Hey guys, here is my annual review of my reading list for last year! I know I'm really late in this upload, just kept forgetting to type up some of them! This year is a little thinner than prior years as after October I spent all my listening time on The Ten Minute Bible Hour Podcast rather than books and most of my reading was spent doing a deep dive into Romans 8. I hope to publish some interesting thoughts on that in the forum at some point. Anyway, I hope you get some good reads out of my list!
“Blood-Bought World” by Toby Sumpter
6/10
A great reminder and deep examination of what made Jesus controversial enough to kill - by the people whose religion worshipped Him. If Jesus came down now, we would kill Him too, but who would kill Him and why? In order to ensure that we Arne part of that group, we must submit to God fully, and learn to read His Word carefully, and by the Spirit. There isn’t a whole lot of new content here if you’re familiar with the Moscow crowd, but if you aren’t, this would be a good first book to read from Canon Press.
“To the Church in Rome” by Douglas Wilson
8/10
This year I embarked on something I’m calling The Romans 8 Project, which is just what it sounds like: a long-term study and teaching of Romans 8. For this I will be reading everything about the book or Romans I can get ahold of. If you’ve read these posts in previous years you know I’m a big fan of Doug Wilson, so I’m starting this project with an overview of Romans by a pastor that I trust. This is fairly safe in its examination, hits on the expected reformed talking points, and has the standard Doug Wilson spin of being unusually charismatic for a cessationist. It also occasionally responds to N.T. Wright’s book “Paul: A Fresh Perspective”, and does so respectfully and thoughtfully. A good overview of Romans if you’ve wanted to know more about Paul’s most impactful writing.
“Seeing Green” by Tilly Dillehay
9/10
I don’t think I struggle with envy, and that feels confirmed by this book, but the insight into the minds of those who do feels like a significant ministry advantage. The way Dillehay breaks down envy by type and then addresses each one directly with scripture and logic is incredible. A very worthwhile read no matter the state of your heart.
“My Dear Hemlock” by Tilly Dillehay
9/10
Super fun, highly recommend. This is a take on C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letter” where the tempted party is a modern woman. Enlightening as a man, convicting as a Christian, and very entertaining as a reader.
“Men and Marriage” by George Gilder
8/10
Wow, I see why this is so influential now. What a prophet. It’s hard to say what this book is exactly about, but it makes me want to work harder and get a car with third-row seating.
“The Sin of Empathy” by Joe Rigney
8/10
Rigney delivers again! Cheerful, hard-working, and skilled at putting his finger on the sore spot. If you want to understand Western Cutlure right, this is your field guide.
“The Chronicles of Narnia” Series by C.S. Lewis
11/10
Finished the whole series in like 2 months. These are astounding, the best fiction ever told. I don’t think there’s more to say than that. You’d be a fool to die without reading or listening to all of them.
“What is the Gospel?” by Bryan Chappell
7/10
This was such a great little read. This is essentially a series of letters between Bryan Chappell and his mentally handicapped brother who was in prison and reflecting on what their parents had taught them as kids and struggling to understand it, so Bryan breaks down the Gospel and its consequences for him in very simple terms. Not a deep read per se, but a great reminder of foundations and probably a good tool for evangelizing to people with similar comprehension issues.
“A Field Guide on False Teaching” by Ligonier Ministries
5/10
Good, informative. Once again, Sproul evades being a favorite of mine by his consistent strawmanning of charismatics. The information on others is good, but this is a meh for me.
“Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
8/10
Really good, but honestly not as good as I was expecting. Tom Bombadil was far and away the best aspect of the book. I loved the shire, as well, and life and society described therein. Once we got to the Fellowship, I was less interested and had a harder time staying engaged. I finished this way back in June, and started The Two Towers like 3 times after that but could never keep with it. I’m going to keep trying with it, but the travel aspects are not really my favorite. Maybe this is heresy, but it feels like too many cooks. Still, very good.
“Commentary on Romans” by Martin Luther
7/10
This was written before Luther his thaaanng, and it’s clear he had been brewing those ideas for a long time. Obviously hugely influential for the whole Church. It starts really strong, but sort of fizzles out at Chapter 8, which is a bummer because I was really looking forward to reading his particular thoughts on it. He picks up for a bit, but it ends a little like he had become burnt out by that point. Worth it for the first 2/3rds.
“More than Conquerers: The Pauline Mysticism of Romans 8” by Phillip Krill
2/10.
I’m working on a long-term study of Romans 8, so as soon as I saw this title, I was in. It starts off as a revelation of a verse-by-verse study of Romans 8. Krill is on FIRE for the first 3 verses, and then he gets a little too Catholic for me, and then he starts bringing up Marrian dogma out of nowhere, then he starts contradicting himself, then on graduating Scripture, and by verse 26 he stops trying to comment on the verses at all. It’s so strange. He lists the verse at the top of the chapter, and then the chapter allegedly about that verse is totally irrelevant, no actual effort to exegete the passage whatsoever. “Verse 34” is just ramblings about how anti-war he is. Awful book.
“Six Steps to Manage Your Money” by Miranda Reiter
4/10
Basically just the Ramsey Baby Steps but she dedicates a chapter to encouraging debt. She reads this is a really strange voice. She’s obviously black but trying to sound white, and it’s pretty funny most of the time. Probably good for people just starting to get their financial life in order.
That's it! I'd love to hear what you guys read last year, or if you've read any of these and your thoughts on them!
Caleb, good on you for committing to this much reading! I've been trying to read a lot more lately, and it's encouraging that others are joining me in that. It sounds like you really put effort into your reviews of each book, which is admirable. Many people might just throw their knee-jerk reactions up and call it academic! May we avoid this temptation.
I wanted to offer some quick thoughts on your criticism of Krill's "More than Conquerers". I am a Catholic Christian (of course there had to be one! haha) and while I have not read Krill's book (nor do I know anything about him), I have read Romans 8. I know the discussion on Marian dogma seemed like it comes out of nowhere, but I would challenge you to revisit the book's discussion on this topic with some (hopefully) helpful context I aim to provide. To keep this reply short, I'll sum up what I suspect Krill may be getting at.
I suspect that Krill is examining the juxtaposition of the flesh to the spirit in the first part of the chapter. Paul is describing how we are dead in our flesh, but, because of righteousness (that of Our Lord's righteousness) our spirit is alive. Anytime a discussion comparing sprit and flesh arises, there too arises the possibility of some grave Christological heresy. A couple come to mind:
-Arianism says that Jesus is not fully divine, but rather a created being. St. Athanasius is famous for fighting this heresy stating that if Jesus is created, then He cannot save the world.
-Docetism says that Jesus was not truly incarnate but only appeared to be. This heresy says that God is pure spirit and that things of the "flesh" are inherently evil.
We, of course, as Christians would agree that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man. Jesus Christ humbled Himself to a lowly, human state, to die so that in His ensuing glory he can save us all (Philippians 2:6-11). The old Adam sinned and mankind fell, the New Adam (Jesus Christ) atoned for our sin and mankind rises with Him. To say that Jesus did not become man is clearly not biblical. To say Jesus is not God is clearly not biblical. So Jesus is fully God AND fully Man.
So... what does this have to do with Mary?
Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18-24). Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. He wasn't on earth as a spirit taking the illusion of a body, He was truly conceived, truly born, and He truly lived and died. This knowledge of Mary giving birth to Jesus is the foundation and reason for the first Marian dogma: Mary is the Mother of God (Theotokos). There are indeed three other dogmas: Mary remained a perpetual virgin, Mary was Immaculately conceived, and Mary was assumed into Heaven at the end of her time on earth. I won't discuss these other three simply because I suspect the book was honed in the first Marian dogma, that she is the Theotokos. This is important to state dogmatically, and the Catholic Church does state this dogmatically, for the simple reason that "Good Mariology leads to good Christology". When we can properly identify Mary as the Mother of God, we can then properly identify Jesus Christ as the Son of God AND the Son of Man. The only reason we care to understand Mary is so that we can better know her Son.
I would HIGHLY recommend the book, "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary" by Brant Pitre regardless of your denomination or stage in life. It is a book written by a Catholic, but I believe it would help anyone who is interested better understand why the Catholic Church says what she says about Mary. And, hopefully, it can help Catholics and non-Catholics come to a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ, whom we should all love above all things.
I hope this is helpful. May God guide you in all things, bless you, and give you peace. Thank you for a good post!