2013 Reformed Readers Book List

[Heath]

Hey everyone! My name is Heath Cates and I am going to help moderate/admin the group. I think the first order of business will be getting a list of books for us to read for 2013. I have some in mind but I wanted to outline a potential structure first.

I would like to have two books a month. The first will be the primary and the second will be a value book. The value book will be either a mass market pb, usually around $8 or less, all the way down to free kindle books. This will allow for those on a budget to always have a book to read as well as giving a backup read for anyone that has already read the primary book.

For example, we might have a book like Overcoming Sin & Temptation for a primary book and The Pursuit of God for a value book (Currently a free kindle ebook). This doesn't mean that the value book is of any less worth but simply that it is more affordable.

I also propose that we keep the book picks for 2013 as short as possible. I am all for reading the Institutes again but I think we need attainable goals right now as it has been over a year since the group had an official book pick.

Finally, for this post anyway, I would love to hear some suggestions for upcoming books. I will ultimately have to make the schedule and pick some books but I want to have as close to a complete book list for the first half of the year soon.

Thanks!

[Heath]

March Book Selections:

In March we are going to read two books that outline the basis of much reformed thought. Both are right on the edge of being called value books at just over $10 and both have been very useful to me in the past.

These books both give us a better, more well rounded and easily explainable framework for explaining reformed theology.

The first, The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel isn't a overly long book at 226 pages but it is enough to let you feel thoroughly informed and well taught on the subject. It is one that I have read before but look forward to reading again. The subtitle, Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel, also hints at it's somewhat devotional feel.

The Second book, Tulip: The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture, is a good bit shorter. At just 71 pages it has been my go to book for lending to anyone that is earnestly wanting to know a little bit more about Calvinism or reformed theology. It explains the points in a serious and logical way but also in a way that is easily accessible to people that aren't sure what reformed theology is all about.

[Heath]

Suggested April Book Selections: (I will confirm these after a week or so if there are no major complaints.)

Remember, I am trying to keep it light to a certain degree for a few months knowing that if we try to jump into Spurgeon's Complete Works after not completing a book together for over a year we might just slump back into that again.

The first book, Finally Alive: What Happens When We Are Born Again?, is one that I have had on my shelf for a long time but have yet to read. It has been highly recommended to me. It is affordable at around $10 and somewhat short at 160 pages so it shouldn't be to hard for us to get a good group of readers on board.

The second book, Confessing the Faith, may not have as wide a reach but it is one of the more helpful book I have read and is only 62 pages. It is a modernization, in language, of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. It is of course not the only confession used by even Baptist reformed churches but it can still be very helpful for us all. It is under $5 on the Founders.org store and just over that on Amazon. It is also available for $1.50 as an E-Book. (I must confess that the author is an elder at my church.)

[Heath]

Suggested May Book Selections: (I will confirm these after a week or so if there are no major complaints.)

Remember, I am trying to keep it light to a certain degree for a few months knowing that if we try to jump into Spurgeon's Complete Works after not completing a book together for over a year we might just slump back into that again.

The first book, Knowing God, is the longest so far for 2013 at 286 pages but it is very readable and even a bit devotional. It has been used in bible studies for years and is known in reformed circles for solid doctrine. It is around $13 from Amazon and under $10 for Kindle. http://amzn.to/Xcp0TS

The Second Book, Does God Control Everything?, is a value book as it is available for $4 from Amazon and $3 from Monergism Books. It is just 65 pages and is bascically a large booklet.