Book 8. I’ve read a lot of Athanasius, but this is the first time I’ve read his most popular book. And (as I’ve basically been live tweeting it tonight) I think there are a few helpful lessons in here particularly for Pentecostals & Charismatics, about the gifts of the Spirit. 
Book 9. Sometimes fun, sometimes inspiring, sometimes very insightful. This old classic is a good intro to the story of the beginnings of (parts of) British Pentecostalism.
Book 10. Began this a few years ago, then got a job at theological college & haven’t had time to pick it up since. Needed a break today; intended to read one discourse, but enjoyed it so much I just kept going until the end. (Symeon has a lot in common with the old Pentecostals.)
Book 11. I really like John of Damascus, and some bits of this are really interesting, but it wouldn’t be my recommendation for what to read of the Damascene. (3 treatises going over the same ground, so quite repetitive, plus some wild tales of icon miracles in the Florilegia.)
Book 12. This is complex theology at its most exciting. Sometimes compelling, sometimes not, but always incredibly interesting. And it draws out the heart to prayer and love too.
Book 13. Very good, very refreshing, very Tozer.
Book 14. Helpful in many ways — especially perhaps in steering Christians away from simplistic responses. I wonder if it might have been even more helpful as more than one book for more than one audience.
Book 15. Ratzinger takes up historical-critical exegesis, gently yet firmly chastening it where needed, folds in the insights of the Fathers, and provides a theological reading of Scripture. (I definitely want to make time now for the other two volumes.)
Books 16 & 17. Quite different in their approaches. Keown is probably the best short all-round introduction to Buddhism I’ve read. Knott’s approach to Hinduism was quite different from other short intros and opened up new aspects and approaches.
Book 18. There is wisdom here...
Book 19. Been reading this slowly for a long, long time. And keep finding myself paraphrasing it in pastoral conversations. I imagine, like so many before me, that I’ll keep rereading and going back to this for a lifetime.
Book 20. This one couldn’t fit in a single tweet, so needed a whole thread.
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Black_/status/1379402561229316096
Book 21. Written for young Egyptians living in Canada. So the cultural context is quite different, & might raise the odd (Protestant or British) eyebrow along the way. But a lot of it presents desert spirituality in a very practical & accessible way for ordinary people.
Book 22. This is the best academic theology book I’ve read in ages, and also the most readable. (Other academic theologians could learn a thing or two about clear writing from O’Byrne!) This will have quite an impact on the way I teach the Councils from now on.
Book 23. This is an excellent biography. (I had to ration reading it as I didn’t want it to finish.) It’s also one of the best (maybe the very best) book I’ve ever read on Christian leadership. No joke!
Book 24. This was highly recommended and I should have paid attention to the recommendations sooner. I think the subtitle put me off, but it’s not filtered through a Christian view. More like making sure Christians don’t misunderstand things. A really good overview.
Book 25. Informative and readable.
Book 26. Similar aims & approach to Burnett’s book on Hinduism (see book 24, above). I think this one would perhaps be more challenging without some background knowledge though (although that may just be due to the wide range of schools of Buddhism & there is a glossary to help.)
Book 27. This series is really growing on me. I’m amazed by how much they manage to pack into these wee books (although I’m beginning to realise that small print plays a big part in it, ha!) Much more informative than many much bigger introductions to Islam.
Book 28. This is an excellent, short, and clear overview of Armenian (miaphysite) Christology, demonstrating how accusations of Monophysitism are very far from the truth, and even clearing up the question of how the two wills of Christ fits with miaphysite Christology.
Book 29. Picked this up this morning to read one section, but ended up re-reading the whole thing over the course of the day. Because good and important books are always worth re-reading.
Book 30. Wow! Some parts of this must be among the greatest Protestant devotional writing on the Lord’s Supper that there is! Highly recommended.
Book 31. By happy providence, I’ve finished Chapman’s critical biography of John Stott on what would have been Stott’s 100th birthday. An excellent, thematic account of one of the central figures in 20th century British (and world) evangelicalism.
Book 32. I’ve spent a lot of time with D.P. Williams (in my research and writing) over the past 18 or so years, but re-reading the story of his life never ceases to encourage and inspire me.
Book 33. I’ve never regretted reading a Max Thurian book. (I’ve also never managed to finish one of his books without buying another.)
This is absolutely fantastic! I wish all pastors could read at least the first two chapters on Christ’s Priesthood and our participation in it.
This is absolutely fantastic! I wish all pastors could read at least the first two chapters on Christ’s Priesthood and our participation in it.
Book 34. A little book of letters of spiritual direction by Matta El-Meskeen. It’s not very long, but I’ve been reading it since Easter because it’s too rich to speed through.
Book 35. Finished off over lunch just in time for the book launch this afternoon. Maldwyn has done an incredible job. Plus he’s left me with enough cliffhangers that I can’t wait for volume 2!
Book 36. This is very, very good. Simple, yet deep. And with wisdom for a life-time.
Book 37. This little book packs a lot in. One of the best recent books on the ascension.
Book 38. This wee book is one of the earliest Pentecostal books. It’s also probably not what people today would imagine an early Pentecostal to write. Nothing about “initial physical evidence” in here. Instead, a very biblically rooted account of the value & purpose of the gift.
Book 39. I seem to be in a spate of re-reading Pentecostal classics. Unlike Williams, Horton writes about tongues as sign of the baptism in the Spirit. But like Williams his desire is to focus on the purpose and value of speaking with tongues.
Book 40. This is very good. Sometimes a bit American. But, nevertheless, good.
(Reading both this and its companion, None Greater, will benefit you greatly if you want a better understanding of who God is.)
(Reading both this and its companion, None Greater, will benefit you greatly if you want a better understanding of who God is.)
Book 41. Impressive in detail & clarity for such a concise book. Especially strong on anhypostasia/enhypostasia & refutation of contemporary forms of kenoticism. However, very firmly on the Reformed side of the Lutheran/Reformed divide, without acknowledging the divide exists.
Book 42. Covers both person and work of Christ. Particularly good on Virgin Birth and the communication of attributes. Addresses Lutheran—Reformed divide head on. A bit unclear on cry of dereliction (and from how it sounds, how that fits with Lutheran unio personalis).
Book 43. Very clearly written. Unsurprisingly, the Northern Irish Protestant in me expected to gain most from the pre-Reformation part, but there was lots of profitable post-Reformation thought too. Interesting to see the fruit of Calvin’s munus triplex in Catholic theology too.
Books 44-47. These are so good and so readable that I read all four volumes in a week (and am really hoping for a volume 5!)
Book 48. This was very much not what I expected it to be about. It was good and very interesting, but I think both the title and subtitle are a bit misleading.
Books 49-50. Because it’s always well worth re-reading Owen.
(And giving thanks to God for the genius of the Puritan Paperbacks people in finally giving him the editor he always needed!)
(And giving thanks to God for the genius of the Puritan Paperbacks people in finally giving him the editor he always needed!)
Book 51. This is very, very good. I’d highly recommend it (although at the same time I’d want to expand greatly on the surprisingly small place given to the Breaking of Bread). I really think a lot of people will find this book very helpful for growing in grace.
Book 52. This is by far the best one-volume dogmatics I’ve read in a very long time. There are many places Letham and I disagree (he is, after all, a Presbyterian), but for the most comprehensive and useful 21st century single-volume systematic theology, look no further.
Book 53. It’s taken a long time, but I have finally read the whole of the first volume of the Philokalia. (At this rate there’ll finally be a translation of volume 5 by the time I get to the end of volume 4.) Some really good stuff in here, and some that’s much more difficult.
Book 54. Harton is very much not-an-evangelical and I am very much *not* not-an-evangelical. I read this to help me understand a very different tradition, but got much more than that. This was a surprising delight, containing much gold (and has led to buying lots more old books).
Book 55. This! Finally a robust Pentecostal theology of the sacrament of baptism! I’m going to write a proper review, but already here I can say, it’s very good!
Book 56. This is a cracker of a wee book. Participation, sacrifice, presence, time, and space all in fewer than a hundred pages. (And much more readable than this tweet!)
Book 57. Scholarly yet readable. This is a very helpful systematic account of the spiritual theology of the Eastern Church.
Book 58. From back in the days when a Grove Book could have chunks of untranslated Greek, Latin, and French. (They don’t make them like that anymore!) A useful survey.
Book 59. A Catholic author who draws on the Reformation and the Eastern Church. I thought I was just going to look at one chapter for some research, but got drawn in and read the whole thing.
Book 60. A book from the Reformation written by a Queen who was the first woman to publish under her own name in English. There is a wonderful section in here on meditating on the cross.
Books 61-63. Because even academics need a break occasionally. (Plus, the Shardlake novels keep reminding me that, no matter how interested I am in the history and theology of it, I actually wouldn’t have wanted to have lived during the Reformation 😱)
Book 64. Dear monks of the monastery of St Macarius, I will buy and read your translations of Matta El Maskeen as quickly as you translate and publish them. Thank you.
This (along with his Orthodox Prayer Life) is up there among the great books on prayer.
This (along with his Orthodox Prayer Life) is up there among the great books on prayer.
Book 65. J.I. Packer’s edited volume. Lots of intra-Anglican polemic, but sheds light on a few subtleties in the debate (e.g. heavenly sacrifice). Packer’s intro, Motyer on OT & Coates on modern debate were highlights. (There were also lowlights.)
Book 66. Hmm, a mixed bag. Some really good, some standard Pentecostal, & a few little bits that would concern me enough that, as a pastor, I wouldn’t recommend it to people in my assembly. Suffers from the all-too-common Pentecostal problem of saying what to do, but not how.
Book 67. One of my favourites on meditation. Been re-reading it during lockdown as the title’s so apt (who wouldn’t want to improve 16 months of solitude! 😂). If meditation is new, might be good to start with something shorter & easier, but later read this! It’s the good stuff.
Book 68. Workmanlike.
Book 69. Some more Thurian. Much shorter than his earlier 2 volumes on The Eucharistic Memorial, with the focus this time firmly on the theology rather than on detailed exegetical argument. Reading Thurian is always beneficial.
Books 70 & 71. These are both very good books. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee that they are both always the same book. The original is a masterpiece (and even more incredible when you realise that Scougal died when he was 27).
Book 72. This slim volume sheds much light on things which many bigger, more recent works make rather complicated. Mortimer writes very clearly & ably leads his reader through his arguments with helpful (if sometimes dated) examples without losing sight of the wood for the trees.
Book 73. This is excellent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Doesn’t get bogged down or boring where other comparable volumes often do. Incredibly good on Trinitarian & Christological controversies & church beyond the Roman Empire. Far & away the best intro to Patristic history, esp for evangelicals.
Book 74. This is very good & what it says is very helpful. Though I‘ve also got lots of questions about what it doesn’t say — like what about all the other thoroughly biblical stuff that doesn’t meet his strict definition of “prayer”? Is there more to prayer than just “prayer”?
Book 75. Ending the week (and the month) with a bit of Tozer. It’s not his greatest work (he admits as much himself in the preface), but, as always with Tozer, there are choice nuggets of wisdom within.
Book 76. This! Wow! The whole thing is astoundingly good. It’s comprehensive, well-ordered, clear, very Biblical, and in so many places reaches such heights that you want to be like a Pentecostal and shout “glory!” If you read my tweets, you will benefit from this book.
Book 77. A useful and readable drawing together of things to set the Reformation in its much bigger context.
Book 78. I had high hopes. Billed as “the best modern one volume treatment of [Lutheran] systematic theology.” Severely disappointing. Mostly a polemic against everyone else, but with very misleading notions of what everyone else believes. Much better Lutheran works are available
Book 79. Thought a Pentecostal palate cleanser was called for after the misrepresentation of Pentecostalism in book 78. Alas, bad decision. Started off okay but then got really weird on supplication & intercession. Exegetical fallacies leading to some rather unhelpful teaching.
Book 80. This was incredibly intellectually stimulating and also (a major bonus for an academic theology book) well-written. I’ve read it from beginning to end today as I didn’t want to put it down. So much to think about now.
Book 81. You might think a book on note-taking would be dull and tedious, but if this is the book in question you’d be very wrong indeed. Based on Luhmann’s slip-box, this isn’t only really helpful for notes, but for the whole scope of research and writing. Now I’m motivated…
Book 82. First item on the summer holiday reading list (because, how could I possibly have got this far into a year without some serious Cyril of Alexandria?!). All Cyril is good Cyril.
Book 83. This deceptively slim volume is not a quick or light read, yet Gaine deftly leads his readers with clear argument through some very complex theology.
Books 84-88. I let my nieces choose a few books for me to read today. But I did read them from cover to cover and it was some of the reading I most enjoyed this year as it was the first time I got to read to my nieces and nephew since before the pandemic.
Book 89. Lord Peter went on holiday to Northern Ireland with me. At first I wasn’t quite sure if his lordship and I were going to get on (I was worried he might be a bit too Bertie Wooster-like for catching murderers), but it wasn’t too long before he proved his sleuthing skill.
Book 90. Bringing the non-theological holiday reading to a close with Superintendent Dalgliesh. P.D. James really is a very good writer.
Book 91. The more I read Aquinas, the more I want to read Aquinas. And especially here, where his detailed questioning points us to more and more of the wonder of just what the Son has done in coming into the world in our humanity for our salvation.
Book 92. This is a great (and also accessibly readable) introduction to how to do systematic theology (and also how to write systematic theology research papers and doctrinal sermons), engaging not only with the head, but the hands and the heart as well.
Book 93. Far and away the best introductory systematic theology from a confessional Lutheran perspective that I’ve come across. (Thank you @tapanisimojoki for recommending it.) It’s also one of the best from any tradition. Concise, clear, well-organised, accessible & readable.
Book 94. 800 page novel followed by 50 page historical essay (and a few months of reading). I’ve really enjoyed Sansom’s Shardlake novels and am sad to have got to the end of them. And after this story, the historical essay at the end makes for compelling reading.
Book 95. I think it wouldn’t be too much to call this a tour de force. Jam packed with deep and careful thinking. Not an easy or a quick read, but worth every moment spent with it. Significant for Christology as well as Trinitarian theology. I will come back to it frequently.
Book 96. Very good indeed. Goes beyond the Tertia Pars and takes in the full scope of Thomas’ writing. The whole book is excellent, but I found the third part on Christ and the Holy Spirit particularly helpful. (Also, Legge sets out a very clear summing up in his conclusion.)
Books 97-98. Getting myself into the right frame of mind for the introduction of church history as a brand new subject tomorrow with some light night-time reading. Yet, though these might be written for younger readers, they are very good introductory biographies.
Book 99. I’ve been inspired by the story of Mary Jones and Thomas Charles since I was wee, and this book has inspired me all over again. It’ll be a great wee introduction to both of them for a new generation too.
Book 100. A milestone like this demands something important & this book is about the most important person of all. It’s also one of the best books I’ve read this year. @JontyGRhodes takes deep truth about Christ & His work & presents it with clarity, simplicity & pastoral warmth.
Book 101. Maximus the Confessor isn’t the easiest of the church fathers to read, but he is important. And this is a good little selection of some of his theological writings.
Book 102. This is very good, and not only for biblical scholars, but for theologians & all sorts of theological students too. And it’s much more interesting and important than you might think from the title. Essentially, we all need to read the Bible theologically. Don’t skip it.
Book 103. One of the richest, most wisdom-filled, and Christlike books on Christian ministry I have ever read. This will now be one of my top recommendations on Christian leadership (although, I rather suspect Matta El-Meskeen would insist that’s not a great word for servants.)
Book 104. A simple, concise look at praying the Jesus Prayer. +Kallistos not only has long experience of the prayer, but he also *translated the Philokalia* (essentially 5 big volumes of centuries of wisdom on prayer, some of which he’s distilled very simply & readably here.
Book 105. Not really what I thought it was going to be. Not really that many letters by Kyrillos VI (and even of those several were already familiar from discussion in Fanous’ Silent Patriarch). And the other authors seemed a rather random assortment.
Book 106. Not only biblical, but also both properly theological and practical. A truly Christian account of the Christian life. This is a really lovely book.
Book 107. New translations of the Apostles’, Nicene & Athanasian Creeds, & the Heidelberg & Westminster Shorter Catechisms, along with a modernisation of the Hyfforddwr. I’d never read the Hyfforddwr before, but it is very good indeed. Essential for every Welsh-speaker’s library.
Book 108. A big book telling a big story of a big life cut short. Compelling reading, and a wonderful example of what a biography can be and do, without losing sight of what it can’t.
Book 109. A re-read of a true Pentecostal classic. And it’s a book Pentecostals in general would benefit from rediscovering… The gifts of the Spirit without the fruit of the Spirit won’t do much good.
Book 110. The early Pentecostals gave careful biblical attention to the issues they faced. If we’re going to know if we’re being led by God or not, we need to know—from Scripture—how God guides.
Book 111. Three decades after his (still classic) first book on the fruit of the Spirit, Gee came back to the theme for a sequel. And the sequel is every bit as good as the original.
Book 112. I’m sure this was quite daring for Pentecostals in 1940, but, unless like me you’re trying to trace the history of British Pentecostal ethical writings, you can skip this one. (The cover makes an important point though — Pentecostal ethics must be rooted in Scripture.)
Book 113. Think this is the 3rd time I’ve read this. Much with which I’m in sympathy (moral theology, the virtues), but also much which highlights how different American Wesleyan-Holiness Pentecostalism & British Pentecostalism are. Theological difference ➡️ ethical implications.
Book 114. There is a lot that is really good in this. A bit too situated in Roman Catholic debates, but Protestant intros to ethics could benefit from some of this approach. Particularly good on the beatitudes as virtue.
Book 115. Generally quite a useful introduction and overview of natural law from a Protestant perspective. Clear and concise, covering both the philosophical foundations and setting out an exegetical case. The odd infelicitous turn of phrase.
Book 116. Very helpful in understanding the various trajectories taken by American Pentecostals on sanctification. Gets to the heart of the Finished Work/Second Work controversy & demonstrates how much both sides had in common as well as how they differed. Quite different from UK
Book 117. This is now *the* book to read on this discussion. Astonishingly well-researched. Engages with precision, care & charity with all the major arguments & scholars. Not afraid to point out the problems on its own side. Plus, judicious addition of @wesleyhill’s afterword.
Book 118. The cardinal virtues, the theological virtues, the Beatitudes, and the seven deadly sins all drawn together in setting out a case for a return to classical Christian ethics.
Book 119. This is not only really good, but also very readable and clear. A theology of the body drawing extensively from the church fathers. While it has a distinctly Eastern Orthodox accent, Westerners can read it with great profit too. (An English translation does exist.)
Book 120. Careful, insightful, and profound. This book is full of goodness even in the most unexpected parts. (The chapter I thought sounded least exciting turned out to be one of my favourites.)
Book 121. Having been rather ill all week, I’ve only regained my concentration enough for a children’s book. But this is a very good one by my colleague @ClaireWTheology. I love “More love to Thee” but knew nothing about its writer until now. Plus some good lessons along the way.
Book 122. A beautifully written and beautifully produced book on the most beautiful of themes. Swain draws us both into Scripture and to the Triune God therein. If the God of the Bible is the Triune God, we should read the Bible in a Trinitarian way, and here’s a demonstration.
Book 123. The wonder of Christmas meets the wisdom of the desert.
Book 124. “No one will protest that there has been too little killing.” Brynhild gives an apt summary of Völsungasaga. (It’s been a while since my ASNaC days and regular saga reading, but I still think I prefer the sagas of the Icelanders to the legendary sagas.)
Book 125. A decent wee introduction to our 9-day Reformation Queen.
Book 126. I’ve been (slowly) reading Thomas Charles’ *Spiritual Counsels* for the last few months (and it’s one of my favourite books ever). This wee biography makes a very good accompaniment. (It’s also an encouraging read in its own right, even if you haven’t heard of TC.)
Book 127. Ending the year by ending a very good book indeed (which, alas, Thomas never got to the end of writing).
(Although, someone could have given me a trigger warning that I.161 was about the topic that everyone in college knows will cause Dr Black to run away screaming!)
(Although, someone could have given me a trigger warning that I.161 was about the topic that everyone in college knows will cause Dr Black to run away screaming!)
I don’t normally read as much as I did in 2021. But these wee review tweets helped me forget to finish fewer books than usual. (I’m always finding bookmarks part way through books I’ve forgotten to finish.)
They also helped me get back into lots of reading after having had time to read so little in the first year of the pandemic.
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