Best calvinist christianity books according to redditors
We found 125 Reddit comments discussing the best calvinist christianity books. We ranked the 51 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 125 Reddit comments discussing the best calvinist christianity books. We ranked the 51 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Hi /u/iwillyes, I'm glad you're here! Let me start by talking a bit about what the Reformed tradition of Christianity is.
The Reformed Tradition is a branch of Protestant Christianity that developed during the Reformation in Switzerland, Scotland, France and the low countries. John Calvin was (and is) the most influential theologian in the Reformed tradition. While we share many similarities with Anglicans, Baptists and Lutherans we are usually seen as a distinct strand. We disagree on the meaning of both Baptism and the Eucharist, for example (in both regards Lutherans are closer to Catholics). Pentecostals and Anabaptist are quite different.
In terms of what makes the Reformed different from other Protestant groups, I love this quote by Cornelius Plantinga:
>>Our accents lie more on the sovereignty of God, on the authority of Scripture, on the need for disciplined holiness in personal Christian life, and finally, on Christianity as a religion of the Kingdom.
That emphasis on the sovereignty of God over all things is in my mind what most clearly distinguishes the reformed tradition. Part of that is understanding God to be sovereign in salvation - what is commonly known as the five points of Calvinism. Basically we believe that because of we are dead in our sin, man is utterly unable to do anything to save himself - even unable to turn to God. It is only through God's grace of drawing us to him that we are able to have the faith that saves us. This means that we contribute nothing to our own salvation - it is entirely a work of God.
In the U.S. there are two main groups of Reformed churches: Presbyterians (the Scottish Reformed) and the Dutch Reformed. Historically Scottish Reformed have put a bit more emphasis on personal piety (the Puritans are part of this group) while the Dutch Reformed have put slightly more emphasis on declaring the Lordship of Christ over all creation. But, we are very, very similar. The Reformed tradition is a deeply confessional one. We hold to historic documents that describe what we understand scripture to teach on a wide range of matters. The Presbyterians hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Dutch Reformed hold to the Three Forms of Unity. While different documents, the two sets of confessions essentially teach the same doctrine.
In terms of churches the large (100k+ members) Presbyterian denominations in the US are the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Chrurch in America. the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and ECO: A Covenant Order of Presbyterians. The PC(USA) is a more "liberal" church while the others are more "conservative" to varying degrees. The two large Dutch Reformed denominations are the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church. There are also many smaller Presbyterian and Reformed denominations. Many of them are part of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council.
What complicates things a bit is that in recent years, many Christians in other traditions have started using "reformed" to mean they have a Calvinistic view of salvation, even if they don't fit into the broader reformed tradition in other ways. You will find a lot of Baptists who have a Calvinistic view of salvation, but not of the sacraments or the church, for example. This sub tends to attract both the more conservative branch of the Reformed tradition as well as those who just have a Calvinistic view of salvation.
In terms of books, my number one recommendation for you is Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition by Jamie Smith. It's a quick easy read best digested in small parts. It does a great job of providing an overview of the Reformed tradition that is accessible, theological, and pastoral. It's aimed at those who have a 'come-to-Calvin' moment from within other theological traditions (Smith was pentecostal), but would benefit everyone.
Also read through some of the Reformed Confessions. The best place to start is with the Heidelberg Catechim and the Belgic Confession. If you want a more modern approach, I'd encourage you to also read the Christian Reformed Church's Contemporary Testimony Our World Belongs To God, too.
Other good "intro" level books:
Once you feel ready for higher level stuff, I recommend:
I would recommend picking up a book like Berkhof's Systematic Theology or Bavinck's The Doctrine of God. These will be more challenging, dense readings, but they will help with understanding the formulation of Trinity and the implications.
Also, picking up a church history book about the 3rd and 4th centuries and the Trinitarian debates then could be beneficial to see how the church has sharpened its understanding on this in response to wrong teaching.
It varies from denomination to denomination and even from congregation to congregation, but generally speaking, it's either solely grape juice or juice and wine served separately.
The reasons aren't so much theological as practical. Some US Protestant denominations began with a strong emphasis on holiness, which expressed itself as an opposition to drinking, dancing, smoking, etc. Others were leaders in the abstinence movement, which means (to overgeneralize a bit) that they were opposed to drinking on not just moral grounds, but on class and sectarian lines.
These days, there's some cultural residue: it's just become tradition to use juice rather than wine. And many places worry about alcoholics taking wine accidentally or feeling like they can't take communion without breaking their sobriety pledges.
Source: I'm a pastor. Whose congregants drank shitty shitty communion wine.
Edit: This is interesting. Wondered when Baptists (and others) turned from wine to juice. Turns out it wasn't until the 19th century, in response to the temperance movement. Source 1, Source 2. Even more interesting: Thomas Welch was a Wesleyan minister who was so opposed to serving wine in church that he invented a method of pasteurizing grape juice to offer in its place.
That depends heavily on where you're coming from and on what you mean by "Reformed".
You might want to study a catechism (or if you aren't credobaptist).
You might want to study through a reformed confession.
You might want to read a book by RC Sproul on What is Reformed Theology.
Basically, welcome! Tell us more so we can help you.
As someone else mentioned, start a study into Theology with an introductory text in Hermeneutics. This where so many people go wrong and misinterpret the text, drawing false and erroneous conclusions. The way you interpret the text will determine what you draw out of it.
Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation was the first Hermeneutics text I worked through, and I highly recommend it. It's highly unbiased, and the end of each chapter is packed with problems to think through.
Once you're done there, if you have access to iTunes University or the [Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details id=com.subsplash.thechurchapp.reformedtheologicalseminary2&hl=en_US&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Drts+mobile+app&pcampaignid=APPU_1_vSLpW7CiCMbCzwL3vK-wDw) app for Android, find Robert Cara's lectures in Advanced Biblical Exegesis under "Old and New Testament" and listen to them (they're free).
When you get to looking at a Systematic Theology to work through, I recommend staying away from Wayne Grudem. He's really popular among Evangelicals, but I'm personally not a fan of him. There's better Systematic Theologies out there. I highly recommend Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology or Classic Christianity by Thomas Oden.
Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology. Available for ~$10 in paperback and free as an ebook.
Which James White? I hear good things about Dr. James Emery White, though I have never read any of his works.
This James White is a different story. He's not really a "doctor", all his doctoral degrees come from an unaccredited institution. I haven't interacted with his work too much, mostly because he comes across as a bit arrogant and confrontational in the works I have read. His apologetic work often strikes me as disingenuous, uncharitable, and often pseudo-historical towards those he is arguing against, especially Roman Catholics.
I do have quite a few books I would recommend:
First, I would read the following:
The Heidelberg Catechism, The Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort
These are collectively referred to as the "Three Forms of Unity", and are the baseline documents for continental Reformed (Calvinist) churches. In addition, I recommend the following:
Good Introductions
Letters to a Young Calvinist by James K.A. Smith
Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport by Richard J. Mouw
What is Reformed Theology? by R.C. Sproul
A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin
Digging Deeper
Pilgrim Theology by Michael Horton
The Christian Faith by Michael Horton
The Institutes of the Christian Religion in the 1536, 1541, or 1559 editions by John Calvin. Also available online here
Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck
Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof
As well anything by the following authors:
Modern: R.C. Sproul, Michael Horton, James K.A. Smith, Cornelius Plantinga, Alvin Plantinga, John Piper, and Tim Keller.
1800s & 1900s: J. Gresham Machen, Herman Bavinck, Abraham Kuyper, G.C. Berkouwer, and B.B. Warfield
Pre-1800s: Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox
Calvin is a great place to end up! If you want a good quick primer then read Welcome to a Reformed Church. It is pretty good instant primer on Reformed Thought. For a slightly more nuanced book, go with R.C. Sproul's What is Reformed Theology.
I would start here. Reformed theology teaches that regeneration PRECEDES faith. We can't come to God unless He regenerates our heart.
The view he holds might be semipelagianism, but probably not
I would encourage you to be loving towards your grandpa, rather than try to shove doctrine down his throat to prove he's wrong/you're right.
Since you're new to to Reformed Theology, I'd recommend Letters to a Young Calvinist.
I recommend Chosen by God or What is Reformed Theology?, both by RC Sproul.
Something that might be useful to keep in mind is that Calvin did not write down the five points typically attributed to him. Instead, the Arminians challenged the traditional Reformed theology, and were refuted at Dordt with these five points. (You can read the Canons of Dordt at www.reformed.org under "Historic Documents").
The reason I point this out is that these 5 points do not stand on their own really. They start to make a lot more sense when you keep them in the context of the rest of reformed theology (e.g., the idea of the covenant, and the means of grace).
As far as Limited Atonement, the idea is that Christ's death actually accomplished our redemption, not just made it possible. It's also called "particular redemption". It's really a question of efficacy and intent, though - Dordt taught that Christ's death "is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world" but that "it was God's will that Christ through the blood of the cross (by which he confirmed the new covenant) should effectively redeem from every people, tribe, nation, and language all those and only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation and given to him by the Father."
Reformed Theology is actually much bigger than it's soteriology. More so than anything else, it has to do with how one understands the sovereignty of God and God's general disposition toward humankind. For this I'd recommended Jonathan Edwards' The End for Which God Created the World, the complete text of which can be found in John Piper's book God's Passion for His Glory (the kindle version of Edward's book seems to be only $2.99 on Amazon right now).
Also significantly important for understanding Reformed Theology is understanding Covenant Theology (though I don't have a book to suggest to you for this).
The issue of predestination is just a nasty side-effect of other overriding assumptions of Reformed theology.
You might want to check out Roger Olson's Against Calvinism and Michael Horton's For Calvinism if you want two books by competent authors in dialog with each other on the issue. Both of those books are available in Kindle format for about $5 right now.
I think I've heard more than one systematic theologian define it as the effort to make Christian doctrine comprehensible to a contemporary audience. That definition may be technically a good one, but I think it's also potentially misleading. It makes it sound as though systematic theology is almost a form of evangelism, where theologians try to address their audience's "felt needs." That's not a good description.
If you actually read a work of systematic theology, such these by Wayne Grudem or Louis Berkhof, you'll see that they are a topic-by-topic explanation of what, in the view of the author, Christianity teaches. Conventionally they begin with "theology proper", which is the study of God himself: the doctrine of the Trinity, God's perfection, His omniscience, omnipotence, etc. They'll cover things like the nature of revelation, creation, the fall, salvation, and so on. Usually it's not just the author sharing his thoughts. He's interacting with and responding to the work of his contemporaries and to concerns that contemporary people have with respect to Christian doctrines.
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I highly recommend Jonathan Edwards book on the topic. It is three sermons put together to discuss our obligation to continuing keeping the Sabbath, the change in days of the Sabbath, and what that keeping looks like. I found this extremely helpful as I asked myself the same questions you are asking.
At the end of the day I agree with #1, but can settle with #5.
This might help explain why.
> Not to be too TruelyReformed, but can you honestly say you're both without seriously distorting one or the other?
Could you show me the theological tensions? Charismatic Calvinism is a thing ... and the author of that book (Sam Storms) actually praises IHOP's Mike Bickle during the Convergence Conference. It ain't much of a stretch to say I'm a Charismatic Calvinist who wants to take it up a notch :)
I haven't read it yet, but this is the one that I've seen recommended highly: Calvin https://www.amazon.com/dp/030017084X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_x76LybNRZBTDP
So I just found this today and it's like it was predestined! Fesko was instrumental to me in coming to a paedobaptist position. Maybe you'll be as stoked as am!
https://www.amazon.com/Reforming-Apologetics-Retrieving-Reformed-Defending/dp/0801098904/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541507465&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fesko+apologetics&dpPl=1&dpID=51ge7FCuGlL&ref=plSrch
This one! It has tons and tons of footnotes to explain difficult passages and give context. Sorry about the link formatting, I’m on mobile.
https://www.amazon.com/Karl-Barths-Church-Dogmatics-Introduction/dp/0567152197/ref=asc_df_0567152197/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312168414377&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13122335735092874383&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9023224&hvtargid=pla-526221775372&psc=1
>I've concluded it's impossible to have any worldview without presuppositions.
And that doesn't make presuppositional apologetics correct. Classical apologists, like Aquinas, address presuppositions as well.
Fesko's new book, Reforming Apologetics, talks about this and lays out the issues with relying on presuppositional apologetics alone
On free will specifically? Start with the SEP to get a basis. Then for specific books and examples I'd recommend:
Given for You seems pretty good, but I haven't read it yet.
Richard Muller should have a book that deals with the Reformed view of the Eucharist, I believe it is Calvin and the Reformed Tradition but I could be wrong.
Highly recommend this one
Also, is he arguing for hypercalvinism in this exchange?
Sure thing buddy:
On the side of Calvinism, Grace and Assurance by Martyn McGeown:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grace-Assurance-Message-Canons-Dordt-ebook/dp/B07P75Y4S9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Grace+and+Assurance&qid=1566903176&s=gateway&sr=8-1
This is a commentary on the Canons of Dordt and a defense of five-point Calvinism (if I remember rightly it defends double-predestination as well). Very well written and sourced, but a hard read in places. This is a comprehensive account of conservative Reformed doctrine. After reading this I looked into the other side of the debate as I wanted to see if non-Calvinists really were Semi-Pelagian.
I imagine you've heard of Desiring God ministries? John Piper has some good resources from the reformed point of view:
https://www.desiringgod.org/
Calvin's Institutes is 99p on the Kindle store:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Institutes-Christian-Religion-John-Calvin-ebook/dp/B00394F31U/ref=sr_1_1?crid=237SQ2P8CDI1V&keywords=institutes+of+the+christian+religion&qid=1566903405&s=gateway&sprefix=Institutes+of+the+c%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-1
I like Spurgeon's commentary--this is also very cheap on the Kindle store:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spurgeons-Commentary-Bible-Commentaries-ebook/dp/B01CZ4LMP0/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=spurgeon%27s+commentary+on+the+bible&qid=1566903614&s=gateway&sr=8-1
On the other side of the debate, I found Salvation and Sovereignty to be interesting (it's a defense of a sort of middle-way between Calvinism and Arminianism):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Salvation-Sovereignty-Kenneth-Keathley-ebook/dp/B00RYGEPPY/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=salvation+and+sovereignty&qid=1566903451&s=gateway&sr=8-2
Finally, a stronger defence of free-will based soteriology comes from Leighton Flowers. His book (The Potter's Promise) is free on Kindle Unlimited and lays out the counter arguments to Calvinist readings of Romans 9 and the doctrines of Judicial Hardening:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Potters-Promise-Biblical-Traditional-Soteriology-ebook/dp/B01N13T1V2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=potter%27s+promise&qid=1566903505&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Leighton's YouTube ministry (Soteriology101) is really good as well.
Thank you for the warm welcome, God bless!
He's so readable that I can definitely recommend skipping the books about St. Augustine and just going directly to the source. As others have mentioned, Confessions. Others you may be interested in are City of God and On Grace And Free Will.
Also, as /u/Philip_Schwartzerdt mentioned, John Calvin isn't typically considered one of the Church Fathers given that his time on earth came in the 16th century. In fact, as a Catholic, we would consider him a heretic, but that's neither here nor there. :)
For other early Church Fathers books, you may want to check out this collection of writings from the early church, Against Heresies by St. Iranaeus, countering heresy in the early Church, and The First And Second Apologies by St. Justin Martyr, a convert to the faith at about 130 A.D. and who was martyred (surprise) around 165 A.D.
As you may have guessed, with me being a Catholic in the Roman Rite, that's the perspective to which my study of the early Church Fathers led me, but if you wish to get a primer on St. Irenaeus before the books come, this is a worthwhile read.
I highly encourage the study of the fathers. The whole Christian world disagrees on many parts of of Sacred Scripture, and the testimony of the fathers, especially those who were direct disciples of the Apostles, should be one of our primary sources of discerning Christian truth amid the chaos. Plainly put, there are many interpretations of Scripture which "make sense" or are feasible outside of the tradition of the Apostles, but if said interpretation is true, it should be reflected in the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of those whom the Apostles taught.
I'll pray for you as you jump into this study. Please reach out if I can be of any help!
Peace,
DK
This is the one I have:
https://www.amazon.com/Marrow-Modern-Divinity-Edward-Fisher-ebook/dp/B00701JFX0
It is really great. And after that, read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Christ-Antinomianism-Assurance-Controversy/dp/1433548003
A fantastic book.
He did live an interesting life! Bruce Gordon's biography of Calvin is considered one of the best. Gordon is a Reformation scholar at Yale Divinity. He also wrote a "biography" of the Institutes recently.
Take a look at Convergence by Sam Storms.