Recommended Reading for Spiritual Development

Without question, reading is critical in Christian spiritual development.  I present the following as resources for those seeking to follow Jesus in discipleship that are looking for books from authors that encourage us to think deeper about our Christian faith.  The criteria for choosing these volumes are as follows; firstly those that are written from a Christian perspective, are volumes in which the authors recognize the "already/not yet" aspect of the Kingdom of God.  Christian sometimes fall into the gnostic trap of spiritualizing applications of Christian truth to make our everyday involvement in the world irrelevant or worse, sinful.  How we take care of our environment, issues of social and economic justice, issues related to poverty, are all linked with how we love for our neighbor, our family, and our enemies.  Christian faith does not simply look towards the sweet by and by, some future 'heavenly' realm that we inhabit.  Secondly, they draw from a catholic, ecumenical perspective.  That is realizing that no one particular camp of Christianity has all knowledge they are authors that interact with scripture and tradition to bring to light truths that are recognized as faithful to the apostles creed and inclusive of the ancient faith of the church as well as its contemporary voice.  Thirdly, they do not advance the notion that if we have enough faith our problems simply vanish. In fact, often it can be complicated because we follow Jesus.  Christians are called to participate in Kingdom of God, suffer for it if necessary, and seek it out above all else. Finally, those volumes not written from a Christian perspective illuminate a wisdom that calls us to a reflective life and to examine the lives we live.

This list will be expanded on in time, and I am using four categories "beginning, intermediate, advanced, master" to describe the difficulty of each.  Lastly, these are all books that I have found indispensable, books that I have read and re-read several times over and have found to contain the kind of truth that goes beyond the surface to the deeper issues of life and faith.

Beginner Must Reads

Michael Green, "Who Is This Jesus?"  Thomas Nelson Publishers

Justo Gonzalez, "The Apostles Creed For Today"  John Knox Press.

Henri J Nouwen, "Reaching Out: Three Movements of the Spiritual Life" Doubleday

N.T.Wright, "Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense."  Harper One

Rowan Williams, "Meeting God in Mark: Reflections for the Season of Lent" John Knox Press.

N.T.Wright, "New Testament For Everyone" John Knox Press: (The Gospel of Mark), John Knox Press

NRSV, New Revised Standard Version, the Bible.  The Gospel of Mark

The Kingdom New Testament; N.T.Wright translation.  Harper Collins

The Message, Eugene Peterson translation.

Intermediate

C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity." Harper One

James H Cone.  "The Cross and the Lynching Tree." Orbis, 2011 

Shirley C. Guthrie, Jr. "Christian Doctrine; revised edition"  John Knox Press

Adam Hamilton, When Christians Get it Wrong.  Abingdon Press, 2013

St. Augustine.  "The Confessions of St. Augustine" Doubleday

Henri J Nowen, "In the Name of Jesus" 


Alister McGrath.  "I Believe: Exploring the Apostles Creed" IVP

Eugene Peterson, "Run with Horses"  Green Press, 2009

Eugene Peterson.  "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society" IVP

N.T.Wright, "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church."  Harper One

N.T.Wright, "New Testament For Everyone" John Knox Press: (Commentary on NT), John Knox Press

Albert Wolters, "Creation Regained:  Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview" Eerdman's Publishing Co.

Advanced Reading

Karl Barth.  Evangelical Theology. Eerdmans 1963

C.S. Lewis, "The Great Divorce"  Harper One.

John Calvin.  "Institutes of the Christian Religion"  Ford Lewis Battle Translation, Library of Christian Classics.  

The Penguin History of the Church Series (Vo1 1-7; The Early Church, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, The Reformation, The Church in the Age of Reason, The Church in the Age of Revolution, a history of Christian Missions, The Christian Church in the Cold War)

Marva Dawn, Eugene Peterson. "The Unnecessary Pastor; Rediscovering the Call." Eerdmans

Edwin Friedman.  "A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix"

Gustavo Gutiérrez, "A Theology of Liberation." Orbis

Martin Luther King Jr.  "A Testament of Hope" Essential Writings and Speeches

Martin Luther.  "Commentary on Romans" and  "The Bondage of the Will"

Philip J Lee.  "Against the Protestant Gnostics" Oxford University Press

N.T.Wright, Christian Origins and the Question of God Series, Fortress Press
     "The New Testament and the People of God" Vol 1
     "Jesus and the Victory of God; Christian Origins and the Question of God" Vol 2
     "The Resurrection of the Son of God" Vol 3
     "Paul and the Faithfulness of God" Vol 4, Part 1 and Part 2

N.T.Wright, "Evil and the Justice of God"

N.T.Wright, "Paul in Fresh Perspective"

Max Weber, "Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism", Penguin Twentieth Century Classics

Master Level

Karl Barth, "The Epistle to the Romans." Translator Edwin C Hoskyns.  Oxford University Press

Karl Barth, "The Dogmatics in Outline."  Harper and Row

Fyodor Dostoyevksy, "The Brothers Karamazov"  Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Jürgen Moltmann, "The Crucified God."  Translated by R.A. Wilson, and John Bowden.  Fortress Press.