book recommendations?

[deborah4god]

Any book recommendations for someone needing strengthening in theology? I attend a reformed presbyterian church, was raised that way, but looking to get deeper into it especially since I have babies now.

 

[Eddie L]

Deborah,

Years ago when I discovered there was a label for how I interpreted the Bible I found a lot of help sorting it all out in books by R.C Sproul. He has a couple of books that are very dry, but a lot of what he's written is easy to grab onto.

Later, once I'd settled my mind on what the theology was, a bomb hit me in the center of my life and a friend offered some mentoring that was just wonderful. I was introduced to the books How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp and Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp. These guys have written to show what it means in the HERE AND NOW if we truly believe what our theology teaches.

Recently I read Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian, and he discusses how radical the gospel really is when compared to our natural model of performance-oriented living. This one is one you have to think over, and it is hard to express in a book what the author is trying to say, which means he's likely to be misunderstood by a LOT of people. It was really helpful to me, though.

Anyway, I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I'm sure there are more academically minded folk here that will have their own recommendations.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Any book recommendations for someone needing strengthening in theology? I attend a reformed presbyterian church, was raised that way, but looking to get deeper into it especially since I have babies now.

I recommend most all of R.C. Sproul's books. He is a great theologian, and even better writer. What I mean is, he is able to teach theology and bring it down from the ivory tower to the masses. There are so many great theologians I could recommend, but R.C. Sproul is one of the most readable. I will post a few links along with reader reviews from Amazon.com.

Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology by R.C. Sproul (I believe this book has been re-released under the title "What Is Reformed Theology?")

"In 'Grace Unknown', R.C.Sproul is concerned with answering the question, what is Reformed Theology? The first half of the book deals with 'The Foundations of Reformed Theology'. The five foundations are as follows:

1)Centered on God,
2)Based on God's Word Alone,
3)Commited to Faith Alone,
4)Devoted to the Prophet,Priest,and King and
5)Nicknamed Covenant Theology.

The second half of the book gives a summary of 'The Doctrines of Grace' often referred to by the popular acrostic TULIP. Mr. Sproul never disappoints when it comes to analyzing terms that are used and how at times they can be misleading. For example, in the acrostic 'TULIP', the T stands for Total Depravity. Total Depravity is often thought to be utter depravity, which would mean that a person is as wicked as he could be. The author writes on p.118 ,"The term Total Depravity... refers to the effect of sin and corruption on the whole person." He then suggests that a better term to use might be radical corruption. Mr. Sproul's extensive knowledge of church history as it relates to Reformed Theology will give the reader much help in understanding how Reformed Theology and "The Church of Rome" differ. Historic Protestantism views the Bible as the only source of infallible revelation. Whereas the Roman Catholic Church has taught historically that there are two sources of infallible special revelation: scripture and church tradition. If you need or would like an answer to the question "What is Reformed Theology?",it would be difficult to find a more clear and concise answer to that important question than is found in the book "Grace Unknown"."

Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul

"In "Chosen by God," R.C. Sproul does a fabulous job of explaining and defending the Christian doctrines of election and predestination from a Calvinist viewpoint. This book has proved to be an invaluable resource -- and a source of validation -- for people who, like me, are constantly bombarded by Arminian theology.

Dr. Sproul takes the classic acronym TULIP and expounds on each of its five major elements, actually suggesting alternate letters to comprise the acronym -- I think he ended up with something like RSLEP, which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Much of the book focuses on the critical need to understand the concept of human depravity and fallenness -- the "T" in TULIP. Once that doctrine is adequately communicated, the remaining four points follow almost of logical necessity. I personally love his nutshell summary of these great truths: "Some receive justice; others receive mercy. No one receives injustice."

Dr. Sproul is very thorough in defending the Calvinist model against all of the main criticisms and arguments leveled by Arminians. No stone is left unturned as he debunks each of these unbiblical myths. And he does it all in an extremely readable manner. The book is written for the layperson, and is very successful in speaking to its target audience without sounding like a dry dissertation.

When I finished this book, I was left with a new appreciation for just how marvelous God's grace is to us as sinful human beings. I was at the same time truly grateful and humbled that God would choose me of all people to enjoy his mercy, salvation and eternal blessings. In other words, Dr. Sproul provides a gift of perspective by articulating these wonderful doctrines clearly and in a way that hits the reader right where he lives.

This book is a "must read" for every Christian. Having a fuller understanding of these truths can only strengthen your walk with God."

Willing to Believe: The Controversy over Free Will by R.C. Sproul

"I found this book quite interesting; it helped me to understand the historical development of the free will/salvation debate. The author, R.C. Sproul, is a committed Calvinist but this does not hinder his presentation of opposing theologians. He quotes from primary source material whenever possible and even though this may be difficult to understand at times, I think it is the best way to proceed.
Sproul's approach was to look at all the important figures in Church history who have contributed to the free-will/salvation debate. He starts by contrasting Pelagius and Augustine. Even though they lived about 1,500 years ago, they set the groundwork for the debate. Pelagius is almost universally condemned as being heretical, both in his time and ours. The other theologians covered are: Martin Luther, John Calvin, James Arminius, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Grandison Finney and Lewis Sperry Chafer. Sproul also covers semi-Pelagianism as taught by Cassian. It is interesting to note that this issue is often developed in the form of argument between two men: Augustine and Pelagius, Martin Luther and Erasmas and so on.

Sproul then goes to the great Reformers: Martin Luther and John Calvin, who BOTH defended what is now called Reformed or Calvinist theology. It was interesting to learn that Luther and Calvin basically voiced the same position. Then, there is James Arminius, the Dutch theologian, who has represented the semi-Pelagian or Arminian position in the modern era. I was surprised to learn that Arminius agrees with Calvin on the doctrine of total depravity (Sproul shows this by quoting directly from Arminius).

One of the main points that Sproul makes a few times is that the Calvinist position is often caricatured. Even if you think Calvinism is false, it is simply dishonest to build up theological straw men to knock down and then claim victory. Another interesting point is that one's doctrine or understanding of the Fall determines one's soteriology (doctrine of salvation) and one's understanding of free will.

Occasionally, the book becomes difficult to understand. In particular, the chapter on Jonathan Edwards was difficult to understand. It was good that Sproul included a glossary of the Latin terms that have historically been used in the debate. The last section in the book was on Lewis Sperry Chafer, one of the founders of Dispensationalism. I have heard of this before but I don't know too much about it. Sproul lists Billy Graham and Norman Geisler as contemporary Dispensationalists. However, Sproul is only discussing Dispensational soteriology and doesn't touch on Dispensational eschatology (doctrine of last things; second coming of Christ, Rapture etc...).

I would recommend the book, and even though I found parts of it difficult, I think that I now have a better understanding of the free will debate."

Oh, and if you do not have a copy, I highly highly recommend...

Westminster Confession of Faith

These recommendations are just the tip of a HUGE iceberg though.

 

[hedrick]

It depends upon what you want. Assuming you're conservative, R.C. Sproul is an excellent writer, with a pretty good range of subjects covered by his books. (If you're not conservative, D.K. McKim has some excellent introductions to Presbyterian theology.)

However his books tend to be on specific topics. If what you want is a general orientation to theology, you might consider McGrath's textbook: Theology: An Introduction. This is intended as a textbook for an undergraduate course. It does a very good job of covering the major topics in theology, and showing the major approaches. It doesn't take a position, although McGrath himself is Reformed. He has a shorter version, Theology: The Basics.

 

[mothcorrupteth]

If you mean what I think you mean by "Reformed Presbyterian," look into G. I. Williamson. From what I've heard from other people Williamson is a paedocommunionist, so you have to watch out there, but on all other counts, he's a solid conservative. He has one book on the Westminster Shorter Catechism and one on the Confession, and both are very accessible. There are even little cartoons in the books to illustrate his points.

 

[deborah4god]

Thank you everyone! I do have the westminister confessions but I may go through that again before I start on the other recommendations.

Apologetic thanks for taking the time to write such detailed reviews. I'm definitely going to dive into some Sproul. I have heard good things about him and this just confirms it for me.

I'll look into williamson as well.

 

[file13]

oops *double post*

 

[file13]

Any book recommendations for someone needing strengthening in theology? I attend a reformed presbyterian church, was raised that way, but looking to get deeper into it especially since I have babies now.

I have babies myself and I'm actually reading this one right now for Reformed stuff aimed at parents and kids. I'll probably pick up his other book in the series too, because so far this is good stuff. So I thought I'd throw that in there for what it's worth.

In general though for theology, I think that Sproul's Essential Truths of the Christian Faith is probably the most accessible work of brief, but essential theology from a Reformed Presbyterian perspective around (Packer's is also good for a Reformed Anglican version). This one is also good, but maybe a bit less accessible (BTW, if you have a e-reader, it's free over here along with many other goodies). Finally, if you're looking for something a bit more hardcore, I've heard this new one is very good.

Finally, I'd strongly recommend this book to help you learn to be able to share and defend your faith in a winsome manner. Once you deepen your faith, it's time to be able to share it! It's not specific to the Reformed tradition, but good good stuff. It goes good with a general basic apologetic work like this one (classical apologetics) or this one (presuppositional apologetics). God bless sister!

 

[student ad x]

Hi Deborah,

After you study the Westminster Confession and the catechisms, a good "user friendly" introduction to Systematic Theology is from Wayne Grudem. The content isn't exclusively Presbyterian, but it is Calvinistic and does give a pretty good overview of Reformed Theology, even to the issue of pro-continuation on God's special gifts/charasmatic folk. You can browse some of the book @ Google books (just scroll down a bit to the contents and click a link )........ like chapter 10: the Knowability of God

God bless

 

[JM]

Some easy to understand theology and feel good titles, "Truths That Transform by D. James Kennedy" and "The Holiness of God by Sproul." Luther's Commentary on Galatians is another good one.

 

[deborah4god]

This is all wonderful. I love the free ebooks site!

I've heard a lot about Grudem's book too so I'm definitely adding that to my now long list. I'll be revisiting this thread for some time I think

thanks all

 

[student ad x]

Some easy to understand theology and feel good titles, "Truths That Transform by D. James Kennedy" and "The Holiness of God by Sproul." Luther's Commentary on Galatians is another good one.

Speaking of commentaries, Charles Hodge's Commentary on Romans is pretty good. - Charles Hodge's Commentary on Romans Commentaries (goodbooksfree.com).

 

[Tzaousios]

My suggestions would be Augustine's Confessions and The City of God along with A. W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God.

 

[deborah4god]

Oh I always wanted to read the Confessions.

I'm starting with a couple Sproul selections and the Grudem theology and then going to visit back to make my next selections. I'm very eager to start. God bless everyone for your help

 

[Eddie L]

Did I mention "How People Change" and "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand"?