Some of My Favorite Books

December, 2006

by: Jack Hughes

We have been doing a series on church government which I am planning on getting back to, but for this Calvary Review I am going to tell you about my favorite books. My secretary, Ruth Fish suggested that this might be helpful for people as Christmas time approaches. Books make very good presents. But there is a catch. If I tell you very much about the books I like, then I won’t be able to tell you about very many books. If I tell you about many of the books I like, I won’t be able to tell you much about them. I have decided to choose the latter and you will just have to trust me that the books I like are good.

There are some suggestions and personal preferences I would also like to share:

1. Hardback books are better than paper backs.
2. Newer is better than older as the paper quality and type set is often better, brighter and easier to read. The newer editions are often updated and have typographical errors corrected. The exception is with books published a hundred years ago or more. In that instance, older is always better. There is nothing like the smell and look of an old book printed in the 16th to the 19th century. They have character.
3. The less a book costs, the better. Why pay $60 for a book that you can purchase for $30? With a little searching on the internet you can often get books at a very good discount which will save you money so you can buy more books. At the end of this article I will give you some places where I often find books at a good discount.
4. The more Scripture references, quotations, and biblical illusions in a book, the better. As Solomon rightly said in Eccl. 12:12, “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” Life is too short to read bad books. Every book must at the very least be entertaining to read. Better is that books be spiritually edifying even though difficult to read. Best of all is that books be spiritually edifying, engaging, and fun to read.

To end the prolegomena (look it up in the dictionary), I would like to point out that many books are now being produced in the form of audio CD. Some can be downloaded from the internet in MP3 format and listened to with any MP3 player, computer, or car stereo that has MP3 playing capability. Some people have a hard time reading books but spend a lot of time traveling. Investing in some edifying audio books would be well worth the investment. They can be listened to with ease while commuting. There are also thousands of digital books available today that can be searched, scanned, copied, and pasted using Bible software like Logos, Libronix Bible software. I have over a thousand digital books and theological journals loaded on my computer which I use to prepare Bible studies and sermons. For the purpose of this article we will focus on the old fashioned paper books. To save space I will only give minimal information, usually the book title and author or publisher.

Devotional books

• Morning and Evening, C. H. Spurgeon
• Letters of Samuel Rutherford, these are letters that Puritan Samuel Rutherford wrote to people after he was ejected from his pulpit and exiled, Banner of Truth
• The Valley of Vision, collection of Puritan prayers, Arthur Bennett (audio version by Max McLean is very wonderful)
• The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts, Isaac Watts wrote hymns for every Psalm and many others, Soli Deo Gloria
• Worthy is the Lamb, a collection of Puritan poems, Soli Deo Gloria

Historical/Biographical

• New Fox’s Book of Martyrs, stories of Christians martyred for Christ throughout history, John Fox, updated by Harold Chadwick
• Light from Old Times (or Paths), biographies of those killed by bloody Mary Queen of England, J. C. Ryle
• The Christian Leaders of the 18th Century (or Last Century or England a Hundred Years Ago), short biographies of men like Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, and others, J. C. Ryle
• The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, short biographies of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin, John Piper; Worldly Saints, history of the Puritans and their way of life, Leland Ryken
• Quest for Godliness, history of the Puritans and their way of life, J. I. Packer
• Five Leading Reformers, short biographies of Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, John Calvin, John Knox, Ulrich Zwingly, by Christopher Catherwood
• The Forgotten Spurgeon, biography, Iain Murray; Spurgeon the Prince of Preachers, comprehensive biography of Spurgeon, Lewis Drummond
• Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, Iain Murray
• William Carey, a biography of one of the most godly and dedicated missionaries of all time, by grandson S. Pearce Carey
• Eric Liddell: Pure Gold, biography of the “flying Scotsman” who refused to run in the Olympics on Sunday and who later became a missionary, David McCasland
• Marriage to A Difficult Man, biography of Jonathan Edwards from the perspective of his wife, Elisabeth Dodds
• The Word of God in English, the history behind English translations of the Bible, Leland Ryken

Theology and Doctrine

• Body of Divinity, major doctrines of the Bible clearly explained and applied, Thomas Watson
• Christian Theology, good readable systematic theology covering most of the major doctrines of the Bible, Millard Erickson
• Systematic Theology, readable systematic theology that covers the major doctrines of the Bible, Wayne Grudem
• Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, like a dictionary with many short articles which focus on what the Bible says about different doctrines, Walter Elwell
• Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, many short articles focusing on what men have said about different doctrines, Walter Elwell
• Gospel According to Jesus, Jesus’ view of the Gospel compared to what the modern church today is preaching, John MacArthur
• Knowledge of the Holy, easy reading, smaller study of the doctrine of God, A. W. Tozer
• Attributes of God, easy reading, smaller study of the doctrine of God, A. W. Pink
• Knowing God, easy to read doctrine of God, J. I. Packer
• No One Like Him, pretty easy to read and more comprehensive doctrine of God, John Feinberg
• All Things for Good, providence of God simply explained and applied, Thomas Watson
• Mischief of Sin, doctrine of sin simply explained and applied, Thomas Watson
• Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, discusses the tension between God’s sovereign will and man’s need to repent and believe, J. I. Packer
• Sinners in the Hands of a Good God, discusses how God’s mercy can be reconciled with His justice, David Coltfelter
• How we Got the Bible, entry level discussion of the Bible, where it came from and its reliability, Niel Lightfoot

Bible Survey, History, Background, and Introduction

• Talk Through the Bible, brief background, content, themes, outlines, and survey of each book of the Bible, Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa
• History of Israel, Old Testament history of Israel, Walt Kaiser; Kingdom of Priests, Old Testament history of Israel, Eugene Merrill

Study Bibles

• MacArthur Study Bible, available in New King James Version and New American Standard Version–the best study Bible which matches the doctrine of Calvary Bible Church, Nelson
• NASB Study Bible, first appeared as the NIV Study Bible but later a New American Standard Bible edition was made–good notes but often neutral in what view is best
• New Open Bible, good maps, charts and helps but comments more neutral
• Ryrie Study Bible, good study Bible with helpful notes which for the most part match the doctrine of Calvary Bible Church

Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

• Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary
• Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia, 5 volumes
• Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Harper;
• New Bible Dictionary, Inter-varsity Press
• The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3 volumes, Inter-varsity Press
• Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nelson

How to Study the Bible (Hermeneutics)

• How to Study the Bible, entry level, Richard Mayhue
• How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, entry level, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart
• Basic Bible Interpretation, intermediate level, Roy Zuck
• Protestant Biblical Interpretation, advanced level, Bernard Ramm

Personal Growth Issue Related books

• Pilgrim’s Progress, allegory of the Christian life which teaches many important lessons about the Christian life, John Bunyan. The best unabridged version in modern English is edited by Cheryl Ford, best abridged illustrated version is by Gary Schmidt.
• The Pursuit of Holiness, how to grow as a Christian, Jerry Bridges
• The God Who Hears, questions about prayer and how prayer works explained, Bingham Hunter
• The Godly Man’s Picture, killer convicting book for those who like a severe spiritual beating, Thomas Watson
• Heaven Taken by Storm, how to make the pursuit of heaven the priority of your life, Thomas Watson
• How Readest Thou?, good short book about reading your Bible, J. C. Ryle
• Holiness, how to pursue holiness in your life, J. C. Ryle
• Reckless Faith, addresses the lack of spiritual discernment in many churches today and how to avoid it, John MacArthur
• Vanishing Conscience, addresses compromise in the church today and how to avoid it, John MacArthur
• Our Sufficiency in Christ, addresses how the church is denying Christ’s sufficiency and what the Bible says about it, John MacArthur

Leadership

• Agape Leadership, short work containing powerful lessons from the life of R. C. Chapman, Alexander Strauch
• The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter
• The Minister as Shepherd, Charles Jefferson
• Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders
• Shepherdology, John MacArthur

Places to purchase books

I would begin with the Calvary Bible Church book store. We sell books in our book store at a good discount. If we don’t have it, Alvin can order it. If you are desperate to get the book you want right away you might try Grace Books International located on the campus of Grace Community Church (1-800-472-2315). For good deals on books in general try www.amazon.com; www.christianbook.com; For new, used and rare books www.alibris.com; www.ebay.com; For rare ancient Bibles and less expensive facsimile reproductions or rare Bibles www.greatsite.com; For audio books www.christianaudio.com; For free downloadable books, articles, and sermons www.ccel.org; www.sermonaudio.com.

Study to show yourself approved!