Christian Library

The Christian’s Library — Suggested Principal Books

This list of recommended books is not intended to be a comprehensive list. The purpose of this is to give pastoral guidance and counsel with respect to reading material to the following groups within the congregation:

1. For those who are relatively new, to acquaint them with books that ought to be part of a good, growing family library, regardless of the presences or ages of the children within that family.
2. For every child of God who is serious about his or her growth in grace and recognizes the place of good reading material in pursuit of that growth.
3. For those who are seeking to lead family worship in an interesting, edifying and realistic way, recognizing the different ages and capacities of the children while they are still at home.
4. For every child of God who is serious about his evangelistic privileges and responsibilities, and who desires to have materials that will help him in pursuit of that crucial privilege and responsibility.

1. A Basic Home Library of Biblical Knowledge

-         One good commentary on the whole Bible, such as the six volumes of Matthew Henry or the three volumes of Matthew Poole

-         Strong’s or Young’s Exhaustive Concordance

Strong’s Concordance has a number system that enables the student to see the different Greek and Hebrew words that are used, while Young’s Concordance categorizes into groups the various Hebrew and Greek words.

-         Survey of the Bible by William Hendricksen

-         Moody’s Atlas of Bible Lands

-         Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary

-         A Dictionary of Theological Terms by M.E. Manton

II.     General Edification for the Serious Christian

1. Theological

-         A New Systematic Theology by Robert Reymond (a reference work)

-         Outlines of Theology by A.A. Hodge (a reference work)

-         Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray

-         Knowing God by J.I. Packer

-         The Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson

-         Grace Unknown by R.C. Sproul

-         Five Points of Calvinism by Jack Seaton (a booklet)

-         A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Confession by Sam Waldron

-         A String of Pearls by Fred Malone

     B. The Christian Life

-         The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

-         Holiness by J.C. Ryle

-         The Thought of God by Maurice Roberts

-         Practical Religion by J.C. Ryle

-         Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

-         Abridged editions of John Owen’s writings

(These come in two levels, the most elementary being published by Grace Publications, and the next level published by the Banner of Truth Trust)

-         Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd Jones

-         Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life by Donald Whitney

-         The Lord’s Day by Joseph Pipa

-         Banner of Truth booklets such as:

-         Living the Christian Life by A.N. Martin

-         A Life of Principled Obedience by A.N. Martin

III.   A Basic Library for Family Worship

1. The Biblical Basis for Family Worship

-         Thoughts on Family Worship by James W. Alexander

-         Family Worship by Kerry Ptacek

     B. Practical Helps for Family Worship

1. For very young children

-         Big Book of Questions and Answers - Sinclair Ferguson

-         Big Book of Questions and Answers About Jesus - Sinclair Ferguson

-         Bible Stories for Bedtime - Carine Mackenzie

All of Carine Mackenzie’s individual Bible story booklets.

-         The Life of Jesus - Carine Mackenzie

-         Followers of Jesus - Carine Mackenzie

-         Children’s Story Bible - Anne deVries

-         My First Book of Questions and Answers - Christian Focus (or any edition of the Children’s Catechism)

2. All others

-         Hymnbooks

-         Small Talks on Big Questions by Selah Helms and Susan Thompson (2 Volumes)

-         The Shorter Catechism, A Baptist Version - Published by Simpson or by Grand Rapids.

-         Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by J.C. Ryle

-         Proverbs by Charles Bridges

-         The entire Let’s Study series by the Banner of Truth (for older children and adults)

-         Morning Exercises and Evening Exercises - William Jay

-         For individual book studies - the entire Welwyn series of commentaries

-         Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus commentaries by Nancy Ganz

IV. Helps for Fulfilling Our Evangelistic Privilege and Mandate

-         Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

(This book is a must to place the evangelistic duty and activity within a solid biblical and theological framework.)

-         Tell the Truth by Will Metzger

(No finer “how to” book written from a sound theological perspective by someone who has engaged in the work of evangelism in a concentrated way for many years.)

-         All of the materials of John Blanchard - Ultimate Questions, an excellent evangelistic booklet, while Right with God is an amplification of that booklet.

-         A Bad Record and a Bad Heart and What is a Biblical Christian? By A.N. Martin

-         Most of the tracts in our tract rack

The following is a list of books of church history and biography which ought to be included in any Christian’s home library, whether one is a new believer of well advanced in the knowledge of Christ.

-         Sketches of Church History by S.M. Houghton

-         Five English Reformers by J.C. Ryle

-         Christian Leaders of the 18th Century by J.C. Ryle

-         Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

-         A Mighty Fortress by Jim Cromarty (a modern biography of Luther)

-         The Life of John Bunyan (two biography are available)

-         The Life and Diary of David Brainard by Jonathan Edwards

-         Five Pioneer Missionaries by John Thornbury

-         The Life of Spurgeon by A. Dallimore

-         The Early Years and The Full Harvest - The two-volume autobiography of Spurgeon edited by Iain Murray

-         George Müller by Roger Steer

-         The Life of M’Cheyne by Andrew Bonar

-         My Heart in His Hands by Sharon James (a biography of Mrs. Judson)

-         The entire biographical series printed by Youth With a Mission.

(These books come in several reading levels and are a MUST for our children, that they may be acquainted with the great names of those whom God has used throughout the centuries in the work of the Gospel.)

-         Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

-         King of the Cannibals by Jim Cromarty (the thrilling life and ministry of John Paton, missionary in the South Sea Islands.)

-         It is Not Death to Die by Jim Cromarty (a gripping biography of Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission.)

-         Singing in the Fire by Faith Cook (All of Faith Cook’s other mini-biographies.)