Christless Christianity - Michael Horton
- I almost didn't finish this book; the first few chapters were like listening to a golf announcer stating the obvious.
- However, I am glad I stuck with it, because the indictments Horton has for Christianity are profound.
- The similarities between how both conservative and liberal Christianity approach Scripture, and by extension Jesus, the Gospel and Grace, is troubling.
- The commonalities reside in what he calls "Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism".
- He argues that MTD expresses the following "working theology":
- God created the world.
- God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
- The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
- God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when needed to resolve a problem.
- Good people go to heaven when they die.
Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters - N.T. Wright
The Resurrection of the Son of God - N.T. Wright
- Whatever problems N.T. Wright has when it comes to a forensic view of justification, his ability to write and convey context is unmatched.
- Both of these books taught me a great deal.
- The Resurrection is well known and not much needs to be said about it.
- I do have a summary of its conclusions - Read Here - Resurrection in the Kingdom of God.
- Simply Jesus is a beautifully written book about Jesus role as the King of the Kingdom of God.
- A Kingdom that exists now and not yet.
- The influence of this book shaped an entire series of lessons I did from John 11.
- In addition to the Resurrection one linked to above, also see:
The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited - Scot McKnight
- McKnight points out the fallacy and danger of reducing the Gospel (and Scripture's view of the Gospel) to the issue of salvation.
- A view that has contributed to a Gospel culture that "does not require The Members or The Decided to become The Discipled for salvation. Why not? Because its gospel is a gospel shaped entirely with the 'in and out' issue of salvation".
- He laments that the Old Testament's role in defining the Gospel is sorely neglected.
- He suggests that the Gospel has to be understood as "the Story of Jesus as the resolution of Israel's Story".
- I am very sympathetic to the general direction of his book - the Gospel is bigger than we realize.
- To reduce it is to reduce the need to know the entire Bible and know it well.
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses - Richard Bauckham
- This book is a must read for anyone interested in the reliability and harmonization of the NT.
- He has some interesting views on Papias and other church fathers as well.
- To get an idea of Bauckham's oral culture apologetic - Read Here - Harmonization 101.
Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit's Power - J.P. Moreland
- This book has, is and will change my life.
- I have neglected sorely my relationship with the Holy Spirit!
- This book also led me to read the following three books
The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts - Sam Storm
Empowered Evangelicals - Rich Nathan & Ken Wilson
What We Can't Not Know - J. Budziszewski
- A fantastic book that deals with the origins of moral knowledge and the nature of its corruption.
- Its discussion on surface conscience and deep conscience is very helpful.
- Read Here for an example of how this book helps shed light on Romans 1.
Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified - Richard Bauckham
- A brilliant handling of the how Jesus as God is reconcilable to Jewish Monotheism by understanding 2nd Temple Judaism's understanding of God's Identity.
- You will find that the NT writers Christology is even more profound and penetrating than you ever knew.
- Read Here for how helpful this book is in understanding Christ's divinity.
Salvation and Sovereignty - Kenneth Keathley
- Read my comments here: Keathley, Contingency, Freewill & Grace
An Enquiry of Human Understanding - David Hume
Is God a Moral Monster - Paul Copan
Apologetics to the Glory of God - John Frame
Systematic Theology - Wayne Grudem
Finally Alive - John Piper
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - Kenneth Bailey
Scandalous - D.A. Carson
The Case for the Resurrection - Gary Habermas
The Heresy of Orthodoxy - Andreas Kostenberger
The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? - F.F. Bruce
God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God - John Lennox
The End of Christianity - William Dembski
An Introduction to the New Testament - D.A. Carson
Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton
Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning - Walter Kaiser
The Pursuit of God - A.W. Tozer
Hard Questions, Real Answers - William Lane Craig
The Holiness of God - R.C. Sproul
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution - Michael Behe
The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions - David Berlinski
Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics - William Lane Craig
The End of Reason - Ravi Zacharias
There Is a God - Antony Flew
Signature in the Cell - Stephen Meyer
Tactics - Gregory Koukl
