Recommended Reading List by Rev. Jacob Smith
RECOMMENDED READING LIST
Everyone should have a subscription to Modern Reformation magazine. It is full of amazing articles and will help you become a theologically informed Christian. Also the White Horse Inn radio program should be listened to religiously. This will help you learn what we believe and why believe it.
Church History
2000 years of Amazing Grace, Paul F.M. Zahl
This is an amazing book which looks at the history of the church through the theological lens of Law and Gospel.
The Protestant Face of Anglicanism, Paul F.M. Zahl
It is better to say that there are Anglicanisms than an Anglicanism and nobody paints a clear picture of the Protestant face of Anglicanism than Zahl.
Five Women of the English Reformation, Paul F.M. Zahl
Often times when we think of the English Reformation we think of Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer and forget that women played a very important role in the establishment of Protestantism in England.
Original Sin, Allen Jacobs
Allen Jacobs walks us through the history of this very powerful dcotrine of the Christian faith and demonstrates that it is the only truth that makes any sense of this messy old world.
Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power to Love, Ashley Null
Null paints a clear picture of who Thomas Cranmer was, and what he was trying to accomplish in the English Reformation. Ashley “lands the plane” on the meaning of Via Media in Anglicanism. He decisively shows that 16th century Anglicanism is a Protestant Church with its “middle way” between Wittenberg and Geneva as opposed to Protestantism and Rome.
A Church to Believe In, Peter C. Moore
This book describes the best of Anglicanisms.
An Outline of An Anglican Life, Louis R. Tarsitano
This book is a really good book articulating what high-church Anglicans believe and teach.
The Arm Chair Theologian Series
These are quick reads and give you overviews of some of the major theologians and events in church history. They include Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, etc.
Revival and Revivalism: the Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, Iain H. Murray
This book not only gives you a powerful overview of early American Christianity, but Murray demonstrates where it went deeply wrong when it lefts its Reformational roots. Murray does an excellent job of treating Charles G. Finney.
Novels
The Hammer of God, Bo Giertz
Bishop Giertz has become an inspiration to me. He was one of the last confessional bishops in the Church of Sweden. He stood for the apostolic faith as his church slid into doctrinal heresy as a result of pietism and enthusiasm. The Hammer of God is a book containing three short novellas that ooze with the distinction between the Law and the Gospel
The Knights of Rhodes, Bo Giertz
An appropriate novel for our time, this is a novella about the last stand of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem against the Turks. I don’t want to spoil it, but the knights loose. This book really articulates the theology of the cross in a very powerful and tangible way.
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Read it slowly
Father Sergius, Leo Tolstoy
This short story really gets across the truth that Christianity is for bad people coping with their failures to be good, and that true religion is found when we have come to the end of our rope.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
When you read this book, read it from the perspective of the first readers who thought Jekyll and Hyde were two different people until the end. This book beautifully articulates the truth of “simul iustus et pecatur;” what St. Paul meant in Romans 7. The more we deny Hyde the greater he becomes.
The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
The Theology of the Cross pours out of this short book about a pathetic priest who is used by God during the Mexican Revolution.
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
These books are allegories for some of the most profound themes found in Christianity. The B.B.C. made a forgotten film version of these books which was really low budget, yet very Nazareth.
Commentaries
Never buy a Commentary Series, most of the time it is a huge waste of money. You will find authors that you begin to love. This list is to help you get started building your reference library.
The New Bible Commentary, IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, New Testament.
This has good commentary on every verse in the Bible.
Romans, Galatians, Peter/Jude, Martin Luther
These are powerful commentaries. Romans was written while Luther was still a son of the Catholic Church, but you can begin to see his departure. Galatians can be read almost as a devotional.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, J.C. Ryle
These commentaries can be read as devotional material because Ryle exposits the scriptures in a powerful way, demonstrating the Gospel’s truth in every age.
Luke, Darrell Bock
Bock teaches at Dallas Theological Seminary. This commentary is very good.
Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation, Dennis E. Johnson
Genesis, Psalms, Minor Prophets, James Boice
Dr. Boice was a famous preacher at 10th Presbyterian in Philadelphia, PA. His commentaries opened my eyes to the beauty of the Old Testament.
The Psalms of David, Charles Spurgeon
The Prophecy of Isaiah, David Motyer
Theology
The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
This is a powerful articulation of what Christians have historically believed about the Human Will, that it is bound and not free. This is a very heavy read.
The Captivation of the Will, Gerhard O. Forde
This is the cliff notes on The Bondage of the Will. This provides historical background and who Luther was writing to and why he wrote his seminal book.
The Spirituality of the Cross, Gene E. Veith
This is an introduction to the theology of the cross and the proper distinction of the Law and Gospel. He writes as a Lutheran Theologian, but the theology is the same theology of the first Anglicans.
On Being A Theologian of the Cross, Gerhard Forde
This is an explanation of the meaning of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. This book will teach you about the two types of theologians: Theologians of Glory and Theologians of the Cross.
Handling the Word of Truth, John Pless
This book really lays out the proper distinction between the Law and the Gospel. This distinction is so critical to really grasping Christianity and rescuing it from moralism.
The Reformation Essays of Dr. Robert Barnes, Neelak S. Tjernagel
This is the man who brought the German Reformation to England. He started the White Horse Inn in Cambridge, England and introduced the truths of the Gospel to the English clergy.
The Principles of Theology, Griffith Thomas
This is a great articulation on the meaning of the 39 Articles of Religion, however be warned it is heavy and advanced.
Knots Untied, J.C. Ryle
Ryle was the first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool and was a solid Evangelical Anglican. This book is a series of essays on what and who are Evangelical Anglicans.
A Case for Amillenialsim, Ken Riddelbarger
Amillenialsm is the classic eschatological position of the church. The church historically has never taught about the rapture, and no great Christian figure prior to the late 19th century would have any idea what Tim Lahey is talking about in his Left Behind Series. Amillenialism is the true historic and biblical position of the church and Riddelbarger presents it clearly.
Christless Christianity and The Promise Driven Life, Michael Horton
These two books go hand in hand. Christless Christianity clearly demonstrates how American Evangelicalism has lost its way and the Promise Driven Life shows how a return to the promises of God can revive Evangelicalism.
The Goldsworthy Trilogy, Graeme Goldsworthy
The scriptures are not about you and Goldsworthy provides a great introduction into learning to see that the Kingdom of God is actually Jesus Christ.
Knowing Scripture, R.C. Sproul
Sproul provides an introduction into how to read the scripture for all that they are worth. This book will make your own devotional time with the Bible richer.
The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, B.B. Warfield
This is advanced reading. Warfield demonstrates, beginning with Jesus, that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired, and infallible word of God.
Faith Founded on Fact, John Warwick Montgomery
The best book on the defense of the Christian Faith ever published. Buy anything you can get your hands on by John Warwick Montgomery and you will know for certain that Christianity is true not because it is helpful but because it is historical.
Law Above the Law, John Warwick Montgomery
This book is an apologetic defense for God in light of the argument for Human Rights. Montgomery demonstrates that without God there can be no human rights.
Devotional Material
I recommend a 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
To Live with Christ, Bo Giertz
This book is amazing and will hit you with the power of the Gospel every single day.
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