AThornquist
Puritan Board Doctor
I have put together a non-exhaustive list of books that have been suggested here on the PB and on a few seminary websites. It is in alphabetical order based on the author (or one of them, if there are several). There aren't any distinctions made based on first name (i.e. A.A. or Charles Hodge) or topic other than those that I knew specifically pertained to baptismal issues. I did not intentionally include any commentaries as I plan to use Pastor Keister's list of suggested lay-man commentaries with a few additions.
Please tell me what works are "must reads" for a prospective pastor/theologian that are not included, and please tell me what should be removed and/or is superfluous due to superior alternatives already listed.
THANK YOU!
Reading and Writing Preparation:
Adler's How to Read a Book
Strunk's The Elements of Style, 3rd edition
Zinssers's On Writing Well
Williams's Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves (note: British)
Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
Provost's Make Your Words Work
Lewis's A Preface to Paradise Lost and other literary criticism
To Read:
A’Brakel – The Christian’s Reasonable Service
Adams - Preaching with Purpose
Ahlstrom – A Religious History of the American People
Allen - Philosophy for Understanding Theology
Allender – Cry of the Soul
- The Healing Path
Ames - The Marrow of Divinity
Anyabwile - Nine Marks of a Healthy Church Member
Augustine - Confessions
- City of God
Azurdia - Spirit Empowered Preaching
Bahnsen – Van Til’s Apologetic
- Van Til's Readings and Analysis
- Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope
- Always Ready
Bainton - Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther
Bavinck – An Introduction to the Science of Missions
- Reformed Dogmatics
Baxter – Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne
- The Christian Directory
- The Reformed Pastor
Bayly - The Practice of Piety
Benner - The Care of Souls
Berkhof – Summary of Christian Doctrine
- Systematic Theology
- Introduction to Theology
Beza - The Life of John Calvin
Blamires – The Christian Mind
Blanchard – Right With God
Boettner - The Millennium
- The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
Boice – Foundations of the Christian Faith
Bonar - Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Bridges – The Disciplines of Grace
- Christian Ministry
- The Pursuit of Holiness
- The Great Exchange
Brooks - Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
Brown – Born Free
- Augustine of Hippo
- How To Talk So People Will Listen
- Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus
- Heresies
Bruce – New Testament History
- New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?
Buchanan - The Doctrine of Justification
Buechner - Telling Secrets
Bunyan – Pilgrim’s Progress
- The Life and Death of Mr. Badman
- The Holy War
Calvin – Institutes
Carnell - A Philosophy of the Christian Religion
Carson – Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon
- Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns
- Exegetical Fallacies
- Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Chapell - Christ-Centered Preaching
Chemnitz - The Two Natures of Christ
Chilton - The Days of Vengeance
Clark - God's Hammer
Clayton – Let the Reader Understand
Cloud - For Love of the Bible
Clowney – Called to the Ministry
- The Church
- The Unfolding Mystery
Cottret – Calvin: A Biography
Cowen – Five Views of Apologetics
Crabb - Inside Out
- Connecting
Crenshaw - Dispensationalism Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Cunningham – An Introduction to Theological Studies
- Historical Theology
Dale - Baptism Tetralogy
Dallimore - George Whitefield
Danielle - William Tyndale: A Biography
Davies – The Thought of Thomas Aquinas
Dever - Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Duncan - Give Praise to God
Durham - Exposition of the 10 Commandments
- On Scandal
- Christ Crucified
Edwards - Religious Affections
- The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin
Ferguson – The Christian Life
- In Christ Alone
- Grow in Grace
- Church History, Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation
Fisher - The Marrow of Modern Divinity
Flavel - The Method of Grace
Frame – Studying Theology as a Servant of Jesus
- Salvation Belongs to the Lord
- Perspectives on the Word of God
- The Doctrine of God
- Apologetics to the Glory of God
- The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God
- Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought
Friesen – Decision Making and the Will of God
Gaarder – Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Gay – The Way of the World
Gentry - He Shall Have Dominion
Gill - Body of Practical Divinity
Gleason – The Devoted Life
Godfrey - Reformation Sketches
- Unexpected Journey
Goldsworthy – According to Plan: the Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Goode - Charismatic Confusion
Goodwin - Sermons on Ephesians
- Christ the Mediator
Gray - A Door Opening Unto Everlasting Life
Greenway – The Pastor-Evangelist: Preacher, Model, and Mobilizer for Church Growth
Grudem – Systematic Theology
Guiness – The Call
- The Gravedigger File
Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armour
Guthrie - The Christian's Great Interest
Habermas - The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus
Hagglund - History of Theology
Hart - Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen...
- The Lost Soul of American Protestantism
Hendricksen – Survey of the Bible
Hodge – The Way of Life
- The Confession of Faith
- 3 volume Systematic Theology
Hoekema - Created in God's Image
- The Bible and the Future
Hoffecker – Building a Christian World View (vol. 1-2)
Horton – Putting Amazing Back into Grace
- God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology
- Covenant and Eschatology
- A Better Way
- Where in the World is The Church?
- Lord and Servant
- Covenant and Salvation
- People and Place
Hill - Shepherding a Child's Heart
Hull - Jesus Christ Disciplemaker
Hunt - The Vanishing Word
Johnson - A History of Christianity
Keller – The Reason for God
Kelly – If God Already Knows, Why Pray?
Kuiper – The Church in History
Kuhn – The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Kuiper - The Glorious Body of Christ
Kuyper – Lectures on Calvinism
- God-Centered Evangelism
Lewis – God in the Dock
- Mere Christianity
- Screwtape Letters
Lints – The Fabric of Theology
Lloyed-Jones - Preaching and Preachers
- Great Doctrines of the Bible
Longman – Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind
- Introduction to the Old Testament
Lundgaard – The Enemy Within & Through the Looking Glass
Luther - Bondage of the Will
MacArthur - Introduction to Biblical Counseling
MacDonald – A Resilient Life
Machen - Christianity and Liberalism
Marsden – Jonathan Edwards: A Life
Marshall - The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
McGrath – Historical Theology
McKay - The Bond of Love
McNeill - The History and Character of Calvinism
Meek – Longing to know
Metzger – Tell the Truth
Miller – Powerful Evangelism for the Powerless
Moo – Introduction to the New Testament
Morris – The Atonement
- The Genesis Flood
- Apostolic Preaching of the Cross
Muller - Post Reformation Reformed Dogamtics
- Christ and the Decree
- The Unaccommodated Calvin
- After Calvin
Murray – Redemption Accomplished and Applied
- D Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years
- D Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith
- The Forgotten Spurgeon
- Deeper Christian Life
- With Christ in the School of Prayer
- School of Obedience
- Christian Baptism
Myers - All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes
Nash – World Views in Conflict
Newbigin – The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society
Newton - Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
Niebuhr – Christ and Culture
Noll – Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
Oberman - Luther
Oliphant – The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Olson – The Story of Christian Theology
Otto - The Idea of the Holy
Owen – The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (intro by Packer)
- The Mortification of Sin
- Commentary on Hebrews
- Sacramental Discourses
- Ministry in Fellowship
- The Holy Spirit
- Communion With God
Packer – Knowing God
- Concise Theology
- Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
- God Has Spoken
Peterson – A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
- Working the Angles
Pipa - The Lord's Day
Piper – The Pleasures of God
- The Supremacy of God in Preaching
- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
- Desiring God
- The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God
- Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God
- The Roots of Edurance: Invincible perseverance in the lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon and William Wilberforce
- The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther and Calvin
- Let The Nations Be Glad
Pink - The Sovereignty of God
- Exposition of the Sermon On The Mount
Plantinga – Engaging God’s World
Powlison - Seeing With New Eyes
Poythress – The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses
- Understanding Dispensationalists
Pratt – Every Thought Captive
- He Gave Us Stories
- Pray With Your Eyes Open
Reisinger - Today's Evangelism: Its Message and Methods
Ridderbos – The Coming of the Kingdom
- Paul: An Outline of His Theology
Riddlebarger - A Case for Amillennialism
Roberts – God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible
Robertson – Christ of the Covenants
Ryle - Holiness
Sande – The Peacemaker
Sanders - Spiritual Leadership
Schaeffer - Genesis in Space and Time
- Art and the Bible
- A Christian Manifesto
- How Shall We Then Live
- The Great Evangelical Disaster
Schaff – History of the Christian Church
Scudder - The Christian's Daily Walk
Shelley – Church History In Plain Language
Silva – Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation
Sire – The Universe Next Door
Sproul - Chosen By God
- The Holiness of God
- Knowing Scripture
Spurgeon - Lectures to My Students
- The Soul Winner
Stein – Playing by the Rules
Stonehouse – The Infallible Word
Stott – Christian Mission
- Between Two Worlds
Thomas – The Lord’s Prayer
- The Ascent Psalms
Turretin - Institutes
Van Gemeren – The Progress of Redemption
Van Til – Christian Apologetics
- The Defense of the Faith
- Why I Believe in God
Venema - Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ
Vermigli - Dialogue on the Two Natures of Christ
Vitz - Psychology as Religion
Vos – Biblical Theology
Wallace - Reinventing Jesus
Waltke – Finding the Will of God
Warfield – The Religious Life of Theological Students
- Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
- Studies in Theology
- Plan of Salvation
Waters - Justification and the New Persepectives on Paul
Watson – The Godly Man’s Picture
- A Body of Divinity
- Body of Practical Divinity
Weaver – Ideas Have Consequences
Weber - Tender Warrior
Wells – No Place for Truth
Whitaker - Disputations on Holy Scripture
White - The Forgotten Trinity
- Letters to a Mormon Elder
Wilson - Persuasions
Witsius - The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man
Wolterstorff – Reason Within the Bounds of Religion
Wright – Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament
Pro Believer's Baptism:
Jewett - Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace
Malone - The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism
Schreiner - Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ
Pro Infant Baptism:
Baillie - Anabaptism: The Fountain of Independency, Antinomy, Brownism, Familism...
- Questions of Paedobaptism and Dipping Handled from Scripture
Ergatees - The Scripturalness of Infant Baptism
Fairfield - Letters on Baptism
Gale - Reflections on Mr. Wall's History of Infant Baptism
Jeremias - The Origins of Infant Baptism
Lumsden - Infant Baptism, Its Nature and Objects
Mackay - Immersion and Immersionists
Milligan - A Plea for Infant Baptism in Seven Parts
Wagner - Baptists and Infant Baptism
Wall - The History of Infant Baptism in Seven Parts
- A Defense of the History of Infant Baptism...
Metrical Psalter
WCF, Shaw's Exposition
WSC, Brown of Haddington's Exposition
3FU
Heidelberg Catechism, Ursinus' Commentary
1689 LBCF, Waldron's Exposition
Please tell me what works are "must reads" for a prospective pastor/theologian that are not included, and please tell me what should be removed and/or is superfluous due to superior alternatives already listed.
THANK YOU!
Reading and Writing Preparation:
Adler's How to Read a Book
Strunk's The Elements of Style, 3rd edition
Zinssers's On Writing Well
Williams's Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves (note: British)
Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
Provost's Make Your Words Work
Lewis's A Preface to Paradise Lost and other literary criticism
To Read:
A’Brakel – The Christian’s Reasonable Service
Adams - Preaching with Purpose
Ahlstrom – A Religious History of the American People
Allen - Philosophy for Understanding Theology
Allender – Cry of the Soul
- The Healing Path
Ames - The Marrow of Divinity
Anyabwile - Nine Marks of a Healthy Church Member
Augustine - Confessions
- City of God
Azurdia - Spirit Empowered Preaching
Bahnsen – Van Til’s Apologetic
- Van Til's Readings and Analysis
- Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope
- Always Ready
Bainton - Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther
Bavinck – An Introduction to the Science of Missions
- Reformed Dogmatics
Baxter – Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne
- The Christian Directory
- The Reformed Pastor
Bayly - The Practice of Piety
Benner - The Care of Souls
Berkhof – Summary of Christian Doctrine
- Systematic Theology
- Introduction to Theology
Beza - The Life of John Calvin
Blamires – The Christian Mind
Blanchard – Right With God
Boettner - The Millennium
- The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
Boice – Foundations of the Christian Faith
Bonar - Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Bridges – The Disciplines of Grace
- Christian Ministry
- The Pursuit of Holiness
- The Great Exchange
Brooks - Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
Brown – Born Free
- Augustine of Hippo
- How To Talk So People Will Listen
- Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus
- Heresies
Bruce – New Testament History
- New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?
Buchanan - The Doctrine of Justification
Buechner - Telling Secrets
Bunyan – Pilgrim’s Progress
- The Life and Death of Mr. Badman
- The Holy War
Calvin – Institutes
Carnell - A Philosophy of the Christian Religion
Carson – Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon
- Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns
- Exegetical Fallacies
- Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Chapell - Christ-Centered Preaching
Chemnitz - The Two Natures of Christ
Chilton - The Days of Vengeance
Clark - God's Hammer
Clayton – Let the Reader Understand
Cloud - For Love of the Bible
Clowney – Called to the Ministry
- The Church
- The Unfolding Mystery
Cottret – Calvin: A Biography
Cowen – Five Views of Apologetics
Crabb - Inside Out
- Connecting
Crenshaw - Dispensationalism Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Cunningham – An Introduction to Theological Studies
- Historical Theology
Dale - Baptism Tetralogy
Dallimore - George Whitefield
Danielle - William Tyndale: A Biography
Davies – The Thought of Thomas Aquinas
Dever - Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Duncan - Give Praise to God
Durham - Exposition of the 10 Commandments
- On Scandal
- Christ Crucified
Edwards - Religious Affections
- The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin
Ferguson – The Christian Life
- In Christ Alone
- Grow in Grace
- Church History, Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation
Fisher - The Marrow of Modern Divinity
Flavel - The Method of Grace
Frame – Studying Theology as a Servant of Jesus
- Salvation Belongs to the Lord
- Perspectives on the Word of God
- The Doctrine of God
- Apologetics to the Glory of God
- The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God
- Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought
Friesen – Decision Making and the Will of God
Gaarder – Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Gay – The Way of the World
Gentry - He Shall Have Dominion
Gill - Body of Practical Divinity
Gleason – The Devoted Life
Godfrey - Reformation Sketches
- Unexpected Journey
Goldsworthy – According to Plan: the Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Goode - Charismatic Confusion
Goodwin - Sermons on Ephesians
- Christ the Mediator
Gray - A Door Opening Unto Everlasting Life
Greenway – The Pastor-Evangelist: Preacher, Model, and Mobilizer for Church Growth
Grudem – Systematic Theology
Guiness – The Call
- The Gravedigger File
Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armour
Guthrie - The Christian's Great Interest
Habermas - The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus
Hagglund - History of Theology
Hart - Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen...
- The Lost Soul of American Protestantism
Hendricksen – Survey of the Bible
Hodge – The Way of Life
- The Confession of Faith
- 3 volume Systematic Theology
Hoekema - Created in God's Image
- The Bible and the Future
Hoffecker – Building a Christian World View (vol. 1-2)
Horton – Putting Amazing Back into Grace
- God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology
- Covenant and Eschatology
- A Better Way
- Where in the World is The Church?
- Lord and Servant
- Covenant and Salvation
- People and Place
Hill - Shepherding a Child's Heart
Hull - Jesus Christ Disciplemaker
Hunt - The Vanishing Word
Johnson - A History of Christianity
Keller – The Reason for God
Kelly – If God Already Knows, Why Pray?
Kuiper – The Church in History
Kuhn – The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Kuiper - The Glorious Body of Christ
Kuyper – Lectures on Calvinism
- God-Centered Evangelism
Lewis – God in the Dock
- Mere Christianity
- Screwtape Letters
Lints – The Fabric of Theology
Lloyed-Jones - Preaching and Preachers
- Great Doctrines of the Bible
Longman – Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind
- Introduction to the Old Testament
Lundgaard – The Enemy Within & Through the Looking Glass
Luther - Bondage of the Will
MacArthur - Introduction to Biblical Counseling
MacDonald – A Resilient Life
Machen - Christianity and Liberalism
Marsden – Jonathan Edwards: A Life
Marshall - The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
McGrath – Historical Theology
McKay - The Bond of Love
McNeill - The History and Character of Calvinism
Meek – Longing to know
Metzger – Tell the Truth
Miller – Powerful Evangelism for the Powerless
Moo – Introduction to the New Testament
Morris – The Atonement
- The Genesis Flood
- Apostolic Preaching of the Cross
Muller - Post Reformation Reformed Dogamtics
- Christ and the Decree
- The Unaccommodated Calvin
- After Calvin
Murray – Redemption Accomplished and Applied
- D Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years
- D Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith
- The Forgotten Spurgeon
- Deeper Christian Life
- With Christ in the School of Prayer
- School of Obedience
- Christian Baptism
Myers - All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes
Nash – World Views in Conflict
Newbigin – The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society
Newton - Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
Niebuhr – Christ and Culture
Noll – Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
Oberman - Luther
Oliphant – The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Olson – The Story of Christian Theology
Otto - The Idea of the Holy
Owen – The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (intro by Packer)
- The Mortification of Sin
- Commentary on Hebrews
- Sacramental Discourses
- Ministry in Fellowship
- The Holy Spirit
- Communion With God
Packer – Knowing God
- Concise Theology
- Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
- God Has Spoken
Peterson – A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
- Working the Angles
Pipa - The Lord's Day
Piper – The Pleasures of God
- The Supremacy of God in Preaching
- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
- Desiring God
- The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God
- Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God
- The Roots of Edurance: Invincible perseverance in the lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon and William Wilberforce
- The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther and Calvin
- Let The Nations Be Glad
Pink - The Sovereignty of God
- Exposition of the Sermon On The Mount
Plantinga – Engaging God’s World
Powlison - Seeing With New Eyes
Poythress – The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses
- Understanding Dispensationalists
Pratt – Every Thought Captive
- He Gave Us Stories
- Pray With Your Eyes Open
Reisinger - Today's Evangelism: Its Message and Methods
Ridderbos – The Coming of the Kingdom
- Paul: An Outline of His Theology
Riddlebarger - A Case for Amillennialism
Roberts – God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible
Robertson – Christ of the Covenants
Ryle - Holiness
Sande – The Peacemaker
Sanders - Spiritual Leadership
Schaeffer - Genesis in Space and Time
- Art and the Bible
- A Christian Manifesto
- How Shall We Then Live
- The Great Evangelical Disaster
Schaff – History of the Christian Church
Scudder - The Christian's Daily Walk
Shelley – Church History In Plain Language
Silva – Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation
Sire – The Universe Next Door
Sproul - Chosen By God
- The Holiness of God
- Knowing Scripture
Spurgeon - Lectures to My Students
- The Soul Winner
Stein – Playing by the Rules
Stonehouse – The Infallible Word
Stott – Christian Mission
- Between Two Worlds
Thomas – The Lord’s Prayer
- The Ascent Psalms
Turretin - Institutes
Van Gemeren – The Progress of Redemption
Van Til – Christian Apologetics
- The Defense of the Faith
- Why I Believe in God
Venema - Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ
Vermigli - Dialogue on the Two Natures of Christ
Vitz - Psychology as Religion
Vos – Biblical Theology
Wallace - Reinventing Jesus
Waltke – Finding the Will of God
Warfield – The Religious Life of Theological Students
- Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
- Studies in Theology
- Plan of Salvation
Waters - Justification and the New Persepectives on Paul
Watson – The Godly Man’s Picture
- A Body of Divinity
- Body of Practical Divinity
Weaver – Ideas Have Consequences
Weber - Tender Warrior
Wells – No Place for Truth
Whitaker - Disputations on Holy Scripture
White - The Forgotten Trinity
- Letters to a Mormon Elder
Wilson - Persuasions
Witsius - The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man
Wolterstorff – Reason Within the Bounds of Religion
Wright – Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament
Pro Believer's Baptism:
Jewett - Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace
Malone - The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism
Schreiner - Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ
Pro Infant Baptism:
Baillie - Anabaptism: The Fountain of Independency, Antinomy, Brownism, Familism...
- Questions of Paedobaptism and Dipping Handled from Scripture
Ergatees - The Scripturalness of Infant Baptism
Fairfield - Letters on Baptism
Gale - Reflections on Mr. Wall's History of Infant Baptism
Jeremias - The Origins of Infant Baptism
Lumsden - Infant Baptism, Its Nature and Objects
Mackay - Immersion and Immersionists
Milligan - A Plea for Infant Baptism in Seven Parts
Wagner - Baptists and Infant Baptism
Wall - The History of Infant Baptism in Seven Parts
- A Defense of the History of Infant Baptism...
Metrical Psalter
WCF, Shaw's Exposition
WSC, Brown of Haddington's Exposition
3FU
Heidelberg Catechism, Ursinus' Commentary
1689 LBCF, Waldron's Exposition
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