May 15, 2013)

summa theologica....


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## irresistible_grace (May 15, 2013)

Non Christians: Pilgrims Progress (or The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Dr. Rosaria Butterfield)
New Christians: Heidelberg Catechism 
Christian growth: The Christian's Reasonable Service by Wilhelmus à Brakel


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## Josh Williamson (May 15, 2013)

Non-Christian: All of Grace (Spurgeon)
New Christian: 1689 Baptist Confession
Christian Growth: Too many books spring to mind!!!


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## The Calvinist Cop (May 15, 2013)

Non Christians: Pilgrims Progress
New Christian: 1689 Baptist Confession with A Puritan Catechism
Christian Growth: Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers


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## MichaelNZ (May 16, 2013)

The Heidelberg Catechism is good. New Christians can go through one Lord's Day each day, reading the appropriate Scripture references along with the text.


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## CharlieJ (May 16, 2013)

I recommend _The Gospel We Almost Forgot_ by Kevin DeYoung to new and not-so-new Christians. It is a devotional manual based on the Heidelberg Catechism. I think one has to be a very specific sort of person to pick up and profit from a confession or catechism directly. DeYoung does a good job introducing this classic document in a way that contemporary people will find accessible.


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## Frosty (May 16, 2013)

Non-Christians and New Believers: _Pilgrim's Progress_
New Believers: _Twelve Ordinary Men_ by John MacArthur and _The Gospel According to......_ series, specifically _The Gospel According to Hosea_ by Michael Barrett.
Christian Growth: Anything by Joel Beeke, Charles Spurgeon, or biographies of godly men and women of the past.
Super-Christians: _Every Day a Friday_ by Joel Osteen


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## Constantlyreforming (May 16, 2013)

Pilgrim's Progress is an excellent choice.

I would also suggest Valley of Vision for new believers.


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## Paul1976 (May 16, 2013)

For a newer believer, I'd personally point them to "Desiring God" (John Piper). That book destroyed more misconceptions I had previously carried about the Christian life than anything else. I realize Piper's theology isn't considered 100% Kosher by many here, but I am not aware of anything else on the broad topic that is better.


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## Jake (May 16, 2013)

For the *non-Christian*, two great books are All of Grace by Spurgeon and A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine (a Puritan). 

I think *new Christians* should be given resource to help them in the their study of the Word. I think an excellent thing to use would be Matthew Henry's commentaries, to read alongside Scripture, as they are very sound and devotional. I don't know if it'd be too intimidating to plop a huge volume or ten in front of them though. 

Some other good resources are collections of sermons from men like Spurgeon, Edwards, and Whitefield. All of these are suitable for all three groups, but I think preaching is a great and approachable format for the new Christian to learn from espeicaly. Some books that would be good are Holiness of God by Sproul and Knowing God by Packer, which are both solid introductions to doctrinal study while not being unpractical. 

For *Christian growth*[, for starters the book I am reading now, A Method for Prayer by Matthew Henry is excellent. I think a great way for solid doctrinal growth is a copy of a confessional document with proofs, as many have mentioned. The Heidelberg Confession is probably the most approachable.


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## ThyWord IsTruth (May 16, 2013)

"LBCF of 1689"
"Principals of Biblical Interpretation" By Louis Berkhof
"Holiness" By J.C. Ryle
"Absolute Predestination" By Jerome Zanchius


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## Lindsay (May 22, 2013)

Main choices for non: _The Truth About Man_ (a Bible study by Paul Washer), the WLC on the law, _Sermons to the Natural Man _(by William G. T. Shedd)

Other ideas: A. W. Pink is very helpful on depravity (though he thought Adam was capable of not falling, putting himself essentially in the same situation as an Arminian in that proposition; and though I find him particularly insightful, I also have an unusual amount of concerns over the evidence for many of his conclusions); Charles Leiter has a succint but helpfully broad and intense look at our sin and salvation in Christ in the first few chapters of _Justification and Regeneration_; Edwards is very helpful (through out the Hendrickson/Banner of Truth double volume of his works) on the justice of God, the moral inability of man, the desert of sin, the wrath of God, and man's reasons for thinking he loves God when he doesn't; and I second _Alarm to the Unconverted_ (reprinted now, and already referred to as _A Sure Guide to Heaven_), Burroughs (in _The Evil of Evil: The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin_) and Baxter (starting with direction two here from his _Directory_) on the evil of sin...

New (and old): _A Gospel Primer _by Milton Vincent (have to finish reading it myself - gave mine away when my car was totaled this month), and...?


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## Lindsay (May 22, 2013)

Also, for a non Christian or somebody unsure of their state: Ryle is also very helpful (in _Holiness_?) on love for Christ as a sign of true conversion. When I was tortorously debating the state of my soul for many years, the Lord used that chapter to undeceive me.


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## JM (May 22, 2013)

(not the Banner of Truth edition)




(I really love this one volume edition from Hendrickson)


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## JM (May 22, 2013)

...


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