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Monday, 19 April, 2004
This is my list of Christian books apart from the Bible that had a big impact on me and why. Feel free to add yours in the comments.
Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
This was the first Christian book I'd ever read. It really opened up my eyes to understand what Christianity was all about. Several key quotes helped me but in particular was this one: “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” I think this book was very influential in me truly turning to Christ.
A Call to Spiritual Reformation (D.A. Carson)
This was the book that taught me how to pray. In second semester of my first year at Uni, a small group of us got together to read through it together, following on from our mid-year conference in July which had been on the subject of prayer. The group started out with about five people and ended with three (me and the two leaders). I was the only one who finished the book. I found it valuable because Carson teaches the principle of praying which is to pray in line with the will of God the way Paul did (each chapter is a study on one of Paul's prayers). And you can only know God's will through reading the Bible so really the process feeds back on itself. It took me a while to develop good prayer habits (like the six card system) and I owe it to this book that set me on the right track.
How Long, O Lord? (D.A. Carson)
I read this book in order to review it for H/E #04 but I soon realised how essential it was to have read. In his introduction, Carson writes:
One of the major causes of devastating grief and confusion among Christians is that our expectations are false. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy. If by that point our beliefs—not well thought out but deeply ingrained—are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain from the personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the foundations of our faith.
I knew that I wanted to be prepared for suffering when it hit—and I definitely knew it would hit because, in a way, that's how it is to be living in this world. Carson goes through some common themes of suffering and takes the time to work through some of the issues that surround the question of suffering (God's sovereignty, predestination, human responsibility, sin, God's goodness, etc.) When it did hit last year, I think I coped much better than I would have if I hadn't read the book.
Knowing God (J.I. Packer)
I read this book last year in preparation for writing articles for H/E #07 (I love how writing forces you to read). I think reading it gave me a greater sense of who God is as a person. It forced me to stretch my conception of God beyond its narrow confines. Could I accept that God is sovereign over everything, even to the point that he predestines people for hell? (And yes he does: read Romans 9.) Could I put my trust in a God who is also a judge? (Yes I can.) Most wonderful of all to me, however, was the comforting doctrine of adoption which I had never considered properly before:
You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one's holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and control his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God (Evangelical Magazine, 7, p. 19 f.).
I think this was the book that challenged me the most to “let God be God”.
Current:
Bible: Isaiah (ESV) 28/09/2010
seen: Tropic Thunder 26/09/2010
seen: The Life of Mammals 24/09/2010
seen: What a Girl Wants 19/09/2010
seen: Jerry Maguire 19/09/2010
seen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 06/09/2010
seen: Tomorrow Never Dies 05/09/2010
seen: Nanny McPhee 28/08/2010
read: Mercury (Hope Larson) 27/08/2010
read: Spellcheckers Vol 1 (Jamie S Rich, Nicolas Hitori de, Joelle Jones) 16/08/2010
read: Solipsistic Pop Vol 2 (Solipsistic Pop) 16/08/2010
read: Chiggers (Hope Larson) 15/08/2010
seen: Josie and the Pussycats 14/08/2010
seen: Mr & Mrs Smith 14/08/2010
seen: Step Up 2 13/08/2010
Blinks:
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
Online magazine that publishes fairy tales that are not reworkings of old tales.
Journal that publishes fairy tale writing.
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Presently, I think they would be:
The Mark of the Christian, by Francis Schaeffer, because it’s all about how we should represent Christ to others by love and unity.
Gospel and Kingdom, by Graeme Goldsworthy, because it straightened out all the biblical theology in my head.
Mere Christianity, Abolition of Man and Surprised by Joy, by CS Lewis. And possibly also The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
And why Lewis?
Thanks for the post Karen - its been really edifying to read. I have copies of Mere Christianity, A Call to a Spiritual Reformation and Knowing God, but I’ve never finished reading them. I will also have to get my hands on How Long O Lord (maybe from the library at work).
Just off the top of my head, for me they were “Hanging in There” by John Dickson, “More than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell, “A Fresh Start” by John Chapman and “How to give away your faith” by Paul E. Little.
Have to think if there were anymore that really impacted me.
Oh yes - “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel
MC because it was the first apologetics I read.
AoM because it so readily defends the natural law. I’ve always found positivism abhorrent, so it made sense to me, and connected with Romans 1:18-21.
SbJ because it is such a fantastic, honest testimony. And so literary, and gave me a name for those ‘Joy’ feelings.
TLtW&tW I read for the first time only recently, and it reminded me of the character of Jesus in a very real way, something I’ve gotten a bit immune to. By means of an imaginary talking lion, hmmmm…
Totally agree with you regarding “Knowing God”. That is the book that convinced me of God’s sovereignty.
Other influential books…wow, I’ve read so many! Lewis as well for me, though in my case it is “Surprised by Joy” and “The Great Divorce”. The former because it is such a beautiful exposition of general revelation (ha - see my recent post!) and the latter because it is simply an awesome book.
Sprouls “Essential Truths” really helped me straighten out some doctrine in my head - I am currently reading through it with my Karen.
Lane’s abridgement of the “Institutes” was also very helpful. I simply cannot stomach the whole thing!
There was also a biography of Spurgeon by a guy called Baltimore or Ballimore, can’t remember which. Anyway, wow, that book gave me a belief in the power of the gospel. And I have loved Spurgeon ever since.
“What’s so amazing about Grace?” by Yancey is another book that really affected me. I read it at a time when I was really down on the church and God.
There are probably so many others - I would need to look at my bookshelf. Currently reading “Wild at Heart” by Eldridge. Really good!