What are you reading this summer?
We recently asked some of our contributors what book(s) they are reading this summer? Their answers reveal some good picks and should give you some excellent ideas for books to put on your reading list. Here is what they said:
Waugh, Barry, ed. Letters from the Front: J. Gresham Machen’s Correspondence from World War 1. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2012.
Although no doubt putting this collection out was a labour of love, the letters cannot be said to throw even a dim light on the development of Machen’s theological outlook. They are almost all written to his mother, to whom Machen was devoted throughout her life. They reveal something of the depth of that devotion. He spent most of his time working for the YMCA in various locations in France. Many of the letters deal with the difficulties of making and selling hot chocolate to the American soldiers, and registering (in restrained terms) the filthy, rat-infested and generally insanitary places that he was sent to live and work. Another theme is the ineptness of the administration of the ‘Y’ even allowing for the disruptions of war. Another is Machen’s loss of his suitcase. Machen seems to have taken all this docilely, giving evidence of a strong sense of duty, a willingness to work hard, and to take whatever was dished out to him to do, mainly the task of making the chocolate, even when we would have preferred to be engaged in taking services for the men. His conditions (I suppose that he spared his mother the more gruesome and disgusting details) must have been a shock after the comforts of his wealthy upbringing and his life in Princeton. But there is no grumbling or whining. So the letters show a side of Machen’s character, but tell us nothing about what he thought of the war from a theological or Christian standpoint. Not a word. So, a thorough disappointment to anyone, like me, looking for some theological meat, even if it had to be mixed with the chocolate. But for those who think of Machen as a revered father of the church, whose every word is to be savoured and pondered, this book adds to the corpus of his published word. But the rest of us can safely let it pass us by.
Paul Helm was appointed J.I. Packer Chair of Philosophical Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, in 2001. He is presently a Teaching Fellow there. Among his many books are Calvin and the Calvinists, Faith and Reason, The Trustworthiness of God, The Providence of God, Eternal God, The Secret Providence of God, The Trustworthiness of God (with Carl Trueman), John Calvin’s Ideas, Calvin at the Centre, and Calvin: A Guide for the Perplexed.
Will, George. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball
George Will’s classic treatment of America’s Pastime has a timeless quality to it. Though the players highlighted in the 1990 book have since retired, the mechanics and character of the game, which Will so skillfully elucidates, remain.
Luke Stamps is a Ph.D. candidate at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in systematic theology. Luke is writing his dissertation in the field of Christology. Luke is married to Josie, and they have three children, Jack, Claire, and Henry. Luke is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.
Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. 4 Vols. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008.
Horton, Michael. The Christian Faith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.
I find it very helpful not to restrict myself to reading in biblical studies. I have been reading volume 4 of Bavinck’s systematic theology and Michael Horton’s new systematic theology. I have learned much from all 4 volumes of Bavinck and am finding Horton’s volume to be outstanding as well. Bavinck provides a depth and ballast theologically which is necessary in these tumultuous days. Horton’s work is biblically grounded, a joy to read, and he interacts wisely and profitably with current issues in systematic theology.
Thomas Schreiner is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Among his many books are Romans, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ, Magnifying God in Christ: A Summary of New Testament Theology, and Galatians.
Ferguson, Sinclair. By Grace Alone. Reformation Trust, 2010.
Sinclair Ferguson is one of the warmest gospel preachers alive, and this is vintage Ferguson.
Fred Zaspel (Ph.D., Free University of Amsterdam) is pastor at the Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia, PA. He is also the interim Senior Pastor at New Hyde Park Baptist Church on New York’s Long Island, and Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvary Baptist Seminary in Lansdale, PA. He is also the author of The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary (Crossway, 2010).
Popham, Pete. The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi
In May, while vacationing in Sarasota, Florida, I picked up Peter Popham’s biography of the Burmese leader—The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi (The Experiment, 2012), not expecting that it would grip me the way it did, and I read it almost nonstop till I finished it. It is a fabulous work that details her life and political career, but also its deeply moral underpinning. I was very impressed that her life gives hope that politics can indeed be a vocation of integrity.
Michael A. G. Haykin is Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church (Crossway, 2011). Haykin is the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.
Forde, Gerhard O. On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, 1518. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.
A very good, though admittedly, hard-to-read and sometimes odd little book. It’s an exposition of a number of theses Martin Luther set forth in 1518 in defense of the evangelical gospel. It really plumbs the depths of the worldview that arises out of the belief that we are justified by faith in Christ alone apart from works of the law.
Timothy Raymond is an editor for Credo Magazine and has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana since April 2006. He received his MDiv from the Baptist Bible Seminary of Pennsylvania in 2004 and has pursued further education through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.
Hoffecker, W. Andrew. Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2011.
Charles Hodge (1797-1878) is one of the most important theologians of the nineteenth century and Hoffecker has brought Hodge back to life, reminding us of Hodge’s contribution to theological education, Reformed orthodoxy, evangelical piety, and American evangelicalism. American evangelicals have much to learn from Hodge’s Old School Presbyterianism. Also see Hoffecker recent article in the most recent issue of Credo Magazine, “Old Princeton.”
Matthew Barrett (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at California Baptist University. He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett has contributed book reviews and articles to various academic journals, and he is the author of several forthcoming books. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Cassandra and Georgia.
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