My son is a fiction reader, and here are his Top Ten Books: Novels. Thanks Luke. Did he miss some good ones?

Top Ten (Semi)-Recent Novels

1. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway- saddest book
I can ever imagine, and classic Hemingway dealing with
wounds and scars and wars and failed love.

2. Native Son, Richard Wright- moving book about the
struggles of African-Americans.

3. Cien Anos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of
Solitude), Gabriel Garcia Marquez- a sad and hilarious
book all at the same time; master of magical realism. [Read more...]

A list of my top ten biographies is likely to connect with nobody completely, but that is because biographies are enjoyed because they connect with us for a variety of reasons. I’ve listed those that I’ve enjoyed the most and some of them because the biographer himself was such a good writer.

I could easily have limited this to major Christian figures or to other categories.

Feel free to comment on your one or two favorite biographies.

1. G. Sayer, Jack: C.S. Lewis and His Times.

2. G.K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox

3. P. Ackroyd, Dickens

4. W. Martin, A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story

5. E.K. Kaplan, S.H. Dresner, Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness

6. E. Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography

7. F. Scott Elledge, E.B. White

8. T. Teachout, The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken

9. G. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards

10. A. Hoffman, Inventing Mark Twain

Others include:

A. Hollingsworth, The Simple Life of Mister Rogers
B. Reynolds, Dorothy L. Sayers
K.S. Lynn, Hemingway
M. Ignatieff, Isaiah Berlin
F. Kiernan, Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy
J. Cash, Flannery O’Connor: A Life
T. Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965
T. Dudley-Smith, John Stott
J. McMorris, The Warden of English: The Life of H.W. Fowler
F.W. Dillistone, C.H. Dodd
C. Clinton, Hariett Tubman

Since the Left Behind series has come out, I have been asked hundreds of times “What do you think of the Left Behind series?” My answer has always been something like this: “I disagree completely with how they understand prophetic language.” Here’s where the problem begins, because they always then ask, “What should I read to gain another view?” The following list is the sort of thing I mention, and you may have others. Feel free to comment. I’ve only linked to one of these books; you can chase down any you’d like to purchase or read.

1. B.M. Metzger, Breaking the Code. This is a lay-level, readable commentary on Revelation.

2. G.B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible, chps. 12-14. A definitive study on the nature of eschatological language.

3. P. Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More. A leading American historian charts the relationship of American politics and dispensational eschatology.

4. G.E. Ladd, The Blessed Hope. Ladd contested dispensationalism in the 50s and this book had a major influence. One of my college teachers told me he would not recommend this book because, as he said it,”it was too good.”

5. R.H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation. In the 70s Bob Gundry furthered the thinking of Ladd with a book that studied each significant biblical text. For awhile many thought this book might have ended the dispensational grip.

6. R.T. France, Matthew (Tyndale Commentary on Matthew; read his section on Matthew 24:29-31)

7. R.C. Sproul, The Last Days according to Jesus. A mild preterist (already fulfilled) view.

8. S. McKnight, “Catching the Wave, or Facing the Tsunami?” My own public lecture on how I understand the eschatology of Jesus/Matthew 24.

9. A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future. A good study of what the Bible says about the future from an amillennial (millennium is a metaphor) point of view.

10. Carl E. Olson, Will Catholics be Left Behind? A former fundamentalist now RC convert responds to the Left Behind series.

There are plenty of things to read, and I just hope that there are enough pastors who will resist this latest trend to think about the future in the terms of dispensationalism. I once thought of writing a book that responded to the Left Behind series and gave it the title: “Still Here (and loving it).” A little cheeky? Yes, perhaps. But, it is annoying to see a view gain such an influence when many evangelical scholars know it is not supported by careful exegesis.

In this series of Top Ten Book we’ve looked at Spiritual Formation, Missional Formation, Jesus books, the Apostle Paul, and New Testament Theology. This one is a list of my favorite books on earliest Christianity that don’t really fit into the other categories. I consider this list to be of some of the finest studies ever in NT research.

1. W.D. Davies, The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount. Long, demanding, but an incredible piece of work that moves through the evidence like a well-constructed novel.
2. C.H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures and The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments. Two separable works that really belong together: the first explains how the early Christians used the Old Testament and the second the ground of early Christian preaching.
3. C.F.D. Moule, The Birth of the New Testament and The Phenomenon of the New Testament. Two books that don’t belong together, except that they are both by Moule, a prince of NT scholars and one born with a crystal-clear pen. The first is a unique perception of how the NT grew into shape and the second for those who “have written off Christianity.”
4. E. Hoskyns, N. Davey, The Riddle of the New Testament. Like Moule’s Phenomenon here is yet another British level-headed approach to what history does in fact teach us about the Christian faith.
5. S. Neill, with T. Wright, The Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861-1986 (updated in 1988 by T. Wright). Simply the best way to see the big map of how NT studies have developed. I would require this of every serious NT student at the senior college level or in the first year of seminary/graduate studies.
6. M. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism. The definitive study of the interpenetration of Judaism and Hellenism; his follow ups were Jews, Greeks, and Barbarians and The Hellenization of Judaea in the First Century after Christ
7. J.D.G. Dunn, The Partings of the Ways. A demonstration that Christianity took time to develop and the relationship with Judaism was complex.
8. D. Boyarin, Border Lines. I’m not always sure Boyarin’s prose is clear, but his thesis — that it took both Judaism and Christianity three centuries or so before the word “heresy” could develop — is one more study of the interpenetration of these faiths.
9. J. Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Christ. Formerly, the must study for those interested in Judaism.
10. E.P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief. Sanders thinks Jeremias got it all wrong, and here presents an alternative understanding of Judaism — and relies heavily upon Josephus.

These are some heavyweights, but these books are both classics and necessities for understanding earliest Christianity.

We’re in a series of blogs about Top Ten Books. We’ve looked at Spiritual Formation, Missional Formation, Jesus books, and the Apostle Paul. This one is on New Testament Theology, by which I mean books that take on the big picture of the New Testament synthetically (which is rare) or which sort out the “theologies” of the various authors/figures in the New Testament (which is what most do).

But, first this: some have suggested we read the NT first. Of course. It goes without saying. But most people don’t need suggestions on where to find a Bible. With the incredible variety and overwhelming number of books (and blogs!) being published, sometimes it is of help to hear what others recommend.

1. G.E. Ladd, A New Testament Theology
2. G.B. Caird, New Testament Theology (finished by Lincoln Hurst)
3. P. Stuhlmacher, Biblical Theology of the New Testament (2 vols.; forthcoming; available now only in German; but soon to come out from Eerdmans)
4. J.D.G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament
5. O. Cullmann, Christ and Time and Salvation in History (two classics rarely read today)
6. R. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament (limited theme; rich study)
7. R. Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament (hard to know where to put this; but has to be here somewhere)
8. C. Rowland, Christian Origins
9. G. Strecker, Theology of the New Testament
10. E. Stauffer, New Testament Theology

There are two others by noted Evangelicals:

D. Guthrie, New Testament Theology
I.H. Marshall, New Testament Theology (which I nominated for a Gold Medallion Award, but don’t know if it won or not)

Now, if you can read German or French, there are some others:

K. Berger, Theologiegeschichte des Urchristentums
J. Gnilka, Theologie des Neuen Testaments
F. Vouga, Une théologie du Nouveau Testament

Tomorrow: My favorite Top Ten Books: New Testament Studies, on just great books with a big influence.

In this series of blogs on Top Ten Books, I want to cover a variety of topics. Today’s is on Paul and sometime this weekend I want to post one on the Top Ten Books in Biblical Studies (overall).

The Apostle Paul is no longer who he once was — at least that is what has happened to our images and understandings of him since the late 70s. Again, I’ve tried to focus here on what I think are the best and readable books. (In this one, the “readable” part is what is difficult.)

1. W.D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: widely neglected today, this book recovered the Jewishness of Paul.
2. E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: student of Davies whose book is the most influential NT book of the 20th Century.
3. J.D.G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle: the official “New Perspective” book.
4. N.T. Wright, The Climax of the Covenant and What Saint Paul Really Said
5. H.R. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology: hard to read, traditional view of Paul.
6. A. Segal, Paul the Convert
7. J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the Apostle
8. D. Boyarin, A Radical Jew
9. S. Westerholm, Israel’s Law and the Church’s Faith
10. D. Wenham, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity?

There are so many more, including J. Becker, Wayne Meeks, A. Schweitzer, K. Stendahl, R. Riesner, R. Knox, and Peter O’Brien.

One comment: this list favors the New Perspective because this view has the most innovative books. The older, more Reformed view of Paul’s theology simply hasn’t found a major proponent in book-length form of late. There has been lots of sniping going on about the New Perspective in the journals and in conferences, but a restatement of the pre-New Perspective of Paul isn’t on the shelves right now (unless you count Ridderbos, which was published when I was in college). The link I have to the New Perspective is to Michael Bird’s fine page: all kinds of bibliography and debate to be found there. In particular, you might want to look at the piece by F. Watson.

This one is impossible. Why? So many books on Jesus have been truly ground-breaking and paradigm-challenging, and I’ve limited myself to ten. This list is the top ten Jesus books that I like to read and from which I have learned so much. I don’t agree with any of them completely. Some of these are no longer in print, but can be found (often, usually) on Advanced Book Exchange.

1. N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God
2. B.F. Meyer, The Aims of Jesus (long philosophical intro)
3. J. Jeremias, New Testament Theology. Vol. 1: The Proclamation of Jesus
4. C.H. Dodd, The Founder of Christianity
5. J.D.G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered
6. G.B. Caird, New Testament Theology, chp. 9.
7. G. Vermes, Jesus the Jew
8. H.J. Cadbury, The Peril of Modernizing Jesus
9. B. Wiebe, Messianic Ethics
10. D. Kraybill, The Upside-Down Kingdom

Sure, there are many more, especially if you want to look at this from seminal studies for the academic study of Jesus (Johannes Weiss, Albert Schweitzer, R. Bultmann, G. Bornkamm, W. Manson, T.W. Manson, H.J. Cadoux, M. Dibelius, R. Schnackenburg, L. Goppelt, E.P. Sanders, R.A. Horsley, J.P. Meier, M. Borg, J.P. Meier, B.D. Chilton, J.D. Crossan, E.S. Fiorenza, and on and on). But, this list is my list of the best books to read about Jesus, and they are not all that repetitive amongst themselves.

By the way, Jimmy Dunn and I are co-editors of an anthology of Jesus studies coming out this fall from Eisenbraun’s. It collects seminal essays or chapters in the unfolding history of how scholars have understood Jesus.