Recommended Books
The following are books we have read and enjoyed as opposed to books one is supposed to have read and enjoyed. Some of these books would be better introduced with warning labels than endorsements.
It is important to know your opponent.
Where is truth?
The Bible: there is no substitute for understanding our own cultural history.
Bailey, Kenneth, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes 2008
Kass, Leon, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis – Jewish intellectual – fascinating
Biographies
Augustine, The Confessions and The City of God 354-430AD
Cronin, AJ, The Keys of the Kingdom - A family favourite
Dallimore, Arnold, George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of 18th Cent Revival
Elliott, Elizabeth, Through Gates of Splendor - for the challenge
Grubb, Norman, Rees Howell’s Intercessor - Almost beyond belief – prayer power in WWII
Roseveare, Helen, - For the challenge, especially Living Sacrifice
Simeon, Charles, See Hopkins, Hugh Evan, Charles Simeon of Cambridge 1709 - a neglected hero
Wesley, John, (1703-1791) The journal of John Wesley: a selection (introduced by Elisabeth Jay)
- Richard Heitzenrater, John Wesley, his own biographer 1966
- Martin Schmidt, John Wesley; a theological biography (translated by Norman Goldhawk) 1966
Novels speak clearly to hearts and minds
Berry, Wendell, Life is a Miracle: an essay against Modern Superstition 2001 - plus his novels, especially Hannah Coulter
Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov especially
Eliot, George, Adam Bede and Middlemarch especially
Greene, Graham, His novels, especially as they deal with faith
Hardy, Thomas, His novels especially Jude the Obscure
Hugo, Victor, Les Miserables 1862 Aso see the film of the performance at the Gielgud Theatre, London UK
Koestler, Arthur, The Ghost in the Machine and Darkness at Noon (translated by Daphne Hardy)
MacDonald, George, His novels for the stories and their purpose
Mackay, The Clockwork Image and Mind and Matter
Manzoni, Alessandro, The Betrothed: a tale of XVII century Milan (translated by Archibald Colquhoun)
O’Brien, Michael, Father Elijah’s Apocalpse, Island of the World, A Father’s Tale – novels that reduce one Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos and all his novels to prayerful tears
Robinson, Marilynne, The Death of Adam, Gilead, and Home
Solzenhitsyn Especially The Gulag and Cancer Ward
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Williams, Charles, His novels, especially Descent into Hell 1949
Science - a philosophy of science and the history
Bethell, Tom, Darwin’s House of Cards 2017
Hannam, James, Genesis of Science: How the Christian MA Launched the Scientific Revolution
Lindberg, David C, The Beginning of Western Science
Medaware especially The Art of the Possible
Myer, Stephen, Signature in the Cell – brilliant
Midgley, Mary, Science as Salvation 1992 – lucidly and beautifully written
Russell, Crosscurrents: A Christian Analysis of Science
Simmons, Geoffrey, Millions of Missing Links 2006
Stark, Rodney, For the Glory of God
Stove, David, Darwinian Fairy Tales - A devastating critique of Darwin by an atheist philosopher who writes with tremendous wit
Strathern, Paul, Mendeleyev’s Dream 2000 – a miracle indeed
Medicine good and bad
John Patrick, Hippocrates – several talks on johnpatrick.ca
Ramsey, The Patient as Person; explorations in medical ethics 1970
J Satinover, Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth – essential understanding
Vitz, Paul, Psychology as Religion: the cult of self-worshipping 1977
Wootton, David, Bad Medicine: Doctors doing Harm since Hippocrates 2006
The lost tools of learning
Bloom, Allan, The Closing of the American Mind - how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today’s students 2012 First chapter
MacIntyre, Alisdair, After Virtue: a study in moral theory 1984
A disciple's life
Bloom, Anthony, Meditations on a theme - a spiritual journey, and School for Prayer 1970
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The Cost of Discipleship, Letters and Papers from Prison, and Life Together
See also the biography by Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller, Bonhoeffer
FF Bruce, The Spreading Flame: the Rise and Progress of Christianity from its first Beginnings to the Conversion of the English, 1982 and his bible commentaries
GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy 1908 especially and The Everlasting Man 1943
Colson, Chuck - books are marvelous stories, terrible style.
Donovan, Vincent J, Christianity Rediscovered: An Epistle from the Masai 1982
Keller, Tim, Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism 2009
Kreeft, Peter, All his books for the unique approach to apologetics, especially The Best Things in Life, Making Sense out of Suffering, A Refutation of Moral Relativism and Three Philosophies of Life
Lennox, John, Gunning for God 2011 and God’s Undertaker 2007 Against the Flow 2015 Northern Irish mathematician specialising in group theory, philosopher of science, Christian apologist, and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford – read him! See him debate C. Hitchens!
CS Lewis, CS. All his work is worth reading: the Narnia stories, the science fiction, Till We Have Faces and the apologetics especially The Abolition of Man
Lloyd-Jones, Martin, Faith on Trial, Joy Unspeakable, Spiritual Depression and The Sermon on the Mount. ‘The greatest man I’ve ever known’ said JI Packer - see Iain Murray, Life of MLJ 1899-1981
JI Packer, Knowing God 1973
Pascal, Blaise, (1623-1662) The Pensees (translated and introduced by JM Cohen)
St John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul (translated, abridged, and edited by Kurt Reinhardt)
St Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (translated and introduced by Leo Sherley-Price)
Scruton, Roger, Confessions of a Heretic – Selected essays. 2016
Stott, John, Basic Christianity and The Sermon on the Mount and Same-Sex Partnerships? “The Bible Speaks for Today” is an excellent series of commentaries edited by John Stott
Webster, John, Confronted by Grace, 2011 Best collection of sermons I have read in a long while.
Weil, Simone, Her books on problems with faith
Willard, Dallas, The Divine Conspiracy 1998
NT Wright, Surprised by Hope 2009