There are so many books out there that it is easy to read whatever catches your attention or happens to be handy. I think it’s better to be strategic about our reading. Have you ever planned a year in advance what you are going to read? At least, I would suggest that you develop a partial list that allows for a few other things as they are brought to your attention.
One way to determine what books are best is to ask people you respect for the books that have influenced them the most. The internet makes that a bit easier and I did a little bit of looking for you.
John MacArthur is a pastor and college president in southern California and his list is short and includes Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, about which I once heard MacArthur say tha
t he would buy it for anyone on the faculty if they promised to read it. (I bought it myself and haven’t read it yet.)
John Piper, a pastor in Minnesota, has a longer list with some explanations. It is dated (1993) and less valuable to me than some of the others I found.
R.C. Sproul has a list of 16, none of which I’ve read, but a few of which I’ve heard of.
A few months ago, Christianity Today published their list of the Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals, which includes as #1 a book no one has read.
Sam Storms gives his list of the 15 books that should have been the most influential (the second list).
Here’s a list by a bunch of random people, but they seem to be pretty smart random people.
And I found a whole book on the subject: Indelible Ink: 22 Prominent Christian Authors Discuss the Books That Shape Their Faith. They include a summary of the results on this page. (Here’s the Amazon link.)
Know of any other lists?
Thanks for this. I always appreciate seeing what books form the lives of other thinkers. One of the main ways I decide what to read is by looking for comments from writers I already appreciate. For example, if you’re reading C.S. Lewis and you hear him say, “I always regarded George MacDonald as my master”, that leads you to looking at MacDonald, and then MacDonald mentions someone else, and it keeps going. This is a welcome addition to my list.
Todd
I don’t know of many lists (except a few of the ones you mentioned). I think J.I. Packer has one in the back of Knowing God. But of all of them, I would love to see your own list!
Jason – it’s much easier to give other people’s lists instead of my own! And truly, my list is shameful compared to these giants. Nonetheless, I will not rule the possibility out.
Does this have anything to do with your 6% Amazon commission? :)
I really like the idea of planning what you are going to read over a good chunk of time. I find myself purchasing books that stack up beside my nightstand, waiting to be next, only to be buried by my next trip to the bookstore.
D.A. Carson has a book that is commentaties on commentaries. I haven’t myself seen it, but I hear it is pretty good (although a bit dated).
I was going to mention Todd Bolen’s list, but I just can’t seem to find the link.
I just checked Sproul’s list and . . . you’ve never read the Institutes!? Edwards is out too?! I thought for sure you would be an Edwards fan since he shaped much of Piper’s thinking. The strain is too much for me to bear . . . .
Jessi – no. I wrote this “influential books” a month ago, but only posted it now. Amazon gives me 4% on any books purchased through links where I have my code. And that’s true of only the last link in this post. But thanks for trying to make me feel bad :-).
Jonathan – thanks to you for increasing my public humiliation. I have read some of Edwards, but not sure that I’ve read in entirety any that he lists. No, I haven’t read Calvin’s Institutes, and (horror!), I don’t plan to.
Sorry to pretty much cause all to lose all respect for me.
Which is one reason I haven’t posted my list of influential books. I’m not sure that “Hardy Boys” would increase the esteem with which I am held. But maybe I’m already so low that it would.
What are you talking about?? The Hardy Boys rock! That was where I first learned the phrase “That’s keen!”
Chalk up another Hardy Boys reader, though I much preferred the How & Why Wonder Books, particularly the one on dinosaurs.