Recommended Books

Many of us at Roosevelt love to read. Following are some books that we have enjoyed and that helpfully explore a number of important topics. In putting out this list we don't mean to suggest that we agree on every single point that every single one of these books makes. However, in an overall sense, each of these books has done a good job in expanding our minds and our hearts for God, our city, and our generation.  

updated March 09

THEOLOGY 

General

  • "Institutes of the Christian Religion" John Calvin
  • "Systematic Theology" Wayne Grudem
  • "Systematic Theology" Robert Duncan Culver
  • "A Theology for the Church" ed. Daniel L Akin
  • "A Theology of the New Testament" George Eldon Ladd
  • "A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith" Robert L. Reymond
  • "The Christ of the Covenants" O. Palmer Robertson
  • "The Christ of the Prophets" O. Palmer Robertson

Fundamentals of Christianity

  • "Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs" J.I. Packer
  • "Basic Christianity" John Stott
  • "Knowing Christianity" J.I. Packer

Christ & Salvation

  • "The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation" Bruce Demarest
  • "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ" John Owen
  • "Sin and Temptation: The Challenge of Personal Godliness" John Owen
  • "Redemption: Accomplished and Applied" John Murray

The Church

  • "The Disciple-Making Church" Bill Hull
  • "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" Mark Dever
  • "The Equipping Church: Serving Together to Transform Lives" Sue Mallory
  • "Stop Dating the Church!: Fall in Love with the Family of God" Joshua Harris
  • "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood" eds. John Piper, Wayne Grudem

Mission/Evangelism

  • "Early Christian Mission" (2 volumes) Eckhard Schnabel
  • "Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission" Andreas Kostenberger and Peter T. O'Brien
  • "The Master Plan of Evangelism" Robert Coleman
  • "Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People's Hearts the Way Jesus Did" Randy Newman
  • "Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God" J.I. Packer

Church Planting

  • "Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age" Ed Stetzer

Leadership

  • "Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership" Alexander Strauch
  • "The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians" D.A. Carson

Reconciliation

  • "Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation" Miroslav Volf

Worship

  • "True Worship" Vaughan Roberts
  • "Worship by the Book" ed. D.A. Carson

BIBLE

Bible Overviews/Surveys

  • "An Introduction the Old Testament" Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman II
  • "An Introduction to the New Testament" D.A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris
  • "Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels & Acts" David Wenham and Steve Walton
  • "Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters & Revelation" I Howard Marshall, Stephen Travis, and Ian Paul

Biblical Studies/Commentaries

  • "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • "Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and his Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5-10" D.A. Carson
  • "Power Through Weakness: Paul's Understanding of the Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians" Tim Savage
  • "Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15" ed. Andreas J. Kostenberger, Thomas R. Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin

HISTORY

General

  • "Introduction to the History of Christianity" ed. Tim Dowley

Early Church History

  • "The Rise of Christianity" Ronald Stark
  • "New Testament History" F.F. Bruce
  • "Paul: An Apostle of the Heart Set Free" F.F. Bruce
  • "Paul: An Outline of His Theology" Herman Ridderbos

American Church History

  • "Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858" Iain Murray
  • "Jonathan Edwards on Revival" Jonathan Edwards
  • "Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism 1870-1925" George M. Marsden

Biographies

  • "Jonathan Edwards: A Life" George Marsden
  • "D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years 1899-1939" Iain H. Murray
  • "George Whitefield: God's Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century" Arnold Dallimore

Sermons

  • "The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards: A Reader" ed. Wilson Kimnach, Kenneth Minkema, and Douglas Sweeney

CULTURE

General

  • "Christ & Culture" H. Richard Niebuhr
  • "Christ & Culture Revisited" D.A. Carson
  • "The Four Loves" C.S. Lewis
  • "The Screwtape Letters" C.S. Lewis
  • "The Great Divorce" C.S. Lewis

Apologetics (i.e. reasons why Christianity makes sense)

  • "Mere Christianity" C.S. Lewis
  • "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" Tim Keller
  • "The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus" Lee Strobel
  • "Christianity and Liberalism" J. Gresham Machen

Art/Music

  • "The Heart of an Artist" Rory Norland
  • "It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God" ed. Ned Bustard
  • "Music Through the Eyes of Faith" Harold Best

Race/Multicultural Ministry

  • "From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race" J. Daniel Hays
  • "Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America" Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
  • "United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as an Answer to the Problem of Race" Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Michael Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen Chai Kim.
  • "One New People: Models for Developing a Multiethnic Church" Manuel Ortiz
  • "On Being Black and Reformed: A New Perspective on the African-American Christian Experience" Anthony J. Carter
  • "Introducing Black Theology: Three Crucial Questions for the Evangelical Church" Bruce L. Fields
  • "Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents" Jeanette Yep, Peter Cha, Susan Cho Van Riesen, Greg Jao, and Paul Tokunaga

Postmodernity/Religious Pluralism

  • "Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church" D.A. Carson
  • "The Gagging of God" D.A. Carson
  • "Dissonant Voices: Religious Pluralism and the Question of Truth" Harold A. Netland

MINISTRY

Pastoral

  • "The Reformed Pastor" Richard Baxter
  • "Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry" John Piper

Preaching

  • "The Sacred Anointing: The Preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones" Tony Sargent
  • "Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon" Bryan Chapell
  • "The Supremacy of God in Preaching" John Piper
  • "Scripture Sculpture" Ramesh Richard
  • "Preaching Christ from the Old Testament" Sidney Greidanus
  • "Preaching Christ in All of Scripture" Edmund Clowney
  • "Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture" Graeme Goldsworthy

Serving the Poor

  • "Ministries of Mercy" Tim Keller
  • "And You Call Yourself a Christian: Toward Responsible Charity" Robert Lupton

Serving the City

  • "The Church of Irresistible Influence" Robert Lewis
  • "Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith" Eric O. Jacobsen
  • "A Heart for the City: Effective Ministries to the Urban Community" ed. John Fuder
  • "Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City & the People of God" Harvie M. Conn and Manuel Ortiz

LIFE

Crisis

  • "Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure" D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Marriage & Family

  • "God, Marriage, and Family" Andreas Kostenberger
  • "When Sinners Say 'I Do': Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage Dave Harvey
  • "Love that Lasts: When Marriage Meets Grace" Gary and Betsy Ricucci

Sex

  • "Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity" Lauren Winner
  • "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" eds. John Piper and Justin Taylor
  • "Designer Sex" Philip Yancey

Spiritual Growth

  • "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" Donald S Whitney
  • "Disciplines of a Godly Man" R. Kent Hughes
  • "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change" Paul David Tripp
  • "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist" John Piper
  • "Knowing God" J.I. Packer
  • "Pilgrim's Progress" John Bunyan

Prayer

  • "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions" Arthur Bennett
  • "A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers" D.A. Carson