What I've Been Reading

I was asked the other day what books I'd read in seminary this term. I thought it would be a good idea to post the books I read and brief blurb about each of them. I'll post my Winter Term books in a few days and then the Spring Term books.

Salvation Belongs to the Lord
John Frame
This is an intro to Reformed doctrines of Scripture. It is written in a simple, straight-forward manner.

Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A History of Philosophy
Samuel Enoch Stumpf
This is a standard textbook on Philosophy. If you really like reading philosophy you probably wouldn't read a textbook. If you don't like reading philosophy you probably don't want to read a textbook about philosophy. Overall, it was one of my least favorite reads of the semester.

A Method for Prayer
Matthew Henry
This is a fascinating prayer book from everyone's favorite free Bible commentator. Henry outlines how to pray by praying Scripture. Each chapter has various types of prayer (Adoration, Confession, Petition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication) and each prayer is nearly all Scripture. Ligon Duncan has added an appendix that outlines Henry's prayers to make an easy prayer reference. I will continue to use this book for many years.

With One Voice
Reggie Kidd
Reggie was one of my professors. His book is kinda about worship, kinda about music, kinda about the heart, and kinda about Jesus. Reggie writes about three common styles of worship; Bach, Bubba, and the Blues Brothers. I found this to be an edifying read. I often found myself thinking about parts of the book long into the week.

Lectures on Calvinism
Abraham Kuyper
This book is a series of lectures that Kuyper delivered at Princeton in 1898. In the lectures he outlines how Calvinism interacts with various spheres of life. Kuyper makes a great argument for why Calvinism is the only worldview that adequately addresses religion, art, science, politics or the future. There are awkward moments where Kuyper writes less as theologian more like a white European colonialist...but overall it is a phenomenal book. My pastor in Lexington told me that if evangelicals had read his book we would have had a far better impact on society over the last 100 years. I agree.

The Gospel Myster of Sanctification
Walter Marshall
Walter Marshall (1628-80) was an English Puritan pastor. His book on sanctification is a liberating read. Marshall finds a sweet spot between the twin dangers of legalism and licentiousness. He outlines a biblical model to help the Christian pursue holiness. It was an encouraging book. It has 14 chapters and my only criticism is that there is little progression from one chapter to the next. If you want to read it, make sure to get the modernized translation...the original language is a little taxing.

Creation Regained
Albert Wolters
If I recommended only one book from my Fall semester, it would be this one. This is a biblical basis for a reformational worldview. The book centers around Creation, Fall, and Redemption. God created all things perfect. Sin marred and affected all things. Christ will come back and redeem all things. The heart of this is seen in Wolter's explanation of God's Structure (Creation as it was meant to be) and Direction (Creation as it was affected by sin). The fall affects all aspects of God's creation but God has called all Christians to participate in Christ's redemption of the world.

Tell the Truth
Will Metzger
This is an evangelism standard. Metzger helps Christians to share the whole Gospel to the whole person by the whole people. If you have questions about how to share your faith, this is a great manual to reference.

A Faith Worth Sharing
Jack Miller
This is a memoir of Jack Miller's experiences sharing his faith. He shares his successes and colossal failures in trying to share his faith. When you finish you realize that he has shown you how to share Christ with all the different types of people in your life. I often found myself reading his stories but thinking of similar people or situations in my life. You will be encouraged about sharing your faith by the book.

Evangelism and Sovereignty of God
J.I. Packer
Dr. Packer is a living legend of evangelicalism. In this book Dr. Packer clears us the confusion about the antinomy of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. Do you pray for your friends who do not know Christ? If you do then you believe in the sovereignty of God. If you believe in the sovereignty of God, then you should pray for the lost.

Christ-Centered Preaching
Bryan Chapell
Chapell serves as the president and professor of preaching at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, MO. He outlines the reason and methods of redemptive expository preaching. His method helps the preacher to find the redemptive focus of the text and then preach the Gospel answer to the problem. His process gives the preacher a structure to make sure that his sermon is clear, coherent and unified in presenting Christ.

The Supremacy of God in Preaching
John Piper
Piper's book addresses the heart of the preacher. Why should the preacher preach? He must explain and proclaim the supremacy of Christ to the world. In Part I Piper explains the Goal, Ground, and Gift of preaching in a Trinitarian formula. In Part II Piper showcases Jonathan Edwards as an example of preaching the supremacy of Christ.

We also read an unpublished book by Edmund Clowney and Tim Keller titled Preaching the Gospel in a Post-Modern World. It is a written form of lectures that they presented to students at RTS. It, like Chapell, helps the preacher to address the root sin issue in the listener's life and apply the salve of the Gospel to that wound.

If you have questions about any of the books, feel free to drop me and email. I'd love to share my thoughts on them. Enjoy!