Books

Are you stepping into the exciting world of software engineering, or considering whether to take that leap? You’re not alone. This field attracts countless individuals worldwide, fueled by an ever-increasing demand for technological solutions, the promise of high salaries, and a keen interest in problem-solving. However, it’s essential to understand that coding and programming skills, while crucial, are just one part of a broader equation. Equally important is the bigger picture of how software development fits into the wider professional and business environment. ...

I’m working my way through the classic job search guide What Color Is Your Parachute. First, I’ll summarize the 7-part “Flower Petal” exercise—a comprehensive self-assessment geared toward the workplace. Then, I’ll share *my* results from the self-assessment. Ah, but first, my TL;DR: If you’re looking for work, or going to be looking for work soon, do yourself a huge favor and buy the latest edition of What Color Is Your Parachute. Work through the book, especially the Flower Petal Exercise. It’s well-worth your time! ...

Which theological terms would make your shortlist? Here’s the list of terms found in “Jargon-Busting: A Glossary of Theological Terms,” at the back of Alister E. McGrath’s excellent Christian Theology: An Introduction (25th Anniversary Edition). adoptionism aggiornamento Alexandrian School allegory Anabaptism analogy of being (analogia entis) analogy of faith (analogia fidei) anthropomorphism Antiochene School anti-Pelagian writings apocalyptic apologetics apophatic apostolic era appropriation Arianism atonement Barthian beatific vision Beatitudes Calvinism Cappadocian fathers Cartesianism catechism catharsis catholic Chalcedonian definition charisma, charismatic Charismatic movement Christology circumincessio conciliarism confession consubstantial consubstantiation contemplation creed Deism dialectical theology Docetism Donatism doxology Ebionitism ecclesiology Enlightenment eschatology Eucharist evangelical exegesis exemplarism fathers fideism filioque Five Ways fourth gospel fundamentalism hermeneutics hesychasm historical Jesus historico-critical method history of religions school homoousios humanism hypostatic union icons ideology incarnation justification by faith, doctrine of kenoticism kerygma liberal Protestantism liberation theology liturgy logos Lutheranism Manicheism modalism monophysitism neo-orthodoxy ontological argument orthodoxy parousia patripassianism patristic Pelagianism perichoresis Pietism postliberalism postmodernism praxis Protestantism Quadriga radical Reformation Reformed Sabellianism sacrament schism scholasticism Scripture principle Socinianism soteriology synoptic gospels synoptic problem theodicy theopaschitism theotokos Thomism transubstantiation Trinity two natures, doctrine of typology Vulgate Zwinglianism

It just happened again. I had to consult “BDAG,” A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed.). I don’t own a copy, so every time I have to consult BDAG I think “I really should buy this.” But for the past decade or so, primarily because of BDAG’s cost ($150 on Logos, $130 used on Amazon, $165 new on Amazon) I’ve held off. Nevertheless, I’m seeking to build my “must-have” personal reference library to sustain a ministry as a pastor theologian. So, I think I need to buy BDAG sometime soon. While I’m at it, I might as well get HALOT, the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament… Logos sells them as a bundle. ...

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGIES: A LIST I put together the following list, using the 10th edition of John Glynn’s Commentary and Reference Survey (Kegel, 2007) as a starting point. I’ll be updating this list in the future, but I could use your help. If there’s something that needs included, please let me know in the comments! Systematic Theologies Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics, 5 vols. In 14 parts. (T&T Clark, [1932–1967] 1936–1969). Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt (Baker, 2003-). Berkhof, Louis. Combined Systematic Theology, 4th ed. (Eerdmans, 1939) and Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology (Eerdmans, 1996). Berkouwer, G. Studies in Dogmatics, 14 vols. (Eerdmans, 1952-76). Bird, Michael F. Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction. (Zondervan, 2013). Bloesch, Donald. Christian Foundations, 7 vols. (IVP, 1992-). Bray, Gerald. God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology. (Crossway, 2012). Buswell, James. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, 2 vols. (Zondervan, 1962-63). Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols. (Westminster John Knox, 1960). Chafer, Lewis. Systematic Theology, 4 vols. (Kregel, 1993). Unabridged. Coakley, Sarah. God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay ‘On the Trinity.’ (Cambridge University Press, 2013) Volume 1 of a 4-volume systematic theology. Culver, Robert. Systematic Theology (Christian Focus, 2005). Dulles, Avery. The Craft of Theology (Crossroad, 1992). Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology, 2d ed. (Baker, 1998). Finger, Thomas. A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology (IVP, 2004). Finger, Thomas. Christian Theology, 2 vols. (Herald, 1985, 1989). Frame, John. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. (P&R, 2013). Fries, Heinrich. Fundamental Theology (Catholic University of America, 1996). Garrett, James. Systematic Theology, 1 vols. (Eerdmans, 1990, 1995). Geisler, Norman. Systematic Theology, 4 vols. (Bethany House, 2002-). Arminian. Gerrish, B.A. Christian Faith: Dogmatics in Outline. (Westminster John Knox, 2015). Grenz, Stanley. Theology for the Community of God (Eerdmans, 2000). Grider, J. Kenneth. A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. (Beacon Hill, 1994). Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994). Calvinistic charismatic. Gunton, Colin. The Christian Faith (Blackwell, 2001). Introduction. Guthrie, Shirley C., Jr. Christian Doctrine. (WJK, 1994). Revised edition. Henry, Carl. God, Revelation, and Authority, 6 vols. (Word, 1976-83; Crossway, 1999). Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Hendrickson, 1997). Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology, abridged 1-vol. ed. (Presbyterian & Reformed, 1997). Horton, Michael. The Christian Faith. (Zondervan, 2011). Horton, Stanley, ed. Systematic Theology, rev. ed. (Logion, 1995). Pentecostal. Jenson, Robert. Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (Oxford University Press, 1997-99). Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, 5 vols. (Eerdmans, 2013-17). Küng, Hans. Christianity (Continuum, 1995). Lewis, Gordon, and Bruce Demarest. Integrative Theology (Zondervan, 1987-94). Three volumes in one. McClendon, James. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Abingdon, 2002, 1986-2000). Anabaptist. McGrath, Alister. Christian Theology, 3d ed. (Blackwell, 2001). McKim, Donald. Introducing the Reformed Faith (Westminster John Knox, 2001). Menzies, William, and Stanley Horton. Bible Doctrines (Logion, 1993). Pentecostal. Oden, Thomas. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Harper, 1987-92; Prince, 2000). Methodist. Olson, Roger. Arminian Theology (IVP, 2006). Olson, Roger. The Mosaic of Christian Belief (IVP, 2002) . Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Eerdmans, 1991,1994, 1997). Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith (Seabury, 1978). Idealist Christology. Rahner, Karl. Theological Investigations, 23 vols. (Helicon/Herder and Herder/Seabury/Crossroad, 1961-92). Ratzinger, John. Principles of Catholic Theology (Ignatius, 1987). Rausch, Thomas P. Systematic Theology: A Roman Catholic Approach. (Liturgical Press, 2016). Reymond, Robert. A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Thomas Nelson, 1998). Reformed introduction. Shedd, William. Dogmatic Theology, 3d ed. (Presbyterian & Reformed, 2003). Sonderegger, Katherine. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (Fortress, 2015-). Strong, Augustus. Systematic Theology (Judson, 1907). Tanner, Kathryn. Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity: A Brief Systematic Theology. (Fortress, 2001). Thiessen, Henry. Lectures in Systematic Theology, rev. ed. (Eerdmans, 1977). Thiselton, Anthony C. Systematic Theology. (Eerdmans, 2015). Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology, 3 vols. (University of Chicago, 1963). Turretin, Francis. Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 3 vols. (P&R, [1679–85] 1997). van der Kooi, Cornelis, and Gijsbert van den Brink. Christian Dogmatics: An Introduction. (Eerdmans, 2017). Translation of 2012 Dutch original. Vos, Geerhardus J. Reformed Dogmatics, 5 vols. (Lexham, 2014-16). Wiley, H. Orton. Christian Theology, 3 vols. (Nazarene Publishing, 1940-43). Arminian perspective. Williams, Rodman. Renewal Theology (Zondervan, 1992). Three volumes in one, Pentecostal. Handbooks, Introductions, and Edited Volumes Allen, Michael, and Scott R. Swain, eds. Christian Dogmatics: Reformed Theology for the Church Catholic. (Baker Academic, 2016). Beinert, Wolfgang, and Francis Schussler Fiorenza, eds. Handbook of Catholic Theology (Crossroad, 1995). Berkhof, Louis. Introduction to Systematic Theology (Eerdmans, 1932; Baker, 1979). Enns, Paul. Moody Handbook of Theology (Moody, 1989). Erickson, Millard. Introducing Christian Doctrine, 2d ed., cd. Arnold Hustad (Baker, 2001). Abridgement of Christian Theology. Grudem, Wayne. Bible Doctrine (Zondervan, 1999). Abridgement of Systematic Theology. Hanson, Paul. Introduction to Christian Theology (Fortress, 1997). Horton, Michael. Pilgrim Theology. (Zondervan, 2013). Distillation of Horton’s Christian Faith. Jones, Beth Felker. Practicing Christian Doctrine. (Baker Academic, 2014). Komanchak, Joseph, Mary Collins, and Dermot Lane, eds. The New Dictionary of Theology (Liturgical, 1987). Latourelle, Rene, and Rino Fisichella, eds. Dictionary of Fundamental Theology (Crossroad, 1994). MacArthur, Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth. (Crossway, 2017). McGrath, Alister. ed. The Christian Theology Reader, 2d cd. (Blackwell, 2001). McGrath, Alister. Studies in Doctrine (Zondervan, 1997). Four volumes in one. Migliore, Daniel. Faith Seeking Understanding. (Eerdmans, 1991, 2004, 2014). Miller, Ed, and Stanley Grenz, eds. Fortress Introduction to Contemporary Theologies (Fortress, 1998). Plantinga, Richard J., Thomas R. Thompson, and Matthew D. Lundberg. An Introduction to Christian Theology. (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. (Moody, [1986] 1999). Sawyer, James. The Survivor’s Guide to Theology (Zondervan, 2002). Introduction. Schussler Fiorenza, Francis, and John Galvin, eds. Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (Fortress, 1991). Stuhlmueller, Carroll, ed. The Collegeville Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Liturgical, 1996). Thorsen, Don. An Exploration of Christian Theology. (Hendrickson, 2008). Special Studies Brown, Raymond E., Karl Donfried, Joseph Fitzmyer, and John Reumann. Mary in the New Testament (Fortress/Paulist, 1978). Chauvet, Louis-Marie. The Sacraments (Liturgical, 2001). Collinge, William. The A to Z of Catholicism (Scarecrow, 2001). Congar, Yves. Diversity and Communion (23rd Community, 1985). Congdon, David. The God Who Saves: A Dogmatic Sketch. (Cascade, 2016). de Lubac, Henri. The Sources of Revelation (Crossroad, 2000). Dulles, Avery. The Assurance of Things Hoped For (Oxford University Press, 1994). Forlines, Leroy. The Quest for Truth (Randall House, 2001). Non-Wesleyan Arminian position. Grenz, Stanley. Renewing the Center (Baker, 2000). Grenz, Stanley. The Named God and the Question of Being (Westminster John Knox, 2005). Grenz, Stanley. The Social God and the Question of Being (Westminster John Knox, 2001). Kaspar, Walter. The God of Jesus Christ (Crossroad, 1984). Idealist Christology. Kaspar, Walter. Theology and Church II (Herder and Herder, 2001). Küng, Hans. Infallible? 2d ed. (Continuum, 1994). Livermore, Paul, Donald Bastien, and Thomas Oden. The God of Our Salvation (Light and Life Communications, 1995). Wesleyan. O’Collins, Gerald. Christology (Oxford University Press, 1995). Peters, Ted. God: The World’s Future, 2d ed. (Fortress, 2000). Postmodern. Ratzinger, John. In the Beginning (Eerdmans, 1995). Richard, Lucien. Christ: The Self-Emptying of God (Paulist, 1997). Kenosis. Schillebeeckx, Edward. Christ (Crossroad, 1980). Schillebeeckx, Edward. Church (Crossroad, 1990). Tracy, David. Plurality and Ambiguity (Harper, 1987). Van Beeck, Frans. God Encountered, 6 vols. (Liturgical, 1993-). Von Balthasar, Hans Urs. Mysterium Paschale (T & T dark, 1990). Warfield, Benjamin. Works, 10 vols. (Baker, 1991).

Developed from How to Read a Book, by Mortimer J. Adler. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA: Author(s): Editor(s): Translator(s): Title and subtitle: Title and subtitle of any larger work that contains the source: Pages: Volume: Issue: Edition: URL and date accessed: Publisher: Place: Date: INTERPRETATION: Kind of Book (Practical or theoretical?): Subject Matter: Problems Attempted to Solve: Summary (What is the book about as a whole?): Outline of Source: Key Terms: Key Propositions/Arguments (What is being said in detail, and how?): ...

Tim Challies begins his book, Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity with a bold claim: “I believe this book can improve your life.” However, after reading the book, which is just 120 pages long including endnotes!, I believe that Challies makes good on his claim. As far as explicitly Christian approaches to personal productivity go, Challies’ Do More Better stands alongside Matt Perman’s What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. While Perman’s book is fantastic and thorough, Challies’ book has the advantage of being MUCH shorter (120 pages vs. 383 pages). ...

OK, OK. I get it. Claiming that every Christian should read these 5 books is a bold claim. But, honestly, I think that these reading recommendations stand up to the scrutiny. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with just the top 5 books that a busy Christian should read if she wants to learn the essentials about: Productivity and Time Management Bible Study Theology And, I think I’ve arrived at a pretty good shortlist if I do say so myself. If you read and understand these 5 books, you’ll be well on your way. ...

Why write out a list of principles? For one thing, it’s my birthday. And, although I’m only in my twenties, I’m feeling a bit reflective. For another, I’ve just been given a copy of Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio (affiliate link). According to Dalio (ix), Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life. They can be aplied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals. ...

I’m not going to lie. My first reaction when I saw the cover of this book? No! Of course you’re not indispensable. What use could this crap possibly be to the Church, or to me – simultaneously a pastor and a pastor-in-training. Then, however, I read the book. And I suggest you do, too! (Note: affiliate link. I get paid if you make a purchase.) Seth Godin, bald marketing extraordinaire, is convinced that a paradigm shift has taken place. I’ll quote from his annotated table of contents (which, by the way, I wish all books had): ...

Ah, the joys of summer reading. Here are a few of the books I’m currently diving into: Hoping to be able to read German with a dictionary by the end of the summer! Karl Barth’s theological bombshell. I’m trying the Slow-Carb Diet and kettlebell swings. ...

Over the break between semesters at Beeson Divinity School, I’m reviewing Bruce Waltke’s The Dance Between God and Humanity: Reading the Bible Today as the People of God (old, broken link) and Philip Goodwin’s Translating the English Bible: From Relevance to Deconstruction for Liverpool Hope University’s Theological Book Review. I’ve just finished the latter, and hope to write my review in the next day or two. However, I’d like to share the following quotes on Deconstructive Literalism and The Perfect Translation, because I find the concepts intriguing as a student of Eugene Nida’s dynamic or functional equivalence (when it comes to both NT Greek and modern Spanish), and a newcomer to relevance theory, which Goodwin uses to provide a way forward in the shadow of the KJV tradition. More on that later. In the meantime: ...

Black Friday proves that the progress of (post)modernity has failed to eradicate the ills of idolatry. Lest we denizens of the “highly-developed” world think that we have left the primitive vestiges of wood, rock, and gold idolatry behind, our shopping patterns (and indeed our shopping identities as consumers) should remind us of our consumerism’s dark side — a lethal one. As I’ve put in “Reconciliation and the Lack Thereof”: “Although physical idols may not be as universally common today as they once were, invisible idols are as prevalent as ever, especially within the context of Western materialism, where money, possessions, influence, and power are the modern-day Baal.” ...

A couple relevant excerpts (given recent posts) from “Violence and Peace,” the final chapter of Miroslav Volf’s Exclusion and Embrace (my emphasis added in bold; paragraph breaks added where noted): “God will judge, not because God gives people what they deserve, but because some people refuse to receive what no one deserves; if evildoers experience God’s terror, it will not be because they have done evil, but because they have resisted to the end the powerful lure of the open arms of the crucified Messiah. ...

I highly encourage the following: 1. Read Scot McKnight’s The King Jesus Gospel. 2. Check out Tim Gombis’ insightful series of posts on The Gospel of the Kingdom, pt. 1, 2, and 3. Gombis hits the nail on the head here: Over the last several months, I’ve had several conversations about how the Gospels’ language about “the gospel” should shape how Christians conceive of the gospel. Whereas the New Testament mainly envisions a broader announcement of a larger reality, many evangelicals associate “the gospel” with a brief presentation, or information about the mechanics of an individual transaction that can secure divine forgiveness and the establishment of a personal relationship with God. ...