It’s that time! I didn’t quite hit my goal this year, but I read a lot of great books. I almost completed all 5 volumes of the The Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, but I’m going to have to finish the last half of the fifth volume in the next couple weeks. This year I plan to read The Collected Works of H. Evan Runner as well as some of Herman Dooyeweerd’s work. Other ones I plan to read will be listed at the bottom. Enjoy! (P.S. — I’d love to connect on Goodreads.)

1 – The God Who is There by Francis A. Schaeffer — An excellent book; probably my second favorite of his.

2 – Conspiracy: A Biblical View by Gary North — A great introduction with lots of food for thought. Someone needs to develop this a bit more.

3 – Escape from Reason by Francis A. Schaffer — It was good.

4 – The Central Significance of Culture by Francis Nigel Lee — A superb little book on all of the dynamics of culture.

5 – All That is in God by James E. Dolezal — Highly controversial, but incredibly well done. As a non-Thomist, I loved it.

6 – He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis A. Schaffer — Fantastic.

7 – The Kingdom New Testament by N.T. Wright — A curious translation.

8 – Conspiracy: A Biblical View by Gary North (again) — Needed to revisit this one twice in one year.

9 – None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen — North talked about it so I need to see what the fuss was all about. I’m glad I did. Developing a conspiratorial view of history in tandem with the doctrine of total depravity (with the con-spires losing in history) is perhaps one of the foremost needs of the hour.

10 – What Did the Cross Accomplish? Edited by Simon Gathercole — Lectures turned into a book. Slightly interesting, but not the most exciting thing I read last year.

11 – Genesis in Space and Time by Francis A. Schaeffer — Not too shabby. Not much else to report.

12 – Broken Signposts (Audiobook) by N.T. Wright —  An intriguing look at the Gospel of John. Well worth your time.

13 – No Treason by Lysander Spooner — An oldie but a goodie. As I research politic theory I find myself more and more questioning the foundations of American Civiil Government. Spooner is enlightening.

14 – The Prophetic Ministry by Ulf Ekman — It’s okay. The dispensationalism is nauseating at times, but the general ‘gist’ of prophecy in today’s world is good.

15 – Church of Cowards (Audiobook)by Matt Walsh — I believe I said the following on Goodreads: “My Protestant self thought this Catholic man’s book to be remarkably prescient.” Cowardice in our churches? Never!

16 – No Final Conflict by Francis A. Schaeffer — I don’t remember.

17 – You Who? (Audiobook) by Rachel Jankovic — As someone who has studied Sartre, I was curious what Rachel had to say. Overall a pretty solid book.

18 – A Certain Sound by Ryan Denton & Scott Smith — An excellent theology of open-air preaching. Definitely recommend this one. In fact, I believe I lent this one out. Who has it?

19 – Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History by Francis A. Schaeffer — Pretty good.

20 – Art & the Bible by Francis A. Schaeffer — Excellent book on a topic that needs more attention. Today’s nihilistic art is garbage.

21 – The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck — WOW! This was so, so very good. My copy is highlighted and tattered, which is what happens when you love a book.

22 – This is Marketing (Audiobook) by Seth Godin — A bit outside my normal purview, but this was really, really good.

23 – Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America by Crawford Gribben — Had to see what the deal was, and I’m glad I did. A really interesting analysis.

24 – No Little People by Francis A. Schaeffer — Not my favorite Schaeffer book, but it was helpful.

25 – Christian Culture by P. Andrew Sandlin — Decent.

26 – The Ten Commandments by Peter J. Leithart — Outstanding. One of my favorites of the year.

27 – The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul — Phenomenal. Did you catch the existential pun? This book I’ll be returning to often.

28 – True Spirituality by Francis A. Schaeffer — Solid work on an important topic. This needs to be revisited as we chart a new post-pandemic course.

29 – The New Super-Spirituality by Francis A. Schaeffer — Short and sweet. I don’t remember much else.

30 – The Law & The Gospel by Ernest C. Reisinger — 99% good, 1% cringe. Reisinger isn’t consistent with the law’s obligation for nations today, but he wasn’t a theonomist, so I expected as much. Also, find a used copy somewhere. The link here is preposterous. 

31 – For Politics by Joseph Boot — Pretty good. Admittedly there needs to be more written on the subject as we develop a theology of the civil sphere. Assuming that Western Republicanism or Democracy is the biblical de facto position isn’t sufficient. (I don’t think Boot assumes that, I’m simply making a general statement here.)

32 – Hope Defined by Matthew Belleville — Super short, but super helpful.

33 – The Truth about Contagion by Thomas S. Cowan & Sally Fallon Morell — Excellent, excellent, excellent. One of my favorite books of the year. HIGHLY recommended!

34 – The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century by Francis A. Schaeffer — Really good analysis.

35 – The Church Before the Watching World by Francis A. Schaeffer — Overall pretty decent.

36 – The New Reformation by Shia Linne — Very balanced, and very good. Highly recommended.

37 – The Divine Right of Resistance by Phillip Kayser — Pretty good overall. Only quibble is 1) The magistrate has NO authority to quarantine anyone–he and I obviously disagree on this point; 2) The theology of the “state” (a term I’m now only using to describe the current humanist status quo) still needs more work. (And I understand that it was beyond the scope of this work…)

38 – A Biblical Counseling Process by Lauren Whitman — A helpful introduction.

39 – The Mark of the Christian by Francis A. Schaeffer — Overall pretty good.

40 – Keeping the Ten Commandments by J.I. Packer — Short and sweet. Packer at his best.

41 – God’s Ten Commandments by Francis Nigel Lee — Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

42 – The Sinai Strategy by Gary North – One of North’s most important books.

43 – Institutes of Biblical Law (Volume 1) by R.J. Rushdoony (2nd time around) — One of the most important books in all of history.

44 – Death in the City by Francis A. Schaeffer — Without question, this is my favorite Schaeffer book.

45 – Awake & Alive: To Truth by John L. Cooper — I’ve been a fan of Skillet from the start, and I love seeing Cooper’s theology shift into a New Puritanism/Theonomic worldview. 

46 – Pollution & the Death of Man by Francis A. Schaeffer — Pretty good.

47 – Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship by Jonathan Gibson — Excellent resource. 31 days of personal worship with various prayers, confessions, creeds, and scriptures readings. Going to continue using it in 2022.

48 – The Beast, the Whore, and the Forgotten Vision by Ron Kronz — Ron is a friend and I was able to read some early drafts. GET THIS BOOK.

 

BOOKS I’M CURRENTLY READING INTO 2022:

Scriptural Religion and Political Task by H. Evan Runner

The Real Anthony Fauci by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox by B.A. Bosserman

 

SOME BOOKS I PLAN TO READ IN 2022:

The Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd by D.F.M. Strauss

Roots of Western Culture by Herman Dooyeweerd

Struggle for a Christian Politics by Herman Dooyeweerd

The Crisis in Humanist Political Theory by Herman Dooyeweerd

Encyclopedia of the Science of Law by Herman Dooyeweerd

The Twilight of Western Thought by Herman Dooyeweerd

What is Reformational Philosophy? by Andree Troost

The Christian and the World (Volume 1) by H. Evan Runner

Walking in the Way of the Word (Volume 2) by H. Evan Runner

Point Counter Point (Volume 3) by H. Evan Runner

The Urgent Need for Christian Renewal (Volume 4) by H. Evan Runner

Pleasing People by Lou Priolo

The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

Christianity and Social Justice by Jon Harris

The World is Christ’s by Willem J. Ouweneel