Top 10 - Um - Just Books I read in 2020

When I thought of this blog post, I wanted to do a top 10 books that I read in 2020, but the fact is that I read slowly, and this year was one of the busiest work years of my life! In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team simply didn't have enough time to complete our project. And, in the midst of this, I needed to find time to read. 

Another reason that I finish books so slow, is that I read several books at the same time. And when I say "several," I do not mean 2, 3, or 4 at a time. More like triple that at any one given moment.

Since this is not a top 10 post, they are numbered in the order that I finished reading them.

1. How to Study Your Bible (Kay Arthur), This book teaches the Inductive Bible Study Method. HSYB is certainly a very useful book. The Bible student can use this book to go as deep as he wants to go. However, there are some caveats to some of the tips the author provides. To read about the book and about the caveats in the book, follow the link in the title of the book to read my review on the book.
2. Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative (Sam Storms), This was my 2nd time reading Kingdom Come by Sam Storms. The first time was in 2013. I actually enjoyed the book now more than then. Storms has a clear way of explaining eschatological concepts through Scripture. Anybody who really wants to learn about amillennialism should read this book. In fact, anyone who is interested in eschatology, teaching of the end-times, should read this book! 
3. The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled (Jonathan Cahn), Fictional speculation at its best worst! I simply could not get into this book. 
4. The Book of Revelation (Robert H. Mounce), This is a fair commentary on the book of Revelation, but there are better commentaries on Revelation. This commentary is part of The New International Commentary on the New Testament series of commentaries.
5. Revelation (Joel Beeke), This is not a very in-depth commentary on Revelation, but it does aim in the right direction. This commentary is part of the Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament series.
6. The Basic Steps of Bible Study: Getting Started (Kay Arthur), This is simply a subset of HSYB above. Skip this one and to straight to HSYB.
7. Revelation (Gordon D. Fee), This is a worthwhile commentary, but in my opinion, he still doesn't handle the symbolism, and imagery of Revelation well enough.
8. 1, 2, 3 John, Revelation (Earl F. Palmer), The Revelation commentary in this set is average. At times it seems good, but at other times it leaves the reader feeling that there is just not enough. It is part of The Communicator's Commentary series.
9. Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches (James M. Hamilton Jr.), This is not a technical commentary, and those who want to find a more devotional commentary with application sections, will find this one to their taste. I enjoyed this commentary, and is worthwhile purchasing.
10. How to Study the Bible (Richard L. Mayhue), This is a fine book to start learning to do Bible Study, and there is much to learn from it.
11. Hebrews through Revelation (Frank E. Gaebelein, general editor; Alan F. Johnson, author on the Revelation commentary), Of the non-technical commentaries, this one is fairly well done. It is perhaps a bit dated, but still fine as a commentary. It is volume #12 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary series.
12. Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church (Earle E. Cairns), I think it is very important for Christians to know the history of the church. The original edition was my Church History textbook in Bible College. I decided to read it again. This is the 3rd edition, and it takes church history into the 1990s. It is a worthwhile church history book to have on your shelves.
13. A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times (Kim Riddlebarger), It took me a while to get into this book. However, once I got past all the plugging that the author did for Covenant Theology, the book became what the title promised. The author seems to think that Amillenialism cannot stand on its own two feet without it being propped up by Covenant Theology. This is simply not true. A better book to read would be Kingdom Come by Sam Storms.
14. Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies (editors: Stephen J. Wellum, Brent E. Parker), I enjoyed this book very much, and if you have read Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants by Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, then you will enjoy this one too. Both these books are break-aways from Dispensational Theology (7 Dispensations, rapture, and other fairy tales), and also from Covenant Theology. It is very similar to New Covenant Theology with a few differences.
15. An Introduction to the Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge (Dirk Jongkind), This is a short book on subjects such as textual criticism, and how Tyndale made their textual choices in order to come to what they believe is the best Greek NT text. It is an easy book to read, and I think that most people will understand it. I have a copy of the Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT), and it is very close to the Nestle-Aland 28th edition (NA28) of the Greek NT, and the United Bible Societies 5th edition (UBS5) of the Greek NT.
16. How to Study the Bible (Robert M. West), This is a very short book on the subject of Bible study, and is good for someone new to Bible study.
17. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (G. K. Beale), This is a fairly technical commentary based on the Greek text of the book of Revelation. It handles textual variants where necessary. This is by far the best commentary that I used through 2020 in the study of Revelation. Throughout the year I made use of 10 commentaries on Revelation, and Beale's commentary is completely above the rest. He goes into the symbolism of Revelation, and handles myriads of allusions that John made to the Old Testament to bring his message across. One thing that I learnt from Beale, is that without a good knowledge of the OT and its prophetic symbolism, one's interpretation will end up skewed by preconceived ideas about the end-times. Beale's commentary is a book of 1245 pages; so, as a commentary, it is not for the faint-hearted. However, if you do the hard work of working through this commentary, you will definitely be blessed and educated on Revelation.
18. New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide (David Alan Black), I think Black did an excellent job introducing the reader to textual criticism. If you have no idea concerning the subject, this is the place start! Definitely recommended to those interested in the subject, but do not know where to start.

That is the end of my list. As you can see, there are many commentaries on this list, and one does not read a commentary like an ordinary book.

I hope that you are encouraged by getting one or more of these books. Whatever the case, Tolle Lege! Take up and Read!

May you all have a wonderful New Year, and that your hearts draw ever closer to our great, and wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Top 10 Books I read in 2016

When I look back over a year that had run its course, especially what I read for that year, I sometimes experience disappointment because I didn't read as much as I had wanted to. This year is one of those.

One thing about top 10 lists of books is that readers will come up with vastly different lists, based on their likes and needs.

However, here is a list of the top 10 books I read this year. I included the book blurbs for each of the books below.

10. Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray

"Originally published in 1955 and reprinted dozens of times over the years, John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied systematically explains the two sides of redemption -- its accomplishment through Christ’s atonement and its application to the lives of believers.
Murray explores the biblical passages dealing with the necessity, nature, perfection, and extent of the atonement in order to establish its relationship to our justification, sanctification, and glorification. He goes on to identify the distinct steps in the Bible’s presentation of how the redemption accomplished by Christ is applied progressively to the life of the redeemed, including the role of faith and repentance."

9. Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World by James Montgomery Boice

"Combines a serious examination of the state of today's church and a powerful solution: reclaiming the gospel of grace found in the confessional truths of the Reformation.
Though the Christian church has achieved a worldly sort of success-big numbers, big budgets, big outreaches-these are not good days for evangelicalism. Attendance is down, and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish so-called 'believers' from their non-Christian neighbors-all because the gospel of grace has been neglected.
In this work, now in paperback, the late James Montgomery Boice identifies what's happened within evangelicalism and suggests how the confessional statements of the Reformation-Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and glory to God alone-can ignite full-scale revival. 'A church without these convictions has ceased to be a true church, whatever else it may be,' he wrote, but 'if we hold to these doctrines, our churches and those we influence will grow strong.'"

8. The Incomparable Christ by John R. W. Stott

"Who is Jesus Christ? No human question is more pivotal. No thoughtful answer fails to stretch our language, our categories or our aspirations.
In recent years numerous books have been written on Jesus, books that are shaped by faith or skepticism or follow the Western academic quest for the historical Jesus. The result has been a kaleidoscope of Jesuses, a thicket of viewpoints, some troubling to faith, some puzzling to the intellect, and a few that enrich our vision as they explore familiar terrain from new and promising angles.
Here is a book written by one who for a lifetime has followed Christ with heart, mind, soul and strength. John Stott offers us a vision of Christ whose portrait is discerned in the mosaic pattern of Scripture, whose influence is traced in the great currents of history, and whose compelling call has shaped the story line of ordinary humans who have been charged with extraordinary faith and courage."

7. Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism by Douglas R. Groothuis

"A 2001 Christianity Today Award of Merit winner! The concept of truth as absolute, objective and universal has undergone serious deterioration in recent years. No longer is it a goal for all to pursue. Rather postmodernism sees truth as inseparable from culture, psychology, race and gender. Ultimately, truth is what we make it to be. What factors have accelarated (sic) this decay of truth? Why are people willing to embrace such a devalued concept? How does this new view compare and contrast with a Christian understanding? While postmodernism contains some truthful insights (despite its attempt to dethrone truth), Douglas Groothuis sees its basic tenets as intellectually flawed and hostile to Christian views. In this spirited presentation of a solid, biblical and logical perspective, Groothuis unveils how truth has come under attack and how it can be defended in the vital areas of theology, apologetics, ethics and the arts."

6. A Visual History of the English Bible: The Tumultuous Tale of the World's Bestselling Book by Donald L. Brake

"With a full color layout and over one hundred illustrations, A Visual History of the English Bible covers the fascinating journey of the Bible from the pulpit to the people. Renowned biblical scholar Donald L. Brake invites readers to explore the process of transformation from medieval manuscripts to the contemporary translations of our day. Along the way, readers will meet many heroes of the faith--men and women who preserved and published the Scriptures, often at risk of their own lives.
From Wycliffe and Tyndale to King Henry VIII and the Geneva Bible, from the Bishop's Bible and the King James Version to the American Revolution and the Civil War, this tumultuous tale is history come alive. This book is perfect for history buffs, bibliophiles, and anyone interested in the colorful account of the world's most popular book."

5. Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People by Constantine R. Campbell

"Seminarians spend countless hours mastering biblical languages and learning how the knowledge of them illuminates the reading, understanding, and application of Scripture. But while excellent language acquisition resources abound, few really teach students how to maintain their use of Greek for the long term. Consequently, pastors and other former Greek students find that under the pressures of work, ministry, preaching, and life, their hard-earned Greek skills begins to disappear."

This is a real concern for many who learnt Greek at Bible School, and this book is a true encouragement to those who have "lost" their Greek!

4. American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle

"The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle, and the source for Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster movie which was nominated for six academy awards, including best picture.
"From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. His fellow American warriors, whom he protected with deadly precision from rooftops and stealth positions during the Iraq War, called him “The Legend”; meanwhile, the enemy feared him so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle, who was tragically killed in 2013, writes honestly about the pain of war—including the deaths of two close SEAL teammates—and in moving first-person passages throughout, his wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their family, as well as on Chris. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time"

The book says much more than the movie, and in his account of his life as a SEAL, the emotional grip of war on him can almost be felt.

3. Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study by Gordon D. Fee

"This work offers an exhaustive study of Pauline Christology by noted Pauline scholar Gordon Fee. The author provides a detailed analysis of the letters of Paul (including those whose authorship is questioned) individually, exploring the Christology of each one, and then attempts a synthesis of the exegetical work into a biblical Christology of Paul."

Even though this book has 744 pages, I never felt that it was too much. Fee is very thorough on the apostle Paul's Christology!

2. How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture by Francis A. Schaeffer

"As one of the foremost evangelical thinkers of the twentieth century, Francis Schaeffer long pondered the fate of declining Western culture. In this brilliant book he analyzed the reasons for modern society's state of affairs and presented the only viable alternative: living by the Christian ethic, acceptance of God's revelation, and total affirmation of the Bible's morals, values, and meaning."

Schaeffer had a very unique way of looking at the world, and this book is like almost all his books; worth the time to read!

1. Advances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the New Testament by Constantine R. Campbell

"Advances in the Study of Greek offers an introduction to issues of interest in the current world of Greek scholarship. Those within Greek scholarship will welcome this book as a tool that puts students, pastors, professors, and commentators firmly in touch with what is going on in Greek studies. Those outside Greek scholarship will warmly receive Advances in the Study of Greek as a resource to get themselves up to speed in Greek studies. Free of technical linguistic jargon, the scholarship contained within is highly accessible to outsiders."

This book opened my mind to many things that I was unaware of in modern Greek scholarship.

A. Blake White also created a top 10 list and Tim Challies created a list of the top books he had read this year.

My Top 10 Books of 2014

It is nearly the end of the year. For some it was a year of successes and triumphs and for others it was a year of failures or disappointments!  The same goes for reading. Some books are triumphant books (the ones we finish) and others we fail at (the ones we do not finish)!

 

 

Ranking	Title	Author
10	Day of the Vipers (Star Trek Terok Nor Book 1)	James Swallow
	True to Star Trek nature, this book has a lot of names and places to keep track of. Yet, it is not difficult to keep up. For those who are Star Trek fans, this will be an enjoyable book with action, intrigue and sadly, loss. It highlights the very thing happening in the world today, in which governments are more and more turning their backs on religion. In the book, freedom of religion is important, showing one government in the process of ridding its planet of religion, while another welcomes religion. Indeed an interesting story! Completed: 16 January 2014
9	Francis Schaeffer	Mostyn Roberts
	Francis Schaeffer is one of the 20th century’s greatest influencers towards thinking Christianity. To him, Christianity was not simply a form of mysticism, and neither was it a leap of faith into the unknown. To Francis Schaeffer, Christianity was rational—not rationalistic. Christianity had all the answers to life’s big questions, and Schaeffer did not shy away from answering those questions. (Short review) Completed: 26 March 2014
8	Anne Boleyn: One Short Life That Changed the English-Speaking World	Colin Hamer
	This book was well written and is easy to follow. The history of Anne Boleyn is well portrayed and myths and fiction surrounding her are cleared up. It is not a thick book and as such is a good introduction into the life of Anne Boleyn. It is certainly a good read for those who are interested in history, especially surrounding the entry of the Reformation in England and the huge role Anne Boleyn played in securing a strong foothold for the Reformation in England. Completed: 11 June 2014
7	What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an	James R. White
	In a time such as the one we find ourselves in, where liberals make all kinds of false claims concerning how Islam is a religion of peace and many more claims, James R. White lays bare the Qur’an and shows how weak the book really is. Completed: 10 July 2014
6	The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance	Leon Morris
	Morris shows us that the atonement is not just single faceted, but multifaceted. When we speak of justification, we are touching on one of the facets of the atonement. When we speak of propitiation, we touch on another facet. It is an easy book to read, and is suitable for many different audiences. Completed: 23 February 2014
5	Our Sovereign Saviour: The Essence of the Reformed Faith	Roger Nicole
	A very concise handling of the sovereignty of God in salvation. Completed: 30 November 2014
4	Abraham's Four Seeds	John G. Reisinger
	This is an excellent book on New Covenant Theology. It breaks down the wrong ideas held by Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology and provides a simple yet profound, direct interpretation of the Scriptures. It does become a little repetitive at times, but is well worth the effort to read it. Completed: 5 September 2014
3	The Canon of Scripture	F.F. Bruce
	F.F. Bruce gives a very good analysis of the canon of Scripture and how it came together. Well worth the time spent reading it. Bruce deals with both Old and New Testaments. I enjoyed every facet of the book and especially how he dealt with weird compilers of what should be in the NT such as Marcion's NT and others like him. For those that enjoy history, this will give a good idea of how our canon of Scripture came about. Completed: 29 June 2014
2	According to Plan	Graeme Goldsworthy
	Very few writers can make Biblical Theology come alive like Goldsworthy. That is why an introduction to the subject—such as this is—for the every day Christian is so important. It can be a daunting task, but Graeme Goldsworthy opens it up for ordinary minds to enjoy! Completed: 21 July 2014
1	A Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: Three Essential Books in One Volume	Francis A. Schaeffer
	The three books in this trilogy are the foundation to Francis Schaeffer's thinking. If all you read of Francis Schaeffer, then it should be this trilogy. I have now read this trilogy twice, and it is just as captivating as it was the first time! A must read! Completed: 31 August 2014 (Also read it in 1998)

 

So, there is my list of the best books I read in 2014! I hope that if you haven’t yet read any of these books, that you would get one or two (or more) of these to read. If you only want to buy one of these books, I would recommend my number one without reservation!

Here are a few others that did not make it onto my list, but that at least deserve a mention, in no particular order:

• The Last Sacrifice, Hank Hanegraaff
• I, Saul, Jerry Jenkins
• Pulpit Crimes, James R. White
• Porndemic: How the Pornography Plague Affects You and What You Can Do About It, Taryn, Hodgson
• Starlight and Time: Solving the Puzzle of Distant Starlight in a Young Universe, Russell, Humphreys
• Twilight of a Great Civilization: The Drift Toward Neo-Paganism, Carl F.H Henry

Enjoy preparing for your reading schedule of 2015!

My Top 10 Books of 2013

It is the time of year that many look back over the year to assess the year’s successes, failures, and hardships. For those that enjoy reading, there were also successes and failures, and sometimes hardships when reading books. Successes in the books read, failures in the books not read or finished, and hardships to grind through some books.

Of course, my list of books will not be the same as someone else’s list of books, since our interests will be different, and there are few people in the world who have actually read the same list of books this year. The books I will list here did not come from another list at all. These are the top 10 books that I have personally read this year.

10. Love Your God with All Your Mind, J.P. Moreland

In the evangelical world there are opposites in many areas. Not the least of those opposites are in the area of the mind and the spirit. However, what has probably been neglected the most in evangelicalism is the importance of the mind. In this book, J.P. Moreland takes very seriously the imperative that Jesus highlighted for the questioning scribe:

“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” (Mk, 12:30)

Moreland highlights the use of the intellect as Christians in God’s kingdom in the areas of evangelism, apologetics, worship and vocation. The evangelical has many times loved the Lord with great zeal, but neglected to love God with the mind.

I finished this book on 23 June 2013.

Top 10 blog posts for 2010

Image courtesy Sam Churchill

Obviously, I have written better blog posts in years prior to 2010, especially when looking at my former blog, Just thinking..., which I closed on 13 August 2010! Only 2 posts from 2010 made it onto the top 10 list for that blog.

Of course, Theo-Enthumology only started on 13 August 2010, so it doesn’t have such extensive data to look at, and it only existed since 2010.

So, for the Just thinking... blog, here are the top 10:

#	Post	Year
10	The government shall be on whose shoulders?	2007
9	Heresies in the church - Part 1	2005
8	John Piper in South Africa Oct 2010!	2009
7	Audio sermons by James Montgomery Boice	2009
6	Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, et al.	2009
5	Benny Hinn's wife files for divorce	2010
4	AGAPE and PHILEO: That much different?	2007
3	Pastor Ray McCauley to divorce... again!	2010
2	Rhema vs. Logos	2006
1	Charismatic pastor to divorce again?	2008

The most popular posts on Theo-Enthumology since August 2010 (in no particular order) are:

Classic Petra: Back to the Rock

Global Leadership Summit and the lack of theological discernment in the church

Christmas: It is more than just the birth of a baby

Did Spurgeon suggest that experience comes before knowledge after all?

I’ll be on The Late Debate television show tonight

So, as an exercise for yourself, why don’t you read these articles that were the most popular in 2010!

For another Top 10 list, visit ΒιβλιοΠολιτ, which is more politically minded!