Books the Lord has greatly used in your life...

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ServantofGod

ServantofGod

Puritan Board Junior
I want to compile a list of books to recommend to new believers, and those outside of the Reformed viewpoint:

What three books(excluding Scripture) has the Lord used most in your life to get you where you are today, in your understanding of our God, and in your spiritual walk? And in what way?


Here are mine to start off with:

I. The Art of Divine Contentment -Thomas Watson

What a beautiful, convicting book by Thomas Watson. Written around the command to be content in all things, he attacks the discontent of our hearts, and exhorts us to strive to be like Paul when he says that he has learned to be content in any circumstance.

II. A Door Opening Into Everlasting Life- Andrew Gray

A book extolling the holiness of our Lord, and stirring us to look on our Saviour and His life and sacrifice, and to respond with a holy lifestyle.

III. Rock of Our Salvation- William Plummer

Reading this will cause your heart to cry out with both sorrow and joy. With the sorrow of our sins, and our Saviour's pain in His sacrifice at Calvary. And with joy in the love and mercy of the wondrous Prince of Peace.
 
Ayn Rand - The New Left.
Helped break my liberal ways and rid me of my anti-conceptual mentality that the public schools did to me.

Francis Schaeffer - The God Who Is There.
Taught me the relationship between philosophy and theology, and how having a bad philosophy impacts theology.

Augustine - City of God.
Taught me of the early church and what was happening in the few first century's after the establishment of the church.
 
The Sovereignty of God, A.W. Pink brought me to the doctrines of grace

The Christian in Complete Armour, William Gurnall, showed me the christian life is war and we must be well armed! What a great book!

Holiness, J.C. Ryle, showed me my responsibility to learn and grow in holiness and to be progressively conformed to His image in sanctification. Heart searching and challenging to grow. If you dont take responsibility to grow Ryle says, then 'the chariot wheels of your soul will run heavy.'

These three had the greatest impact but I too love reading Watson and all of the puritans.
 
The Sovereignty Of God By A.W Pink (life changing!-Baker Books ed.)

Systematic Theology By Wayne Grudem

The Mystery Of Marriage By Mike Mason

Chosen By God By R.C Sproul

All Basic,easy reads and I believe good for new believers

Grace and Peace to you:pilgrim:
 
J I Packer - Knowing God – the first contact with Reformed Doctrine

John Owen – the Death of Death in the Death of Christ – that’s when I realized the doctrine of limited atonement, it was shock I must say, but it became so clear and irrefutable.

Several candidates to make the podium but another Packer, more its focus than the author this time, of course it’s very well written and documented

J I Packer – Amongst God’s Giants – the Puritans, life, theology and practice. Knowing the Puritans, like the metaphor on the preface, it’s like staring at Huge Sequoias: greatness, devotion, thoroughness, consecration, purity, scholarship, sacrifice, integrity, and so on. One never gets tired of staring at those magnificent souls and their fruit.

There is a description of Laurence Chaderton (1547-1640) preaching his retirement sermon.
After two hours, he said he was concerned if he was requiring too much of his audience’s patience. Someone from the congregation just cried out, "For God's sake, sir, go on! Go on!"

Those were the days!
 
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The Sovereignty Of God By A.W Pink
Brought me to the doctrines of grace

Charismatic Chaos By John MacArthur
Took me out of the charismatic movement

The Bible and the Future By Anthony Hoekema
Showed me a new perspective on eschatology.
 
Mere Christianity by lewis and Abraham's Four Seeds by Reisinger. I'm not into New Covenant Theology but found this work helpful as a bridge between Dispensationalism and Covenant theology.
 
Anything by Octavius Winslow, but this in particular

personaldeclension.jpg


Even if one is not backslidden, this book is well worth reading!

Margaret
 
Mere Christianity was very important it revealing my pride to me back when I was an externally well-behaved 18-year-old.

Putting Amazing Back Into Grace got me to like Calvinism, after growing up for years with Calvinist parents who prefer not to talk about it. (We went through a Calvinism-based church split when I was very young.)

Flavel's The Mystery of Providence has been really helpful lately, as many of the Puritan Paperbacks are.

And Jane Austen's Emma, on a less explicitly spiritual note, has been strangely helpful at various times in my single life -- something about learning to value the right sort of men, the ones who take on the Christ-like role of guiding you to greater righteousness.
 
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ChristianHedonist said:
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, The Pleasures of God by John Piper, On the Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owen
Click to expand...

The title of that book really gets people's attention. I was reading Don't Waste Your Life last summer on a trip to Philadelphia, and when a guard at the Liberty Bell searched my backpack, he saw that book and immediately said, "Oh, that looks interesting! What is that about?" I was relatively inarticulate, but the friend who had lent the book gave a bold explanation and recommended all of Piper's books. The guard said he would get a copy.
 
Not easy to pick just three:

Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will

A Display of Arminianism by John Owen

Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
 
Wow, I can't imagine recommending Puritan writers for a new believer or someone whose most recent reading is The Purpose Driven Life!

I would say that R C Sproul's books have the advantage of being intelligent while at the same time being accessible to many, many people (particularly those of us who don't have seminary degrees!).

I think the most important one is Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology (renamed What is Reformed Theology), a very accessible explanation of the doctrines of grace. And The Holiness of God is a very important book in understanding the character of God versus our fallen nature.

Trusting God by Jerry Bridges has been one of the most life changing books for me, because it helped me understand God's sovereignty even in the most devastating circumstances. I have given this book as a gift several times to people going through a crisis.
 
The Defense of the Faith by Cornelius VanTil.

Having grown up in a Reformed church, VanTil opened my eyes to how truly rich I was, and how much I'd taken for granted. Through VanTil, I became excited and passionate about the Reformed faith.
 
Kudos to Mere Christianity. Unfortunately the nut who started this thread only left room for three, otherwise it would have made my list also. One of my favorites to recommend to unbelievers and believers alike.
 
ChristianHedonist said:
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, The Pleasures of God by John Piper, On the Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owen
Click to expand...

I'd like to add Piper's Desiring God. While I now disagree with some of his low Calvinism, this book was monumental in my accepting the doctrines of grace. I had termed myself a "Christian hedonist" prior to ever finding out about this book -- and the term was theologically inaccurate, as I was essentially a carnal Christian -- demonstrating God's beautiful providential timing.

Also, Van Til's Apologetic by Bahnsen, or rather Always Ready for easier reading.
 
I found this a difficult question. My theological journey wasn't steeped in any specific book, but in reading different sources at different times, as well as listening to different preachers. It's as though looking back there was a conspiracy to draw my eyes ever more to Christ, even in the books that I would never read now (Yes, I've read Hal Lindsey ;)). However, I do see a few that helped at times in my walk.
At a turning point in my life, as I wrestled with what to do in regard to ministry and our future as a family, I read MacArthur's Found, God's Will. It was incredibly freeing and catapulted me out of a wrong view of God's sovereignty and making decisions. This was shortly after I had grasped the significance of God's sovereignty in soteriology. I might mention that Matthew's Tip Toe Through TULIP was a great benefit to me in this portion of my journey, as was Phil Johnson's web site where he discusses the Calvinism of Spurgeon.
Though I disagree with much they've written, Martin and Deidre Bobgan's Against "Biblical Counseling" - For the Bible helped me see the folly of the integration of psychology and being fully equipped for every good work. Since then I have developed a neuthetic approach that the Bobgan's disagree with, so can't fully embrace their teaching. Jay Adams has been of much value in this area.
I had developed a philosophy of ministry that excluded youth focused programs early on, so our family stayed together for Sunday School and services, though classes were offered for the boys. Some in the church gave us a hard time, but the pastor understood and respected our position and we stuck to our guns. Eric Wallace wrote a book, Uniting Church and Home that I read shortly after reading Christopher Schlect's little booklet Critique of Modern Youth Ministry. I'm not sure which one was more affirming, but both helped me in my developing philosophy of ministry.
I know only three were asked for, but I also wanted to share that Piper's The Supremacy of God in Preaching has had a great affect on my perspective of being a preacher.
 
Books by Sproul:

Faith Alone: The Lord used it to cause the scales of Roman Catholicism to fall off my eyes.

Holiness of God: Awakened me to the His holiness.

Chosen by God: Helped me to love Divine election.

Others (in no particular order):

Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson
Exposition of the Ten Commandments by Durham
Institutes of the Christian Religion by Calvin
Knowing God - J.I. Packer
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Edersheim

I'll think of some more later.
 
These 5 books particularly had a tremendous effect on my worldview:

(In the Order I Read Them)

1) Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Greg Bahnsen

2) Principles of Conduct by John Murray

3) The Puritan Hope by Iain Murray

4) Van Til's Apologetic by Greg Bahnsen

5) Introduction to Christian Philosophy by Gordon Clark
 
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - the first "intellectual" defense of Christianity I ever read
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle - helped me during my college and med schools years
Confessions by Augustine - I'm still in the middle of it, but it has really helped me comprehend the vastness of my sin and the overwhelming power of His grace.
 
Both Bens (coming from another Ben), you're recommending Bahnsen for new believers?!

If I was to recommend a few (I have to list more than 3) books that have both changed my life and are easy reads for anybody, I would suggest:

1) Don't waste your life- John Piper (you're right Cesar, it is a horrible cover)
2) Faith Alone- Sproul (after I read through it about 3 times, this book totally transformed my view of what faith really is and how we are justified)
3) The Dangerous Duty of Delight- John Piper (a tiny book, only 89 pages, but it totally blasted my self-centered views)
4) Knowing God- JI Packer (first read it when I was 13, so it is easy to understand; I think the thing I disliked most about the book was that my edition was printed in the late 70s [absolutely HORRIBLE cover] and the previous owner scribbled and marked all over it [terrible distraction])
5) Following Christ- RC Sproul (showed me what it truly means to be a follower of Christ)
 
I was reading a handful of Frances Schaeffer's works when I first came to Christ. Perhaps He is There and He is Not Silent rises to the top. Shortly thereafter, someone lent me Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will and John Murray's Redemption Accomplished and Applied both of which gave me a foundation for reformed theology. If I may add a fourth, I've returned to Jonathan Edward's Religious Affections several times since being introduced to it early in my Christian walk ...
 
Calvinist Cowboy said:
Both Bens (coming from another Ben), you're recommending Bahnsen for new believers?!
Click to expand...

:)

I was listing books that the Lord has greatly used in my life, although I would admittedly promote Always Ready for new believers. Thinking presuppositionally and knowing that it is absolutely appropriate (and obligatory) for Christians to regard Scripture as authoritative are both vital.
 
J. Gresham Machen’s The Christian View of Man

J. W. Alexander’s A Shepherd’s Heart, specifically the sermon “The Blood of Sprinkling”

Elmer Towns’ Theology for Today - His soteriology was so poorly argued that it convinced this new seminary student that he needed to look around for a better solution. I don't generally recommend it, but God certainly used it in my case. :)
 
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I'm surprised that Ferguson's book The Christian Life isn't on here already. It's really a great book at showing people a road map of Christian doctrine and showing how practical doctrine is.

Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is also essential reading for a new believer. That gives a road map of the Christian life from beginning to end. So Ferguson shows you a cross-section, and Bunyan shows you a time-line.

Then, a new believer also needs help in church history. B.K. Kuiper's The Church in History is outstanding, because it is brief, illustrated, Reformed, and covers the entirety of church history up until his time.

For apologetics, an even better beginner's book is Richard Pratt's Every Thought Captive. To this I would also add Oliphint's book The Battle Belongs to the Lord.

For commentary, let him read Matthew Henry. That, in conjunction with the new ESV study Bible, will ground everything in a richer understanding of Scripture's doctrine.
 
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