Reformation Theology Reading Guide
In bringing you this list, it is our hope to bring
honor to God by exalting Jesus Christ in providing the biblical and theological
works (both contemporary and classic) that we believe best reflect His Self-Revelation.
We aim to provide resources maintaining that silver strand of orthodoxy, which
God has always preserved through the history of the church. IN certain periods of history the
light was dim but always after darkness there was great light (Post Tenebras
Lux). The Reformation was such a time,
a time of gospel
recovery. The Reformed Faith is, in our estimation, the best expression of
the God-honoring biblical truths of the Historic Christian Faith. But as you
know, Reformation Theology, by definition, is not fixed in one place but is
always reforming its thoughts in order to be more God-honoring & consistent
with the Word of God. Below I've put together this concise guide to Reformation
Theology literature which hopefully will be beneficial to all who want to
do some deeper investigation of where we are, where we’ve come from and where
we are going. This succinct guide places emphasis on Reformed soteriology
(e.g. the doctrine of salvation), The Five Solas and Covenant Theology ...
a good place to help get you started.
Our Top Recommendations:
(click on the links below if you want to learn more about a particular book)
The
Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin
A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith 2nd Edition by Dr. Robert L. Reymond
Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 3 vol. set by Francis Turretin
A Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson
The Glory of Christ by John Owen
The Holy Spirit by John Owen
Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
The Doctrine of God by John Frame
Basic Christianity
A Christian should always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them. (1 Peter 3:15) Sinclair Ferguson in his excellent The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction, is a great place to start learning how. Of course it is always important to have a good study Bible. We believe the ESV Reformation Study Bible is the best available. Many Reformed denominations, including many in the PCA and John Piper's ministry have officially adopted this translation as their own. Also, it is short, but I cannot recommend enough Walter Chantry's little book Today's Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic?. He refocuses our attention on the heart of the Gospel message. And for those who want to move beyond common Christian tribalism into a more authentic Christianity which engages the culture we recommend Chameleon Christianity: Moving Beyond Safety and Conformity by Dick Keyes. . With the new Christian or layperson in mind, David G. Hagopian offers us Back to Basics: Rediscovering the Richness of Reformed Faith. To get an overview of the unity of the whole Bible Vaughan Roberts has written two excellent little books called God's Big Picture Tracing the Story-line of the Bible. Another little book that will take you through an introduction to the Bible as the unfolding plan of God is Graeme Goldsworthy’s little gem According to Plan The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. Outstanding as always, the late James Boice, works through the Five Solas in 'Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace: Recovering the Doctrines That Shook the World' - a must read.
Sola Scriptura: (Scripture Alone)
For in-depth studies it is perhaps best to begin with understanding the Scriptures themselves, for in them Christ has revealed Himself. We can only know God as He has made himself known to us. Scripture is our highest presupposition and rule all of our thought and enables us to destroy any false speculation raised up against the knowledge of God. Our ultimate and final authority for knowledge is the Word of God, hence the Protestant adage Sola Scriptura. 'The Reformation Study Bible ESV is a must have addition to your every day studies. The notes are extremely informative and give emphasis to the unity of Scripture and the texts which affirm the central truths of the Christian Faith. The theology of the reformation is noticeably present and feature contributions by many leading Reformed scholars including R.C. Sproul..Speaking of which, I also highly recommend his little book entitled 'Knowing Scripture' which clearly shows us an exegetical approach to interpreting Scripture. Perhaps one of the best defenses of Sola Scriptura ever written is Disputations on Holy Scripture by William Whitaker. Also it has perplexed many throughout the centuries why if there is one truth, it is so difficult to determine it? How do we determine who is right? And why does God allow errors in His Church (though never in His Word)? These are exactly the questions that Dr. Samuel Bolton addresses in this rare book, The Arraignment of Error. James White’s 'Scripture Alone: Exploring The Bible's Accuracy, Authority, And Authenticity' is a shorter but also a very well crafted defense of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Another powerful defense is Gordon Clark’s ‘God's Hammer, The Bible & Its Critics’. He doesn’t let any poor argument slip past him. For preachers and students of the Bible I recommend D.A. Carson’s ‘Exegetical Fallacies’ in which he gives wonderful explanations of the “sins” of interpretation.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Central to understanding the Bible and possibly the most neglected doctrine in evangelicalism is the doctrine of grace alone. This and Solus Christus (Christ Alone) give us the heartbeat of the Reformed faith. Luther, Calvin and the other Reformers understood this to be the pivotal doctrine of the Reformation. The term allows only grace to be the active power in justification and leaves nothing to the human will or to human works. Synergism (synergismus), or cooperation between man and God, is therefore effectively ruled out of the initial work of salvation. Even faith (fides) is a result of grace and cannot be considered as the result of human effort. These Reformers taught that sinners are not free to choose but are completely captive to their sin…nothing precedes the grace and work of the Holy Spirit. Reformation Scholar Michael Haykin says, "it is wrong to suppose that the doctrine of Justification by faith alone, that storm center of the Reformation, was the crucial question in the minds of such theologians as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, and John Calvin. This doctrine was important to the Reformers because it helped to express and to safeguard their answer to another, more vital, question, namely, whether sinners are wholly helpless in their sin, and whether God is to be thought of as saving them by free, unconditional, invincible grace, not only justifying them for Christ’s sake when they come to faith, but also raising them from the death of sin by His quickening Spirit in order to bring them to faith." With this very thing in mind, Martin Luther believed that his Bondage of the Will was his greatest work and best expressed the theology of the Reformation. You will get a laugh at Luther's descriptions of his theological opponents but the arguments require some deep thinking. Just recently John Calvin’s excellent work the ‘Bondage and Liberation of the Will’ was translated into English. Not for the easily distracted reader but truly excellent. There are so many precious gems in the book but it also contains a lot of discussion of what the early church fathers believed about grace and free will. Some might consider this type pf discussion tedious but in this book are buried many treasures. Jonathan Edward’s ‘Freedom of the Will’ is considered his greatest work but I would only recommend it to advanced students of the Word. R.C. Sproul’s 'Willing to Believe: The Controversy over Free Will' is a better introduction for lay readers. John Owen's book 'The Holy Spirit' is up there with some of the best books I have ever read and, thankfully, a RJK Law has made it easier to read. This is a must have book. I cannot stress how important the topics of free will, grace and the Holy Spirit is to recovering the gospel and facing up to the current crisis in evangelicalism.
Integral to this is its belief that "man's primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." As affirmed in the beginning of the 'The Westminster Confession of Faith’. Glorify God also means that we need to know him. I am always struck by the ease at which so many evangelicals say we don’t need to know theology, we just need Jesus. Well would you say the same thing about your wife or husband. I don’t really want to know about him/her, I just need him in a generic sense. Can we love those who we don’t want to know anything about? J.I. Packer really helps us here with his classic 'Knowing God' which, to my amazement, even some who reject the Reformed faith love. I would also heartily recommend the Puritan Thomas Watson’s 16th Century classic, ‘A Body of Divinity’.
Doctrines of Grace
To know the doctrine of Sola Gratia we we obviously cannot avoid drinking
up the beautiful doctrines of grace which are mediated to us from Christ through
the Holy Spirit.. The acrostic TULIP best express Reformed soteriology: These are, total depravity, unconditional election,
definite (limited) atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the
saints. All Christians should get
to know these even if you disagree with some of them, because after you understand
them you will realize that you either embrace all of them or reject them as
out of hand. Some claim to be 4 or
4.5 point Calvinist, but such a position is both inconsistent, unbiblical
and absurd when one really understands that these truths really speak of only
one – that God saves sinners by grace alone.
I deeply love my 4 point brothers BUT believe, with the help of grace,
that I can persuade any of them to embrace the fifth point if you just give
me a little time. Not just so someone embraces
a system, but so that we glorify God in ascribing all to Him in our salvation.
A good place to begin learning more about the doctrines of grace is
‘Putting
Amazing Back into Grace’ by Michael Horton.
An even more basic treatment of the topic comes in the form of David G. Hagopian’s
Back
to Basics and R.C. Sproul’s ‘What is Reformed Theology .’ Those who want an excellent
understanding of the holes in Arminian Synergism should definitely read
‘Why
I am Not an Arminian’ by Robert A. Peterson and Michael D. Williams. And
anyone who wants to hear the opposing view from the Arminian's themselves
I recommend the companion book Why
I am Not a Calvinist. It is important, in my view, to understand
what the other side thinks unfiltered through Calvinists. There are now two
great study guides or workbooks I would recommend for those who want to work
through Scripture as they wrestle with these truths.
The first is ‘The
Five Points of Calvinism: A Study Guide’ by Edwin Palmer and the other
is ‘Calvinism,
Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism: A Workbook’ by Dr. Kenneth Talbot
& Dr. Gary Crampton. Of course we must not forget the classic work
the ‘Five
Points of Calvinism, 2nd ed.’ by David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas,
and S. Lance Quinn. For those who
want a great overview and prefer reading less, I highly recommend this great
DVD of high production quality: ‘Amazing
Grace: The History & Theology of CALVINISM’.
For the most thoroughgoing exposition of the atonement make sure you get John
Owen's classic, 'The
Death of Death in the Death of Christ'. Definite redemption is brilliantly
argued here.
To bring all of these concepts together, Joel Beeke and Sinclair Ferguson have harmonized seven Reformed confessions into a parallel arrangement in their well-done reference book 'Reformed Confessions Harmonized'. Truly excellent. There is a great annotated bibliography in the rear itself worth the price of the book. For those wanting a more in-depth Reformed systematic theology, read A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith by Dr. Robert L. Reymond and John Calvin's 'Institutes of the Christian Religion' which remains perhaps one of the finest Christian books ever written.
The Sovereignty of God in Election and All Things
According to the Scriptures, God chose in Christ those whom He would redeem, before the foundation of the earth. (Jn. 17:9; 2 Tim. 1-9-10, Eph. 1:3-14; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; ) Elaborating on this there is some fine literature out there; A.W. Pink's 'The Sovereignty of God’ seems to stand the test of time and may be considered a classic. 'Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace' brings together many of today’s best Reformed scholars and continues to affirm that salvation of the Lord alone. Many essays on various topics related to grace. Another excellent treatment is Gordon Clark’s ‘Predestination’ and the 'The Reign of Grace' by Abraham Booth (a Classic). Loraine Boettner’s 'Reformed Doctrine of Predestination' has been extremely helpful to many. Furthermore, I want to recommend one of today's clearest thinkers with regard to compatibilism I cannot more strongly recommend that you give John Frame's 'The Doctrine of God' a permanent place on your bookshelf. The book is irenic toward its opponents but it utterly lays bare and demolishes arguments for libertarian free will theism. For a shorter treatment of the subject, which has some of the same arguments is his book, 'No Other God: A Response to Open Theism'. Hitting on similar themes is Bruce Ware's God's Greater Glory.
The Covenant
The covenant
is the theological framework of the unfolding redemptive work of God which
best accounts for the biblical teachings on God's role and man's in salvation,
divine sovereignty and human responsibility, the relationship between law
and grace, and the unity of Scripture. One of the classic Christian books in history is called 'Economy
of the Covenants Between God and Man' by Herman Witsius first published from Utrecht in 1677. For an easier, modern introduction make sure you get God of Promise:
Introducing Covenant Theology
by Michael Horton. I would also highly recommend 'Biblical
Theology' by Geerhardus Vos for those who want to trace God’s organic
work of grace from the beginning of Scripture to the end.
This has once again become a controversial topic. It is central to our faith so we need to be intimately familiar with it and our union with Christ. Perhaps the best writings on the subject are the Doctrine Of Justification by James Buchanan, Justification
by Francis Turretin & The Everlasting Righteousness by Horatius Bonar. For a small book to familiarize yourself with the recent controversies on the New Perspectives, I recommend: Getting the Gospel Right: Assessing the Reformation and New Perspectives on Paul
by Cornelis P. Venema.
Too many traditions go wrong in the area of growing in grace. To counter this we would like to recommend a Gospel-centered, Christ exalting book ... perhaps one of the best on understanding sanctification ever, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification: Growing in Holiness by Living in Union with Christ by Walter Marshall. In this same vein take the time to read CJ Mahaney's The Cross-Centered Life. And of course, the all time classic, The Mortification
of Sin
by John Owen.
Always Ready Directions for Defending the Faith by Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen
Christian Philosophy by Gordon Clark
Others
Classic
Theism and Trinitarianism
Christ,
the God-Man, the one mediator between God & humanity, incarnate, crucified,
resurrected, ascended, & coming again.
