Reading List for 2017




Goals are always good to have. If you achieve them, congratulations, you have achieved them. But if you fail to reach your intended target, even falling miserably short, you will still find yourself closer to the goal than you were when you began. It is a win-win. 

In 2017 one of my goals is to complete a reading list. The plan is to read a minimum of 24 books in 2017, which actually is not that extreme. 24 books comes out to about a book every two weeks, or about two books a month; and with a solid blend of long and shorter books this should be fairly attainable. My list is broken out into several sections: Spiritual Growth, Theology, History, Classics, C. S. Lewis, and a few others. Let it begin!

Spiritual Growth 
  • Watchman Prayer- Dutch Sheets. I got this book for Christmas from my parents, and it is about guarding your home/church/community from the attacks of the devil. Should be a timely read for 2017.
  • When People are Big and God is Small- Ed Welch. I am really looking forward to this one, which focuses on a Biblical antidote for an unhealthy fear of people: the fear of God.
  • Biography of Christian Great (John Knox).
  • Experiencing the Holy Spirit- Andrew Murray. Andrew Murray is a bit of a “mystic” but this famous work is about something I need to learn more about (and experience!).
  • Religious Affections- Jonathan Edwards. This is a Christian Classic from one of the best thinkers of the 18th Century. Not too long either.
  • 7 Men- Eric Metaxas. Short book about 7 men in history whose characteristics we should look to exemplify.
  • Can I have Joy in my life- R C Sproul. Very short book by someone who has recently become one of my favorites.
Theology

  • Biblical Authority After Babel- Vanhoozer. I have started this book and unfortunately it feels a little more academic then what I was looking for. It is addressing the accusation that the Protestant Reformation brought about a second Babel for Biblical Interpretation.
  • Are Miraculous Gifts For Today: Five Views I appreciate the “view” books by Zondervan. Every contributor writes an essay promoting his doctrinal stance and gets to address each of his opponents’ essays as well. Very helpful for someone whose theology is forming.
  • Gagging of God- D. A. Carson. This book was written in the 90s but could not be more applicable today. Carson writes with incredible logic, confronting the fruit of pluralism: post-modernism.
  • Chosen But Free- Norman Geisler. To push back against a lot of “reformed” influence in my reading, Chosen But Free looks to form a sort of synthesis between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.
  • Institutes of the Christian Religion- John Calvin. This book is the most ambitious one on here. But with 2017 being the 500th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation the only question I can ask myself is, “Why not?” Calvin had a brilliant mind and the Beveridge translation is incredibly readable. It is also far more edifying than you would think.
History
  • Thomas Jefferson: Art of Power- John Meacham. New York Times Best Seller and winner of a Pulitzer Prize. Thank you to my young brother-in-law for getting this for me for Christmas!
  • 1776- David McCullough. Famous work by a famous author.
  • Something about Middle Ages (Still looking around for this one, I am sure something will turn up. Perhaps something involving Vikings?)
  • Colonel Roosevelt- Edmund Morris. Though I know little about his Presidency, Roosevelt remains one of my favorite American figures. This book is about his life post-President, which was anything but dull.
Classics
  • Plato’s Republic. This book has had a massive influence on Western Civilization. Dialogue focuses on the question, what is justice?
  • Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius persecuted Christians during his reign (or allowed persecution), but he is still regarded as one of the few “good Caesars”. His meditations are a classic, and a fairly short read.
  • Othello- Shakespeare
  • Crime And Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
C. S. Lewis
  • Problem of Pain. I got half way through this one in 2016, so I would like to finish what I started.
  • Great Divorce. This book is one of my all-time favorites. It is about why man willingly chooses the horrors of hell over heavenly wonders.
  • Abolition of Man. Small book, supposedly one of Lewis’s best.
A New York Times Best Seller
  • (Waiting for something interesting to turn up on there)
Ministry
  • Preaching For Preachers- Martyn Lloyd Jones. Though I am not a preacher (I have dabbled in the past), it is always good to learn from the best.
Modern Fiction
  • I open to some suggestions!


Please let me know in the comment section any additional reads you would recommend. Let's do this, 2017!

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