Recommended Reading
Here is a list of Christ-centered and gospel-saturated resources that I have found helpful and are at an introductory level. I’ve tried to limit my recommendations to 10 books for each category.
Ministry
R. J. Gibson, ed., Interpreting God’s Plan: Biblical Theology and the Pastor.
Mark Dever, The Deliberate Church.
_________, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.
Thabiti M. Anyabwile, What Is a Healthy Church Member?
Joshua Harris, Stop Dating the Church.
Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemers Hands.
Tim Chester, Total Church.
D. A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry.
Practice
Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer.
Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace.
__________, The Gospel for Real Life.
C. J. Mahaney, The Cross-Centered Life.
Tim Lane & Paul Tripp, How People Change.
Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life.
J. I. Packer, Knowing God.
Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me.
Biblical Theology
Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan.
__________, The Goldsworthy Trilogy.
T. Desmond Alexander, The Servant King.
Vaughn Roberts, God’s Big Picture.
Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, The Drama of Scripture.
Mark Strom, The Symphony of Scripture.
Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology.
Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom.
O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants.
Michael D. Williams, As Far as the Curse is Found.
David Helm, The Big Picture Story Bible (for kids).
Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible (for kids).
Preaching
Dennis Johnson, In Him We Proclaim.
Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture.
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ From the Old Testament.
Edmund Clowney, Preaching and Biblical Theology.
__________, Preaching Christ in All the Scripture.
Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching.
Old Testament
Peter Leithart, A House for My Name.
Charles Drew, Ancient Love Song: Finding Christ in the Old Testament.
Stephen Dempster, Dominion to Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible.
William Dumbrell, Covenant to Creation: A Theology of the Old Covenants.
__________, The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament.
Edmund Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament.
Gareth Crossley, The Old Testament Explained and Applied.
Vern Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses.
O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Prophets.
T. Desmond Alexander, From Paradise to Promised Land.
Christian Theology
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology.
John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord.
D. A. Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God.
Peter Lewis, The Message of the Living God.
J. I. Packer, Concise Theology.
Eschatology
Geerhardus Vos, The Eschatology of the Old Testament.
__________, The Pauline Eschatology.
Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future.
Samuel Walderon, The End Times Made Simple.
Vern Poythress, Understanding Dispensationalists.
O. Palmer Robertson,The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
Kim Riddlerbarger, A Case for Amillennialism.
__________, The Man of Sin: Uncovering the Truth About the Antichrist.
Hermeneutics
John Reisinger, Abraham’s Four Seeds.
Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.
Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton, Let the Reader Understand.
D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies.
Creation and Culture
Al Wolters, Creation Regained.
David Hegeman, Plowing in Hope.
Richard Mouw, When Kings Come Marching In.
Michael Wittmer, Heaven Is a Place on Earth.
Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism
Apologetics
Richard Pratt, Every Thought Captive.
Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready.
Francis Schaeffer, Francis Schaeffer Trilogy.
__________, How Should We Then Live?
Tim Keller, The Reason for God.
Scott Oliphint, The Battle Belongs to the Lord.
Nancy Pearcy, Total Truth.
Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, Living at the Crossroads.
Hi there, out of curiosity, have you ever consulted any works by the late Prof. Meredith G. Kline?
Yes, I do have Kline on the list above. There are many other excellent books by Kline that I have not put on the list, but are worth reading. I tried to keep this list geared toward an introduction to BT and related topics.
Sorry about that, and thanks for the clarification
Hey Chad. I was looking through your site and thought I would suggest these books for your list. they were helpful to me at variuos points of the BT journey:
Richard Gaffin, Resurrection & redemption
Richard Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost
Richard Gaffin, By faith, Not By sight
Greidanus, Sola Scriptura
c. Trimp, Preaching and the History of Salvation
Derke Bergsma, Redemption: The Triumph of God’s Great Plan
Howard Griffith & John Muether, Creator, Redeemer, Consummator: A Festschrift for Meredith G. Kline
Theophilus J. herter, The Abrahamic Covenant in the Gospels
William D. Dennison, Paul’s Two-Age Construction and Apologetic
Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit
Ned Stonehouse, Witness of the Synopic Gospels to Christ
Oscar Cullmann, Christ and Time
Oscar Cullmann, Salvation in History
Leonard Goppelt, Typos
Andrew Lincoln, Paradise Now and Not Yet
Hey Chad. Thanks for the resources. I was wondering about your opinion on the Jesus Storybook Bible for kids. I see you have it listed, but have you read through it? We just finished it with our kids and found that we were uncomfortable with some of the details the author chose to add to the stories as well as how she portrays a few of the stories. In a nutshell, she tends to dance around man’s responsibility for sin and almost paints as a mere obstacle that God has to “figure out” a plan for in order to “win His people back” (her words). I think there are many redeemable aspects of this book and my kids really loved it. It’s just that Matt and I often found ourselves rephrasing things on the fly (as we were reading out loud) so as to be faithful to the Biblical accounts. Really, all I’m asking is for someone else’s take on this. If I need to lighten up, then please tell me. Thanks for your insight!
Cari,
Yes, I hear your concerns. There are some liberties taken with the stories at times. Obviously, I don’t know her intent with some of her language, but when it comes to “win his people back,” I think she is emphasizing the categories of God’s people, place, and rule and how God is going to restore each of those “categories” unto himself. Although, I found her book helpful, I prefer Helm’s book, “The Big Picture Story Bible.” It is also listed above.
Terence Fretheim, God and World: A Relational Theology of Creation
Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy
Jon Levenson, Sinai & Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible
James Barr, The Concept of Biblical Theology: An Old Testament Perspective
James Mead, Biblical Theology: Issues, Methods, and Themes
Leo Perdue, Reconstructing Old Testament Theology: After the Collapse of History
You list is a fine one. It is, however, one sided. Some of the above books could help.
Hi Joseph. Thanks for the suggestions. I am aware of many of those authors you cite and while they do make a contribution to the overall study of Biblical Theology, my aim with the list is to recommend books that specifically approach BT from a Reformed RH perspective.
Mead’s book is the first comprehensive survey of the entire field of Biblical Theology in thirty years. He includes the discussions taking place in Reformed, RH approaches to the field and would fit well in your list.