What's the best book you read this year?

1. Can be either new or old

2. By "best" I mean: made you think, made an impact on your life somehow, blessed you in a certain way, helped you understand Scripture or theology better, etc.

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Richard T. Zuelch, M.Div
Ruling Elder, OPC (not currently serving)
Westminster Presbyterian Church, CA (OPC)
www.alexandermaclaren.wordpress.com
www.reiterations.wordpress.com
www.spurgeonswords.wordpress.com

Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of God's Word, but are, thereby, drawn to intenser contemplation of them. - Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)

Protestantism and the American Founding by Michael P. Zuckert (ed.). I read essays from this book in my American Political Thought class at the Citadel and it most certainly changed my thinking on the American Revolution and those who's ideas lay behind it.

Zuckert, though not without contention from other essayists, (I think) convincingly shows that the Pilgrims who drafted the Mayflower Compact in 1620 worshipped God--whereas the same cannot be said for the drafter of the Dec. of Ind. (Jefferson). Zuckert argues that the fundamental source for political power for the Pilgrims was God--who then bestows upon a ruler that power. That is why they say as much in the Mayflower COmpact and acknowledge the fact that God had placed King James over them as ruler. For Jefferson, and other Enlightenment thinkers, the fundamental base of political power is the individual--who then consents to give that power to a group of legislators, etc.

Anyway, the main argument for Zuckert was to show that one cannot draw a straight line from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration and say that they share the same view of God, political philosophy, or political authority.

Good read. Good thread too.

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Daniel Franzen
Church Creek Presbyterian (PCA)
Charleston, SC

Best might be...


I also really liked...

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Larry Bray
Elder - Reformed Presbyterian Church of Boothwyn, PCA
Boothwyn, PA - http://www.rpcb.org/
Free Online Reformed Seminary - http://www.tnars.net
-----------------------------------------------------
Christian ritual costs nothing and is worth nothing. True Christian religion costs all that we have and is worth everything.

My two:

Not sure how I could pick just one or two, but here, following Larry's lead, are two of the more edifying and significant ones in my past year:



and

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Todd K. Pedlar
member, First Congregational Church, (CCCC) Cresco, IA
http://inprincipiodeus.solideogloria.com
http://puritanwisdom.blogspot.com

"As God did not at first choose you because you were high, He will not now forsake you because you are low."
John Flavel in Keeping the Heart



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And I€ just finished reading it yesterday...

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

This thread's going to give me good ideas to add to my "books to get" list.

A Treatise on Earthly Mindedness, by Burroughs; Human Nature in Its Fourfould State, by Boston. The Institutes of Biblical Law, by Rushdoony.

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soli Deo gloria!
~Nicholas~ Ordained Pastor
Member, Fulton PCA; GPTS Student
Christians are like snow covered dung; it is the purity of the covering which the Father sees. -Luther-
There is nothing more ugly than a Christian orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.
-Francis Schaeffer-

Glorious Freedom by Richard Sibbes
Life's Ultimate Questions by Ronald Nash

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Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

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"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

"Before Jerusalem Fell" By Ken Gentry.

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Erick Bohndorf, Redeemer Presbyterian PCA
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pr...90&ref=profile
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Ecclesiastes

The Bible.



Sorry, couldn't resist.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

Ok, Ok, after the Bible ...

I've really been blessed by biography this year, primarily George Marsden's Jonathan Edwards: A Life and John Piper's series that includes three or so biographies in each book. I was incredibly busy (fire season) while reading Mr. Marsden's book, and kept coming back to it to read 20 pages here and 20 pages there, so it took me several months. I really missed it when I was through with it.

Also In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Atonement a reprint of forwards to John Owen's Death of Death.

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JWithnell
Member Bethel OPC
Virginia
http://learningyesican.blogspot.com/

I read this book once a year and every year it has a different impact on my life. This year it reminded me that I don't thank God enough. Every situation in my life is in His plan. I forget this all the time.

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Jennifer Wysocki
Christ The King Presbyterian Church in America
Houston, Texas

I don't know about best book, since I don't have a lot of time to think through it now, but this book is excellent:

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Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

The Law and the Gospel by John Colquhoun

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Jim
An Elder, Harvest Reformed Church (RCUS),Minot, ND
http://www.harvestreformedchurch.org/
http://tbftgoggi.wordpress.com/

Upon a life I did not live; upon a death I did not die, Another's death, Another's life, I'd rest my soul eternally
Omnia dicta fortiora,si dicta Latina
Si vis pacem, para bellum

I don't know if this is the best book I've read this year, but it is an excellent book and should be read by every pastor and church leader.

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We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Lawrence Underwood, Jr.
Pastor - Providence Family Fellowship / Mobile, Alabama
1644/46 LBC
My Blog - Imprimis

I just ordered this book as I love reading Burroughs and this one sounds great:
A Treatise on Earthly Mindedness, by Burroughs(as posted by 'nicnap')

I am presently reading again, The Bruised Reed, Stibbes, and
The Genius of Puritanism, Peter Lewis

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Nancy L./ www.foundersbaptist.org
Spring, TX

Your will, Lord Jesus Christ! Nothing more... nothing less... nothing else.

Toss up between "the almost christian discovered" by Matthew Meade and "the christian in complete armour" by William Gurnall.

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Psa 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psa 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
James Farley
Husband of Melissa and father of Ann.
Members of Redeemer Church ARP, Blacksburg Va.
http://www.redeemerblacksburg.org/

Man, this is a hard one...

Letters of James Bourne earlier this year, Gill's Divinity throughout and Revelation: Four Views: A Parallel Commentary first come to mind.

j

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Conscience may lash us, but it cannot replenish a languishing life. Conscience may be God's word and minister to you, telling you of your faults and your follies and your destitution. It may point out, but it will never supply you. Christ must give you new life. Hart has well expressed it: "He to the feeble and the faint, His mighty aid makes known; and when their languid life is spent, supplies it with His own." - J. K. Popham

Godly Sorrow Author: Wisse, G.

Reformation Heritage Books

For me, either Justification, or Recovering the Reformed Confessions.

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Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
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Hmm...Rutherford's letters?

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Paul Korte
OPC
Flint, MI

They who perceive in themselves discoveries of the divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines, by which the very grace they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. --John Calvin

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and

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Rev. JR HARRIS
Assistant Pastor
Redeemer Community Church (PCA)
O'Fallon, IL

"Counted Righteous in Christ" by John Piper, and though I'm not finished with it yet, "The Glory of Christ" by John Owen

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[B]Manley Beasley[/B]
Southern Baptist Convention
Fayetteville, Arkansas

[B]Wir sein pettler. Hoc est verum (We are beggars. This is true.).--Luther's dying words[/B]

Notes on Ecclesiastes - Martin Luther

Luther's Works Volume 15: Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the Last Words of David - Edited By: Jaroslav Pelikan - Christianbook.com

Very comforting when it seems like the world is out to get you, or when you have to deal with the evils of society and of people in your everyday life. Very practical and calming to the mind with regard to how we are to respond in such circumstances, among other things.

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Charles Plauger
Member/Grace Reformed Church
Oakland, MD

"Are Miraculous Gifts For Today: Four Views"


It answered a lot of my questions about the different views. I especially enjoyed Robert Saucy's contribution and would like to read more of his. Has he written anything else of note?

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http://www.villagecommunitychurch.org/


"Preparing a sermon is like cooking a meal. You need pots and pans and utensils, but you don't bring them out to the table where people are eating." Derek Thomas


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Well...

I just became Reformed this year (I remember distinctly when I became a 5-point Calvinist in my Spanish V class in May ), so it'd be tough for me to say.

Although Desiring God by John Piper is what sparked me into accepting Reformed theology (I was previously on the verge of an extremely liberal theology), my two favorite books this year have to be Christianity and Liberalism by John Gresham Machen and Van Til's Apologetic by Greg Bahnsen.

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Ben Maas. . . . .Facebook
In college, attending First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Ada, OH, and
Belle Center Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA), Belle Center, OH
When at home, attending Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC), Mansfield, OH

“Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.”
-Jonathan Edwards-

Christless Christianity by Michael Horton.

Not an encouraging read, but definitely a necessary one.

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Wes Bredenhof
Pastor, Providence Canadian Reformed Church
Hamilton, Ontario
www.bredenhof.ca
Gospel Talk Radio Program

He's written 2 or 3 other books. He was my systematics professor in seminary. He's not Reformed; rather, he's a progressive dispensationalist (as opposed to the classic view). His best-known book is The Church in God's Kingdom (1972), which actually might be still in print.

Robert L. Saucy (pronounced "SO-see"), now 78, has taught at Talbot School of Theology (formerly Talbot Theological Seminary) on the campus of Biola University, since 1961. He is still teaching about 2/3 time. The last time I spoke to him, he told me he's working on a book about heaven.

-----Added 12/19/2008 at 02:44:44 EST-----

One of the best books I read this year is: Milton's Creation: A Guide to Paradise Lost (1971) by Harry Blamires. Blamires, a student of C. S. Lewis's in the 1930s, is now 92.