A basic booklist for MTS

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I need your help. I’ve trained a number of MTS apprentices for a decade and a half. (For more info on the whole MTS apprentice training philosophy, read Passing the Baton by Col Marshall.)

But more recently, I have overseen their training by others. This year, for the first time in a little while, I am acting as someone’s direct trainer, and I want to give them a basic reading list. What would you give to read to an apprentice who does not already have an extensive heritage of reading theology? I want something that will stretch them beyond entry-level popular, evangelical theology, but something not so heavy going, it will be off-putting for those who are not natural or easy readers.

I’d like my basic list to comprise no more than eight books. This is arbitrary and basically comprises one book for each of the four school terms over the two years of the apprenticeship. (Obviously apprentices are welcome to read more!)

I also want to cover certain key areas: (Some of them are perennial, but some of them are especially under pressure at present.)

  • the doctrine of Scripture
  • the doctrine of God
  • biblical theology
  • the atoning work of Christ
  • justification (by faith alone!)
  • the sovereignty of God
  • the historicity of the Gospels
  • guidance
  • gender.

Here’s my first question: what’s missing from this list of topics and is there anything you’d drop? (I expect some books will cover more than one topic!)

One of my difficulties is that even though I am a voracious reader, I’ve never read or at least completed some of the classic titles that typically end up on these lists. With others, it’s been a long time, and so I am relying on memories, but there may well be something better now.

Anyway, here’s my first draft of the eight books:

  1. On Scripture: Peter Jensen’s The Revelation of God. I understand that Packer’s Fundamentalism and the Word of God would be a good alternative, but I’ve never read it.
  2. On the doctrine of God: I think I’d plump for Packer’s Knowing God, but once again, I’m going on reputation since, despite attempting it twice during my teenage years, I’ve never completed it. Or would Broughton Knox’s The Everlasting God be better (in his Collected Works Volume 1)?
  3. On biblical thology: Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Kingdom in The Goldsworthy Trilogy. Or would his According to Plan be better?
  4. On the atonement: I’d have to plump for John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. It includes justification. However, I have a soft spot for the recent Pierced for our Transgressions and In My Place Condemned He Stood (Packer and Dever). I’m not sure what to recommend if we needed something straight on justification; Piper’s The Future of Justification?
  5. On the sovereignty of God: Everyone says Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God for this one, and I’m glad about that because (you guessed it) I’ve never read it! However, I found RC Sproul’s Chosen by God very helpful as a younger Christian. I wonder if Still Sovereign (edited by Schreiner and Ware) might be too tough upfront. Perhaps Carson’s How Long, O Lord??
  6. On historicity (which I think is important): I’d go for Craig Blomberg’s The Historical Reliability of the Gospels. Otherwise, I’d recommend Paul Barnett’s excellent work, such as Jesus and the Logic of History.
  7. On gender: I think I’d go for Wayne Grudem’s Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism. I also still think Piper’s What’s the Difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible is a brilliant and brief pastoral treatment on this topic.
  8. Arguably, guidance could be covered under the first topic, but I think it’s so important, I’ve listed it separately, and would recommend Guidance and the Voice of God by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne. Although this book is profound, since it is less stretching to read than some of the others on this list, I’d probably get them to follow it up with the companion volume Prayer and the Voice of God.

Okay. That’s my first draft. So here’s my second question: what would make your list of eight? What—if anything—would you substitute in place of my first recommendation? And if you’ve picked a different topic area altogether (see question one), what book would you pick to address it?

I know I gave a lot of second and third options, but try to stick to no more than eight. And keep in mind the stretching-beyond entry-level-but-not-too-academic criterion I outlined at the beginning.

26 thoughts on “A basic booklist for MTS”

  1. Sandy, The Everlasting God is very useful not just on the doctrine of God, but also on the doctrine of Scripture and the sovereignty of God. (I find Broughton Knox’s chapter “God who is rich in mercy”, very helpful on the whole subject of predestination and election.)

    Matthias Media will be publishing The Everlasting God as a stand-alone edition later this year.

    Knowing God is a classic, of course. But reading The Everlasting God has the added advantage of bringing you into contact with the teaching of one of the great men who shaped our evangelical heritage in this part of the world.

  2. Sandy,

    you have pretty much covered the books I would have suggested.

    The other issue is what order to read them.  For example I would probably suggest readying “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God” first and some thinkg like “The Cross of Christ” a bit down the list.

  3. Sandy you got me thinking.

    What would be my ideal training program if I was the one being trained?

    This is what I would love to be told…

    Take all year and read through the Bible (several times if possible).
    Hand in your notes as you wish with your thoughts on the following:
    (emphasis on personal thought – not what others say about the Bible)

    What is the Bible about? What is each book on about? How does each book fit into the overall scheme of things?

    What did you learn about:
    God and his word
    The gospel
    Grace and sin and me

    What questions/issues have been raised in your mind?

    Next Year…
    What things will you explore when you read in your second year? (Scripture and reason? Gathering? Living in the last days? Prayer? Family/marriage?)

    During the year, the trainer throws some questions and sees what comes back! Challenge me to search the scriptures for answers.

    Then I reckon I will be better prepared to read critically – christian or non-christian books with a ‘scripture’ trained mind!

    Di

    PS Perhaps some autobiographies by non-christians in your list?

  4. I’d go for “Chosen by God” over the Packer book – much better written. And I’d go for “Gospel & Kingdom” over “ccording to Plan”- it’s shorter and tighter.

  5. What about Tozer’s ‘Knowledge of the Holy’ for “Doctrine of God”.

    It’s short. It is devotional in nature, but it is a very good ‘entry level text’ on the attributes of God and getting your head around the concept of the ‘big-ness’ of God.

    I was given a copy by a Pastor/Mentor just before I headed off to Bible College in ‘89. As an 18 year old, it blew my mind in so far as the concepts it dealt with – but now adays, it is still a good refresher on the person of God.

  7. Hi Sandy,

    Great list.  Here’s a list of books we recommend to our appy’s. The first 3 books are more strictly in order than the rest.  We cover Bible/Doctrine, Ministry/Church, Christian Living.  We do tailor our list to suit the individual. There are more books than you asked for, but most of them are very readable (necessary for our context).

    1. How to read slowly – James Sire.
    2. God’s Big Picture – Vaughan Roberts. (Better written and more accessible alternative to G&K;). For more depth: According to Plan.
    3. Distinctives – Vaughan Roberts. (Basic book on Gospel-centred living in particular areas of life).
    4. Total Church – Timmis & Chester
    5. Simply Christianity – John Dickson
    6. Knowing God – Packer (Haven’t yet read your alternative, but hear that it’s great).
    7. Know & Tell the Gospel – Chapman
    8. Dig Deeper – Benyon, Sach
    9. A call to spiritual reformation – Carson
    10. The Pleasures of God – Piper

    Future reading:
    The Cross of Christ – John Stott.

  8. What’s missing?  Reflection on the practice of ministry for long-term effectiveness.  What are good ways to encourage a church to work more effectively?  What personal qualities should a prospective minister seek to develop or guard against?  How do I avoid burnout?  Identify/cope with the local heretics and nuisances?  ‘Going the Distance’ might be a good one here.

    Of the existing categories, I thnk Biblical Theology and Guidance should be given the highest priority.

  9. Sandy, a few suggestions for you.

    Justification: The God who Justifies (James White)
    Piper’s book is really a response to Wright and so not as straightforward to read.

    On Gender there is always the massive CBMW, Piper and Grudem edited “Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood”. Brilliant compilation of essays on just about every issue raised.

    For Doctrine of God I also like Gerald Bray’s “The Doctrine of God”.

  10. For Doctrine of God I’d strongly recommend Gerald Bray’s book The Doctrine of God from the Contours of Christian Theology series, Bray is theologically reliable and knows his stuff.

    For Biblical theology I’d recommend The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology because not only does it include articles by Goldsworthy it gives you a far better overview of the whole scope of biblical theology.  (It’s also a good longterm investment for future ministry.)

    For the category of Guidence, Tim Challies book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is probably worth looking at.

  11. For the Doctrine of God, how about John Frame’s title of the same name? I’m a couple of chapters in and don’t think it’s too stretching. (I am at a similar point to a MTS apprentice I think).

    For justification, worth reading Wright alongside Piper? I don’t think many people would have Piper’s book down as a classic, and I think you need to have the Wright stuff clear in your head to understand the debate.

    Still Sovereign is supposed to be good, challenging but not deadly.

    In my opinion guidance doesn’t merit its own section, as shown by the lack of intermediate books? Suggest something on creation, end times or perhaps better, Christian epistemology, and how theology is done. Frame is an obvious recommendation here.

  12. Great list, Sandy. I’d also concur with Ian about ‘The Everlasting God’. I found it particularly helpful on the Trinity.

    ‘Knowing God’ is a great classic, though I take Craig’s point about ‘Chosen by God’. The latter seems especially good on the doctrine of Predestination. Because of size and style, reading ‘The Everlasting God’ with ‘Chosen by God’ may be an easier read than ‘Knowing God’ on its own. Perhaps it depends on the individual trainee as far as what you recommend to whom.

    When it comes to Justification, there’s a very good Puritan Paperback called ‘Justification Vindicated’. The author, Robert Traill is very clear and succinct in defending imputed righteousness against Antinomian, Arminian and other merit based systems.

    If you’re wanting something that gives an overview type understanding of the problems with the New Perspectives, ‘Getting the Gospel Right’ by Venema is excellent. It’s only small, and makes for a very good forerunner to ‘The Future of Justification’.

    Hope that’s of assistance.

  13. Not sure where it would fit in your list of 8, but the other book I would recommend is Call to Spiritual Reformation by Carson.

  15. I can’t be the first to say that you have to have something on the doctrine of the church, so I’ll just say it loudly: church!!!

    I think a meta-question is how much your topics need to be things that a typical apprentice hasn’t thought enough about before. Many of your books – great choices – but I’d hope that even if they haven’t read them, they’ve absorbed some of the contents along the way care of discerning plagiarists…

    Hence, I can get in first with eschatology. And for this, I’d be tempted to point to Peter Jensen’s At the Heart of the Universe, as it also models the construction of theology and so theological method. And biblical theology, of course.

    And I’d sacrifice gender off the list. Too much of the whiff of the shibboleth about it, these days, especially for an apprentice. I’d rather they got some solid Trinitarian thinking done, and talk through a gender position from that – far better than reading the cart that too often comes before the horse.

  16. John Fesko and Jerry Bridges both have books just on justification- I’ve not seen either of them, but they might fill the gap. Among older books Buchanan “The Doctrine of Justification” and Horatius Bonar “The Everlasting Righteousness” would be very good for apprentices, but wouldn’t deal with recent debates. Time Keller “The Prodigal God” should be there somewhere!

  17. It occurs to me that Sandy has omitted what he wants to achieve with this reading list.  Is it preparation for college or is it to assist with their ministry now?  I assumed the latter—MTS is supposed to be practical—hence my favouring of Biblical Theology & guidance, because the trainee might need to correct people in these areas.  We also have nothing specifically about evangelism or prayer, which is odd for a bunch of evangelicals!

  18. I would like my trainee to read in the other 7 areas and these books tend to be more accessible.

    In Area 1, I think Dianne is spot on, and my trainee is reading his way through the Bible in the year. But I might give him some of Dianne’s questions as a spur. We are also reading 2 Timothy together (as I do with every trainee) in great depth.

    In Area 3, as I said, I think Payne and Jensen’s book <i>Prayer and the Voice of God</i> is excellent, and also like Mandy’s suggestion of Carson’s <i>Call to Spiritual Reformation</i> (it also raises the topic of sovereignty). I like Peter Brain’s book mentioned by Ellen, <i>Going the Distance</i>. However before that, I think I would recommend Kent and Barbara Hughes’ <i>Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome</i> (get it in stock, Reformers!)

    In Area 4, relationships in ministry, not quite sure. Any suggestions.

  20. For Area 8, I think Dever’s book <i>The Deliberate Church</i> is great for a philosophy of ministry leadership, though I disagree with odds and ends. For a more pragmatic book, from an evangelical Australian, I am just getting into Zac Veron’s <i>Leadership on the Front Foot</i>. He is a an excellent leadership pragmatist, with deep theological convictions, though (as he expects in his foreward) I disagree with his forthright views on some matters. (In fact I might even blog my way through his book on SP!)

  21. Commenting from the U.S., and not knowing if you want lengthy or brief, I would recommend these:
    Gender – Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Piper and Grudem. So helpful and foundational, and one doesn’t have to read the whole thing. Or a great little one on gender and the Trinity is Bruce Ware, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
    Atonement – how about The Atonement by Leon Morris or Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
    Doctrine of God – Charnock, the Existence and Attributes of God. Its huge, but makes a good reference. Knowing God would be a great pick.
    I would include in any pick Piper’s Desiring God. Call it spiritual formation or whatever, it hits on a number of key areas, including joy and motivation.

  22. Somehow the post before I started listing books for the other 7 areas has disappeared into the ether.

    In brief, I said that Ellen was right that I had not given enough info about my aim. It was to provide reading material above the general pop level theology as an intro to reading and thinking theology at a level suitable for Bible college/seminary.

    In particular, it is for Area 2 of MTS 8 key strands (in 3 main spheres), namely:
    Convictions (“Head”)
    1. Bible study
    2. Thinking theologically
    Character (“Heart”)
    3. Prayer and godliness
    4. Relationships in ministry
    Competencies (“Hands”)
    5. Evangelism
    6. Teaching the Bible
    7. Training others
    8. Leadership

    (Hope this makes sense of those other posts!)

  23. Somehow the post before I started listing books for the other 7 areas has disappeared into the ether.

    In brief, I said that Ellen was right that I had not given enough info about my aim. It was to provide reading material above the general pop level theology as an intro to reading and thinking theology at a level suitable for Bible college/seminary.

    In particular, it is for Area 2 of MTS 8 key strands (in 3 main spheres), namely:
    Convictions (‘Head’)
    1. Bible study
    2. Thinking theologically
    Character (‘Heart’)
    3. Prayer and godliness
    4. Relationships in ministry
    Competencies (‘Hands’)
    5. Evangelism
    6. Teaching the Bible
    7. Training others
    8. Leadership

    (Hope this makes sense of those other posts!)

  24. I’d like to second the suggestion to get your trainees reading through the Bible.

    If this proves too daunting, get them to begin by reading short whole books of the Bible, then longer ones.

  25. Upon reflection, after picking up two copies at second hand booksales, in Area 4 – Relationships in Ministry – I would recommend Encouragement by Larry Crabb and Dan Allender. An oldie, but a goodie. And on the topic of marriage, I keep recommending Dave Harvey’s When Sinners Say I Do. Applies the gospel to marriage brilliantly.

  26. My MTS Apprentice has pushed me to finalise a reading list for him.

    Remember this is in the MTS training area 2 – theological thinking – to stretch beyond really basic.

    I have picked 8 topic areas with the book to read (and in some cases a second option if the first has already been read).

    1. Doctrine of Scripture – Packer’s Fundamentalism and the Word of God else Peter Jensen’s The Revelation of God.
    2. Biblical Theology – Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Kingdom (in the “Trilogy”); else his According to Plan.
    3. Doctrine of God – Broughton Knox’s The Everlasting God (in “Selected Works” until published separately later this year); else Packer’s Knowing God; else Bray’s The Doctrine of God.
    4. The Atonement (including justification) – Stott’s The Cross of Christ; else Jeffrey et al’s Pierced for our Transgressions.
    5. Sovereignty of God – Sproul’s Chosen by God; else Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
    6. Historicity of Bible – Blomberg’s The Historical Reliability of Gospels.
    7. Gender – Daniel Doriani’s Women and Ministry; else one of Grudem’s works.
    8. (And your feedback caused me to add this one…) Doctrine of Church – Chester and Timmis’ Total Church is what I can think of at this stage, taking the only recommendation made above, although perhaps supplemented by an article or two from Knox or Robinson!

    And if he tells me he has covered one of these areas, then I will try something on eschatology, possibly Peter Jensen’s At the Heart of the Universe; although I’ve just ordered Venema’s newish book The Promise of the Future, which might be too heavy?

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