Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

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_Tosh
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _Tosh »

Just a short list ....

Jesus The Egyptian: The Origins of Christianity And The Psychology of Christ - Richard A Gabriel
Gospel of Thomas
Tiberius - Robin Seager
Flavius Josephus: Jewish History and the Greek World
Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs:Historical Contemporary - Sol Scharfsteing
First Council of Nicaea
History from the Council of Nicaea to the Council of Constantinople
_Maksutov
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _Maksutov »

Meadowchik wrote:What about atheistic books on Christianity or religion?


Should Christians read Hitchens? What an interesting question.
"God" is the original deus ex machina. --Maksutov
_LittleNipper
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _LittleNipper »

I would highly recommend

Dispensational Truth or (God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages) Published 1918 By Clarence Larkin. He clearly awakened thoughts surrounding the inevitable return of Our Lord Jesus Christ. His research actually influenced the Left Behind series.
Last edited by Guest on Fri Feb 23, 2018 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
_Johannes
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _Johannes »

Maksutov wrote:
Meadowchik wrote:What about atheistic books on Christianity or religion?


Should Christians read Hitchens? What an interesting question.


No.

Richard Dawkins, yes.

Sam Harris and A. C. Grayling, possibly.

But Hitchens? No. He was an embarrassment to New Atheism. Half-baked, self-regarding, rightwing tripe.
_nebosite
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _nebosite »

Lost Christianities by Bart Ehrman
_mikegriffith1
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _mikegriffith1 »

Below are four I would recommend. These books will show any modern Protestant that their version of Christianity is far removed from the Christianity that the ancient Christians taught and practiced.

1. The Apostolic Fathers, edited by Jack N. Sparks.

2. Justin Martyr's extant writings, such as The Writings of Justin Martyr, edited by Karen Bullock.

3. Early Christian Doctrines, by J. N. D. Kelly.

4. Orthodox Christianity, by Bishop Alexander Mileant.
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_Everybody Wang Chung
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _Everybody Wang Chung »

mikegriffith1 wrote:Below are four I would recommend. These books will show any modern Protestant that their version of Christianity is far removed from the Christianity that the ancient Christians taught and practiced.

1. The Apostolic Fathers, edited by Jack N. Sparks.

2. Justin Martyr's extant writings, such as The Writings of Justin Martyr, edited by Karen Bullock.

3. Early Christian Doctrines, by J. N. D. Kelly.

4. Orthodox Christianity, by Bishop Alexander Mileant.


Umm, Mike. I hope you're also aware that these books show that Mormonism is far, far removed from the Christianity that the ancient Christians taught and practiced?
"I'm on paid sabbatical from BYU in exchange for my promise to use this time to finish two books."

Daniel C. Peterson, 2014
_LittleNipper
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _LittleNipper »

My hope is that the Bible is the one book everyone reads FIRST.
_moksha
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _moksha »

reading bird wrote:Four books to make for a caring and well rounded Christian.

1. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
2. Labor's Untold Story by Richard O. Boyer
3. The legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller by Gustave Flaubert
4. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

These all seem so liberal. What about "Art of the Deal" for evangelicals (small e)?
Cry Heaven and let loose the Penguins of Peace
_Markk
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Re: Drafting "100 Books Every Christian Should Read"

Post by _Markk »

MsJack wrote:Johannes suggested on Water Dog's "re-education" thread that I do a thread here in Celestial on this, so here it is.

Let me start with my "definitely" list. The draft of my post explaining how I'm compiling this list is below, but in short: I'm trying to capture the wisdom, breadth, and diversity of the Christian tradition. There's a limit of one book per author (though a few authors may have both an authorship and an "edited by" or a co-authorship).

1. After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity edited and compiled by Bart D. Ehrman (100-300; 2014)
2. On the Incarnation by Athanasius (c. 318)
3. Confessions by Augustine (c. 398)
4. On Loving God by Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1128)
5. Aquinas's Shorter Summa: Saint Thomas's Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas (1274); or, Summa Theologica (1274) if you're really ambitious
6. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1320)
7. Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich (1395)
8. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis (1427)
9. The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther (1525)
10. A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin (1539); or, Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Vols.) (1536) if you're ambitious
11. Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila (1588)
12. Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667)
13. The Souls of Purgatory by Ursula de Jesús (d. 1668)
14. Pensées by Blaise Pascal (1669)
15. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (1678)
16. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence (1691)
17. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Writings by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (d. 1695), edited and translated by Pamela Kirk Rappaport (2005)
18. A Plain Account of Christian Perfection by John Wesley (1738)
19. The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards (also his short “Personal Narrative,” available online) (1746)
20. The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen by Richard Allen (1793)
21. Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee, Giving an Account of Her Call to Preach the Gospel by Jarena Lee (1836)
22. The Way of Life by Charles Hodge (c. 1841)
23. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880)
24. The Greatness of Christ and Other Sermons by Alexander Crummell (1882)
25. All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon (1886)
26. Popular Christianity by Catherine Booth (1887)
27. True Stories of the Miracles of Azusa Street and Beyond by Tommy Welchel and Michelle Griffith (1906-1909 / 2013)
28. Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton (1908)
29. This Is That: The Experiences, Sermons and Writings of Aimee Semple McPherson by Aimee Semple McPherson (1921)
30. Pandita Ramabai: The Story of Her Life by Helen S. Dyer (d. 1922 / 2004)
31. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1937)
32. The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (1948)
33. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (1948)
34. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman (1949)
35. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (1949)
36. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (1952) (personally, I think Till We Have Faces is C. S. Lewis' best work)
37. The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee (1957)
38. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engel (1962)
39. Silence by Shusaku Endo (1966)
40. The Trumpet of Conscience by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1967)
41. Knowing God by J. I. Packer (1973)
42. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (1978)
43. How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart (1982)
44. The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul (1985)
45. Desiring God by John Piper (1986)
46. The Historic Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg (1987)
47. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement by Ruth A. Tucker (1989)
48. Boundaries: Where to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend (1992)
49. The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen (1992)
50. Giving Birth: Reclaiming the Biblical Metaphor for Pastoral Practice by Margaret L. Hammer (1994)
51. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman (1995)
52. Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. (1996)
53. You Are Special by Max Lucado (1997)
54. Rachel’s Tears: The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Joy Scott by Darrell Scott, Beth Nimmo, & Steve Rabey (1999)
55. Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World by Pui-Lan Kwok (2003)
56. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy edited by Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Ronald W. Pierce, & Gordon D. Fee (2004)
57. The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others by Scot McKnight
58. The Language of God by Francis Collins (2006)
59. The Shack by William Paul Young (2007)
60. Crazy Love by Francis Chan (2008)
61. The Reason for God by Tim Keller (2008)
62. Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright (2008)
63. Jesus Girls: True Stories of Growing Up Female & Evangelical edited by Hannah Faith Notess (2009)
64. When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett (2009)
65. The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Joan Chittister (2010)
66. Hope Abundant: Third World & Indigenous Women's Theology edited by Pui-Lan Kwok (2010)
67. Walking From East to West: God in the Shadows by Ravi Zacharias (2010)
68. The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone (2013)
69. Disunity in Christ by Christena Cleveland (2013)
70. In the Company of the Poor by Paul Farmer & Gustavo Gutierrez (2013)
71. The Story of Christianity (2. Vols) by Justo L. Gonzalez
72. The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns (2015)
73. Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah (2015)
74. Rescuing the Gospel from Cowboys by Richard Twiss (2015)
75. Lessons from the East: Finding the Future of Western Christianity in the Global Church by Bob Roberts, Jr. (2016)
76. The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World by Sandra Maria Van Opstal (2016)
77. Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans (2016)

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Open to suggestions on what else to add.



“Knowing God” (Packer) was a very important read for me.

“12 Ordinary Men,” John MacAuthur

“The Heart of Christianity,” Ron Rhodes
Don't take life so seriously in that " sooner or later we are just old men in funny clothes" "Tom 'T-Bone' Wolk"
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