Critique This Reading List, please!

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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
 
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I am probably not in the best position to comment on theological works. However, I will say that Lewis speaks in many cases from a non-reformed perspective and seems to advocate free will in Mere Christianity. Also, another Spurgeon book to look at is Soul Winner, which I am currently reading.

Amazon.com: The Soulwinner: C. H. Spurgeon: Books

However, I will on Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

This book is all about punctuation. It is a lot of rants about punctuation and using it correctly. Truss goes through and talks about each punctuation mark and its uses. While it is very etertaining, you could probably find a much better book to read on this topic. The book is written by a British author and is thus based on British grammar rules. With punctuation, these vary in small ways from American English. If do not know your punctuation really well, you'll likely end up getting a bit mixed up about some things. That said, it is again a very etertaining read!
 
Add some books on missions. Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad at least.

Also, for writing preparation get Gary Provost's "Make your words Work" or his 100 different ways to improve your writing.
 
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.

And you wanted to finish those *before* you start your first pastoral charge? Who's willing to hire a 70 year old rookie pastor?
 
And you wanted to finish those *before* you start your first pastoral charge? Who's willing to hire a 70 year old rookie pastor?

Haha :) Nah, I have no time frame in which I want to finish these. I just want a thorough list of theological gems to study and read as I grow in Christ.
 
However, I will on Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

This book is all about punctuation. It is a lot of rants about punctuation and using it correctly. Truss goes through and talks about each punctuation mark and its uses. While it is very etertaining, you could probably find a much better book to read on this topic. The book is written by a British author and is thus based on British grammar rules. With punctuation, these vary in small ways from American English. If do not know your punctuation really well, you'll likely end up getting a bit mixed up about some things. That said, it is again a very etertaining read!

...and the Brits just rescinded the "i before e" rule! Link here.
 
It's kind of big list, and not entirely practical. I might recommend making a bit smaller of a list. Also, before tackling the more modern works, it might be helpful to be more thoroughly versed in the older, foundational works: it's helpful to hear Turretin and Witsius before hearing Ridderbos and Horton. While it might not be as glamorous, slowly digesting a few tomes will repay the careful reader in his further studies. The following list was simply quickly pulled out of thin air (and so could certainly be improved in a matter of seconds), but it feels like a good starting place with a few works to cover a broad range of topics.

--Turretin: Institutes of Elenctic Theology
--Fisher, Edward: The Marrow of Modern Divinity
--Durham, James: Exposition of the 10 Commandments; On Scandal; Christ Crucified (Sermons on Isaiah 53)
--Whitaker, William: Disputations on Holy Scripture
--Muller, Richard: Post Reformation Reformed Dogamtics; Christ and the Decree; The Unaccommodated Calvin; After Calvin
--Vermigli, Peter: Dialogue on the Two Natures of Christ
--Goodwin, Thomas: Sermons on Ephesians; Christ the Mediator
--Calvin, John: Sermons on Deuteronomy and Job; Commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah and NT Epistles
--Sibbes, Richard: The Bruised Reed
--Guthrie, William: The Christian's Great Interest
--Vos: Biblical Theology
--Venema, Cornelius: Gospel of Free Acceptance in Christ
--Waters, Guy Prentiss: Justification and the New Persepectives on Paul
--Owen, John: Commentary on Hebrews; Sacramental Discourses
--Ames, William: Marrow of Theology

I mostly left commentaries out, but these are equally important: the reading of dogmatic works should never be separated from a corresponding reading of exegetical works. The two must go together.

More importantly: as you read more, you'll start to get a better sense of what you want/need to read.
 
It's kind of big list, and not entirely practical. I might recommend making a bit smaller of a list. Also, before tackling the more modern works, it might be helpful to be more thoroughly versed in the older, foundational works: it's helpful to hear Turretin and Witsius before hearing Ridderbos and Horton. While it might not be as glamorous, slowly digesting a few tomes will repay the careful reader in his further studies.

I wholeheartedly agree. Just reading Turretin's Institutes will go along way for a foundation that will establish a framework to understand what other people are talking about. In that same vein, get Calvin's Institutes under you belt too.

Those are both doable but substantial projects.

I haven't read all of the others Paul has mentioned, but I think the time I spent reading 7 or 8 Owen volumes was well-spent too. You definitely will be able to refine your list as you learn to separate fruitful reading from chaff.

BTW, (E.B.White Curmudgeon alert) for "Elements of Style," be sure to get the older edition--the 3rd (I think). That was done before it succumbed to political correctness.
 
My advice is,
First, realize that of making many books there is no end. It is possible to drown in reading. Without reflection, without cultivating a habit of attentive observation and comparison, a lot of reading will simply give you mental indigestion.
Second, realize that a lot of times you learn more indirectly than directly. Thus reading a book about "how to write better" may not be nearly so helpful as reading a book that explains why a good book has such vivid impact (and here is where Lewis' literary criticism is superb: you can start with A Preface to Paradise Lost).
Third, theology doesn't take place in a vacuum, and there is not an absolute divide between theological writers and other writers. It will give you a better feel for language, for diction, for the concepts and presuppositions of the author of a given period if you know more than just the narrow theological arena. Thus, for instance, putting the Puritans in their context of Restoration Drama, with all its nastiness, or being able to place Whitefield among Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mrs. Piozzi will grant you a wider scope and field of understanding.
Fourth, beware of fads. I was reading Niebuhr yesterday who felt that certain things were just impossible for any one to hold in the year of our Lord 1927. Well, it is now the year of our Lord 2009, and the invincible ignorance that holds to the unity of Isaiah is still around, whereas no one considers Niebuhr very cutting edge or relevant anymore. I mention this because there were a lot of living authors on your list.
Fifth, there are gaps and overlaps in your list. I see no pagans, no poetry, no medieval writings, very little imaginative literature of any kind, very little that would give you rational opposition. But then you do have on there such utter wastes of time as Hislop's Two Babylons and Robinson's Biblical Preaching.

I don't know how quickly you read, or how much you have read, so you may not have to make this choice, but I would rather have the sort of books of which it is inconceivable to say, "Oh yes, I've read that" as though going through it once was enough, and chew on those (like Orwell's collected Essays or Johnson's Lives of the English Poets), than to have all the momentary best-sellers or latest controversial pamphlets.
 
Some ideas....

  • Charles Hodge - 3 volume systematic theology
  • Jonathan Edwards - The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin
  • John Owen - Ministry in Fellowship (13th volume of his works)
  • John Owen - The Holy Spirit
  • John Owen - Communion With God
  • Thomas Watson - Body of Practical Divinity
  • Poythress - The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses
  • Ken Gentry - He Shall Have Dominion
  • Thomas Brooks - Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices
  • Andrew Murray - Deeper Christian Life
  • Andrew Murray - With Christ in the School of Prayer
  • Andrew Murray - School of Obedience
  • John Gill - Body of Practical Divinity

Just make sure you spend more time with the Lord than in the books :2cents:
 
Leon Morris - Apostolic Preaching of the Cross
John Murray - Christian Baptism
Herman Ridderbos - Paul: An Outline of His Theology
D A Carson - Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Great list by the way!
 
Thank you all very much. I updated the list and plan to first digest Turretin, Calvin, and perhaps a bit of Owen as a foundation to build upon.




Fifth, there are gaps and overlaps in your list. I see no pagans, no poetry, no medieval writings, very little imaginative literature of any kind, very little that would give you rational opposition.


This is true. The seminary lists and the many suggestions I've seen on the PB typically don't provide great amounts of rational opposition or non-theological works in general. I'll do some digging and see if I can find some though.
 
If you do read some lit or poetry, a very fun book to supplement that is How to Read Literature Like a Professor. It isn't Christian, and I don't see a specific reason it would be good for a pastor, but it was good for a literature lover.
Book
 
The suggests so far seem wise to me, especially adding in some older works. How about adding more of the church fathers--perhaps some of their commentaries currently being published (e.g., in Oden's series)?

Also, though less profitable, what about adding the works of major non-Reformed theologians? Peiper's Lutheran Dogmatics, Aquinas and other medievals, samples of the liberal theologians since the 18th century, and recent figures like Barth, Pannenberg, Moltmann, et al? If only, that is, so you can intellegently and confidently speak about these major thinkers without misrepresenting their work?
 
For me, Triumph of Truth by Jean Henri Merle D'Aubigne was the ultimate book on Luther!!

-----Added 6/23/2009 at 03:30:09 EST-----

Also, The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock is a must for the list!!
 
Thank you all very much. I updated the list and plan to first digest Turretin, Calvin, and perhaps a bit of Owen as a foundation to build upon.

Fifth, there are gaps and overlaps in your list. I see no pagans, no poetry, no medieval writings, very little imaginative literature of any kind, very little that would give you rational opposition.

This is true. The seminary lists and the many suggestions I've seen on the PB typically don't provide great amounts of rational opposition or non-theological works in general. I'll do some digging and see if I can find some though.

Try Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell for stimulants to thought that don't necessarily line up with your ideas, but that will be very valuable (and whose writing is all quite different but superb).

Older theologians (pre-Reformation) are also very valuable at challenging assumptions: church fathers of particular charm are Augustine, Leo and Theodoret. Boethius and Pseudo-Dionysius had tremendous impact during the Middle Ages. It will mess with your conceptions about eschatology to realize that a debate exercising Aquinas was whether the stars would get brighter at the end of the world. (There's also an advantage to reading things in chains -e.,g., Cicero, Augustine, Boethius, Aquinas, Turretin- because you feel like you're with old friends.)

On literature, read what you enjoy; but from English-language literature consider Pearl (the Tolkien translation is the best, I think); Malory's Morte d'Arthur (unabridged!); Daniel Defoe (paying close attention to the way people change their minds), Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, T.H. White, Laurence Sterne, James Boswell, Katherine Mansfield, Kate Chopin, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, Stephen R. Donaldson, Dorothy Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Shakespeare, and the general run of poets - A. Lindsay Gordon, P.B. Shelley, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, C.S. Lewis' Narrative Poems, etc.
 
Sinclair Ferguson recommends 'The Four Johns':

John the Apostle
John Calvin
John Owen
John Murray
 
I agree with Prufrock in terms of reading order. Read the best so that you will have a basis to judge the rest. That being said, here are a few of my thoughts:

Books to add: Bunyan's Grace Abounding, Gordon Clark's Thales to Dewey, Flavel on God's Providence, the Goldsworthy Trilogy, Kuyper's Principles of Sacred Theology (that one ought to be near the top of the list, actually), Oberman's Harvest of Medieval Theology, Owen, volume 5 on Justification, Piper's Future of Justification, Van Til's Introduction to Systematic Theology, Waltke's Old Testament Theology, the rest of Wells's tetralogy, Pierre Marcel on infant baptism, and D.A. Carson's book The Gagging of God.

I note that you have doubled two different author's works in several places. There are two Ferguson's, for example. The church historian is Everett Ferguson, while the theologian is Sinclair. There are two different Morris's, Henry Morris, who wrote on Genesis and creation, and Leon Morris, who wrote on the atonement. There are two Murray's, the theologian John Murray, and the historian and biographer Iain Murray.
 
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