Church Fathers
1. Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers by Christopher Hall
This book provides a clear and easy to read introduction to the approach to Biblical interpretation that the Church Fathers take by examining 8 Church Fathers. Four of these are Greek (Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom ) and four of these are Latin (Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great). Then it examines the ancient schools of interpretation: the Alexandrian and the Antiochene and as such focuses on Origen. When you finish the book, you will have a clear appreciation of how the early Church approached the Bible.
2. Contra Gentes by Athanasius
What most do not know is that the classic book On the Incarnation is the second part of a two part book. Contra Gentes is the first part. This book explains what human nature is, what is fallen about it, what sin is, what evil is, and what is the nature of the Logos (the Word of God) in relation to the world. This book is important in its own right for understanding Orthodox Christian theology. Further, if one hopes to understand On the Incarnation, all of the ideas discussed in Contra Gentes are the starting point from which On the Incarnation begins to explain the work of Christ in saving us.
3. On the Incarnation by Athanasius
This is the foundational work on how to understand the work of Jesus Christ. It explains how the work of the Incarnation is in a continuum with the work of creation. It further expands to show how Christ’s death and resurrection has healed us from the sickness of sin and has recreated us according to our original intention by Christ’s model for how to live our lives. Athanasius is a master explainer, and uses more than 14 analogies in this book to make clear in our minds what the work of Christ is. He then enters into a dialogue with Judaism to show how Christ is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Jews. It also enters into a dialogue with Greek religion to show how their objections to the Incarnation are not valid even in their own systems of thinking. Then it ends with a final note on what our destiny as the children of God is.
4. On the Human Condition by Basil the Great
This is a collection of sermons by Basil of Caesarea. I consider this collection to be the best group of patristic texts if you want to get the flavor of the writings of the Church Fathers and to delve further in them because it covers many aspects of God’s interaction with humanity and human nature in the Early Christian worldview. For examples, it covers topics on the nature of humans and the image of God in us. It also covers the origin of evil. Then it explores anger in human life.
5. On the Priesthood by John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom provides piercing and timeless insight into the church community and the priesthood. This book might as well have been written earlier today for the relevant insights in presents and the correct way of approaching the ministry. This book is a must read not only for priests but also those who serve in their churches in any type of teaching or ministry role whether it is Sunday school, Bible study, catechism, apologetics teaching, or supervising any one serving in any other ministry. What it says about priests applies equally to those who serve anywhere in their churches. Further, Chrysostom’s style is clear and beautiful in this English translation so that readers get the feel of what it is like to hear the preacher whose title in Greek means “The Golden Mouth.”
6. Hymns on Paradise by Ephrem the Syrian
A beautiful cycle of 15 hymns on Paradise. Full of theological and practical insight, Ephrem uses a rich variety of images and metaphors to make his meaning clear. Further, the typological interpretation of the Scriptures is very rich in this collection of hymns. Dr. Sebastian Brock does a masterful job of translating Ephrem into English and in his introduction and notes to the hymns. This book can serve as your springboard if you want to start reading more into Syrian Christian literature including Ephrem’s other collections of hymns and including other authors such as Jacob of Serugh and Isaac the Syrian.
This volume contains all the writings of the Apostolic Fathers (the Church Fathers immediately following the Apostles including some of the Apostles’ disciples who wrote to the same communities as the Apostles). This book includes the The Didache, Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians (First Clement), The seven epistles of Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians, The Martyrdom of Polycarp, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Shepherd of Hermas, Second Clement, the fragments of Papias of Hierapolis, a fragment from Quadratus of Athens, and the apologetic work The Epistle to Diognetus. This volume includes both the Greek original of these texts on the left hand side and Michael Holmes’s translation on the right hand side.
The Apostolic Fathers are a must read for those entering the world of the Church Fathers. They provide a good bridge from the New Testament to later early Church writings by showing how the first generation after the Apostles pastored its faithful. These writings shows the ethos that the early Church received from the Apostles and passed down to the following generations of Christians.
8. The Hexaemeron by Basil the Great
The volume in which you can find the Hexaemeron also includes the Homilies on the Psalms.
9. The Apologies of Justin Martyr and the Dialogue with Trypho
This volume also includes writings that were spuriously attributed to Justin but are now thought to not be by him.
10. On the Soul and the Resurrection by Gregory of Nyssa
11. Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit by Athanasius
This volume also includes On the Holy Spirit by Didymus the Blind.
12. On the Holy Spirit by Basil the Great
13. Homilies on Genesis by Origen
14. Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Saints
1. Father Arseny 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, and Spiritual Father translated by Vera Bouteneff
History of Christianity and Its Engagement with Culture and Society
1. The Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart
2. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Louis Wilken
3. Neoplatonism in Relation to Christianity: An Essay by Charles Elsee
Koine Greek Language
2. The Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition
3. Septuaginta (The Greek Old Testament)
Language and Reading Theory (Literary Criticism)
1. The Reader, the Text, and the Poem by Louise Rosenblatt
In this book, Louise Rosenblatt lays out the Transactional Theory of Reading (also sometimes known as Reader-Response Theory). She explains that there are two different types of reading: 1. Efferent Reading in which the purpose is to draw out specific information from the text in order to learn some information to use in the future, and 2. Aesthetic Reading in which the purpose is to live in and through the text. This is true for reading texts such as stories, poetry, and even informational texts. Texts are not efferent or aesthetic, but these are attitudes that the reader takes when reading any text. Therefore, the reader has an active role in making meaning out of the text (which she calls the poem). The insights in this book are extremely important because they show the significance of the reader’s background information and context to understanding any text. These insights can be applied in helping us become better readers of the Bible and the Church Fathers.
2. Poetic Diction: A Study in Meaning by Owen Barfield
This book written by Owen Barfield who was a member of the Inklings (which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) examines how humans make meaning. He argues that it is primarily through metaphor/analogizing. This book is an analysis of language in general and how language works, how language affects the way humans see the world, how it evolves based on human development of language to describe new experiences and realities. He applies these insights to making meaning, the development of knowledge (both observational and scientific) and its implications for communication, expansion of knowledge, and poetry.
Apologetics
1. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
2. The Case for the Real Jesus, Student Edition by Lee Strobel
3. God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis
4. Miracles by C.S. Lewis
Anthropology
1. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
2. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning by Rene Girard
3. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Psychology
1. Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief by Jordan Peterson
On the Interaction between Faith and Science
1. The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis
2. The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450 by David C. Lindberg
3. Copernicus: A Very Short Introduction by Owen Gingerich
4. Galileo in Rome: The Rise and Fall of a Troublesome Genius by William R. Shea and Mariano Artigas
5. The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction by Lawrence Principe
6. A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology (Gifford Lectures) by Alister McGrath
Literature that Provokes Reflection
1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
6. The Giver by Lois Lowry
7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
8. A Treasury of Poems: A Collection of the World’s Most Famous and Familiar Verse
9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
10. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
11. The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
Philosophy
1. The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues
This book presents four dialogues surrounding the trial and death of the philosopher Socrates. They include Euthyphro, The Apology of Socrates, Crito, and Phaedo. They are a good introduction to philosophy if you want to begin reading philosophy.
2. The Republic by Plato
This is the magnum opus of the philosopher Plato, the disciple of Socrates. In this book he examines everything about the nature of the city-state and in the process asks questions about human nature, the nature of God, the nature of knowledge, the nature of virtue, the nature of justice, the nature of philosophy, and the immortality of the soul. It is one of the deepest books I have ever read and it will equip you philosophically. The fact that it is written as a dialogue (that is, a conversation between many people) invites you into the conversation and it will model for you how to think critically and clearly about the world around you. I suggest that you have a notebook ready and to write down a lot of notes and your own insights as you read this book. Further, its ideas are engaged with in the writings of the Church Fathers especially the Greek Fathers.
3. A History of Philosophy Vol I: Greece and Rome from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus by Frederick Copleston
If you are looking for a good introduction to philosophy and not only ideas but its history in book form, I can recommend no better book than this. It is written by a true master, the Jesuit priest Frederick Copleston who clearly mastered the things which he was writing about. Its style is clear and to the point. It will provide you with the background to spring into reading ancient philosophers up until Plotinus.
4. The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
This book was written by the 6th century consul of Rome who was unjustly condemned to execution preceded by house arrest. In the year that he was under house arrest, he wrote this reflection on life where a personified Philosophy appears as a woman who converses with him over the nature and meaning of human life. In the second part of the book, Lady Philosophy helps him examine whether evil has befallen him. They explore God’s omniscience, human freewill, and God’s goodness to end the book. This is one of the most profound books I have ever read especially if you are going through a stressful time. I recommend that you read it after you have read the book A History of Philosophy Vol I by Frederick Copleston listed above if you want to reap the full benefits of this book. All throughout he shifts between poetry and prose. In many ways, both in style and content, this book is similar to the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. However, if you feel the Book of Ecclesiastes leaves you unclear at the end, this book does not; it provides clarity into God’s abundant goodness.
5. Essential Dialogues of Plato (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Plato
This volume includes the dialogues Gorgias and Symposium.