I highly recommend The Mortification of Sin by John Owen with a foreword by J.I. Packer. The longer title of Owen's book is On the Mortification of Sin in Believers, and it is available online in entirety for free (here and here). It's another short and small book with 176 half-sized pages. I highly recommend it! John Owen (1616 - 1683) was a Reformer who lived a hundred years before Jonathan Edwards, and was a famous Calvinist theologian, and church leader in England. In this book, Owen describ... continue reading...

Here I Stand : A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton is a best selling biography of Martin Luther (amazon). I found a 1955 paperback edition at Half Price Books for a few dollars. My copy has about 300pages and says "Over A Million Sold" on the cover. The first chapter is captivating, and every other page has a wood cut print from the Reformation Era that corresponds to the biography. So its no wonder that this book became a best seller, based on woodcut prints alone. Unfortunately, I became... continue reading...

Does God love all people? It's not so simple as "God hates the sin but loves the sinner." It's a difficult question, because although God demonstrated love to the entire world through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, that sacrifice ultimately results in an eternal judgment in the lake of fire, that is so severe, that its hard to say that God truly ever loved that lost person in the first place. So is it conscionable to tell a non-Christian that God loves them when God may have predestined ... continue reading...

Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards is a masterpiece. Jonathan Edwards is the greatest theologian America has ever known, and this book is a testimony to that fact. Following the Second Great Awakening many people abandoned the Christian faith which they embraced during the revivals. Many people who appeared to be genuinely converted reverted to their previous worldly lifestyle and many were even worse than before the revivals began. This begs the question, how can we know for certain wheth... continue reading...

I've decided to compile a list of theology books that I've read. I've grouped them into categories, in case you are looking for a good book to read. I plan to keep this list updated, and may rank them eventually, but currently the lists are not in order. There are many other books that I've read, and I'll try to add them when I get time.Theology Books I've Read and Recommend:John Piper, "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist"John Piper, "The Future of Justification: A Response to N. ... continue reading...

Christian Classics CurriculumHere is a reading list of Christian Classic Literature that I received from The Gospel Coalition that was created by Mark Dever and Michael J. Thate. I changed the format from a schedule to a list, and then placed strikes through books that I've read. (You may find a mirror of the original schedule version here.) I will update this list as I finish books.Early ChurchHenry Bettenson, Documents of the Early Church The Martyrdom of PolycarpPolycarp, Epistle to the Phili... continue reading...

Francis Schaeffer is one of my all time favorite authors, and I recommend all of his books, especially to Christians and Non-Christians who are interesting Western Philosophy. (His wife Edith has some good books too.) I just completed Genesis in Space and Time (PDF) by Francis Schaeffer. In this layman book, Francis Schaeffer writes a commentary on the Primeval History (Genesis 1-11) that defends a historical (non-spiritualized) interpretation of the text. The book is short, 163 pages with wide ... continue reading...

F.F. Bruce is well known for his bible commentaries, so I was delighted to discover a dusty old hardcover book at Half Price Books titled: Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls (read online) by F.F. Bruce. Someone in the 1990's had clipped out newspaper articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls and had inserted them into the book, along with train tickets, and the pages of the hardcover had shadows from where the faded old clippings had remained for so many years since the book was published in 1956, (... continue reading...

I found an out-of-print book by D.A. Carson at the library titled, "The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17." (There was a limited reprint of this book in the U.K. with the new title, Jesus and His Friends: An Exposition of John 14-17) This book is a 200pg non-technical commentary on the entire Farewell Discourse, including the High Priestly Prayer (John 17). These four chapters are among the most important in the bible, as well as most difficult to understa... continue reading...

I found a small book at Half Price Books titled, Essays on the Lord's Supper (amazon), which contained Oscar Cullman's essay: The Meaning of the Lord's Supper in Primitive Christianity. The entire essay is available online within the Google Books Preview. Oscar Cullman suggests a cultic origin to the Lord's Supper, suggesting that the meal was a continuation of the daily meals that Jesus enjoyed with his disciples, and that the Institution of the Lord's supper in the Synoptic tradition was only ... continue reading...

Dr. D.A. Carson is one of the top New Testament scholars alive today. I'm listening to D.A. Carson's 26-part lecture series on the Book of Revelation that I found on thegospelcoalition.org. In part 6, between 22:30 and 31:00, Carson asserts that Congregational Polity is the correct form of Church Government. He even taunts his class to try to debate him on the issue, which is a rare and bold move by Carson. I recommend you download and fast-forward to 22:30 and listen to this short segment. Down... continue reading...