8.8.13

A Young Christian's Reading List

So you're a new or young-ish Christian and you're wondering "Where do I go from here?"

There are several patterns you'll want to establish:
1) Attend your church's worship service each week, and if it has two, then go to both!
2) Make prayer a daily part of your life--in deep meditation or constant breath prayers (or both!)
3) Gather with fellow believers at times other than the worship service for fellowship.
4) Find an older/more mature believer who will mentor you.
5) Find opportunities to serve and share the Gospel with unbelievers.

The first two are absolutely vital for a healthy walk; the latter three are still pretty essential.

Alongside of these things, you'll want your own avenues for personal study and growth. That is why I'd suggest the following for reading:

1) The Bible--This is God's inspired, inerrant, necessary, authoritative, perspicuous (clear), and sufficient Word to His people. It is true, beautiful, and powerful. God guides you in two ways in this world: internally by His Spirit and externally by His Word. You should meditate on His Word every day--at times simply reading large portions, at other points memorizing verses, and also using devotions to help structure your reading.

2) The Confessions of Faith--Just start reading a lot of the classics. Start with the ancient creeds (i.e., the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed), and then work through the Reformation confessions, especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Heidelberg Confession, Canons of Dort, and Belgic Confession. All of these "secondary standards" (secondary to the Bible, of course) have given the church throughout the ages a solid and visible unity, in essence saying "Here is what we believe the Scriptures to teach. Here we stand." In addition, the creeds and confessions help us better understand the faith and articulate it.

3) Systematic Theology--start off with one by J.I. Packer or R.C. Sproel and keep it around for reference. Whenever you are wondering about an issue, flip to the problem area and study up. Eventually, you may want to move onto the great historical systematic, Calvin's Institutes, or a great modern work, such as Michael Horton's Pilgrim Theology (easier) or The Christian Faith (harder).

4) Line-drawing Works--there are certain books that reach into modern culture and help us in the task of discerning truth from deceit. Some works by C.S. Lewis, like Mere Christianity, might be part of this list. My personal favorite is J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism, which I think separates biblical Christianity from its conterfeits better than any other work. And this will help you to lovingly and thoughtfully engage those who will still claim the name Christian and will use the same terminology as you, but will use it deceptively (i.e., "I believe in Jesus...as a moral man.").

In general, you can never go wrong with popular works by Michael Horton, R.C. Sproul, John Stott, J.I. Packer, John Piper, Tim Keller, Sinclair Ferguson, Phillip Ryken and Kevin DeYoung.