(note: I don't agree with every work I recommend. That's not why we read is it? Some books are diagnostic or instructive, others challenge you, etc)

Categories of Interest

Apologetics/The Bible:  I like scholars who work through the epistemological and ontological issues. Some favorites:

• Kenneth Boa & Robert Bowman, et al. Faith Has Its Reasons: Integrative Approaches to Defending the Christian Faith (2006).

• William Edgar & K. Scott Oliphint, et al. Christian Apologetics Past and Present, 2 vols.: A Primary Source Reader (2011).

• Greg Bahnsen. Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings & Analysis (1998).

• John Frame. Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought (1995); Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief (2015).

• Michael Licona. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (2010).

• John Meade & Peter Gurry. Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible (2022). 

• Timothy Law. When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (2013). 

• Kenneth Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2006).

• Richard Bauckham. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (2008).

• John Lennox. God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (2009)

Counseling: Key interests are in presuppositions, methodology, the competency of the counselor, anti-psychiatry history. Some favorites:

• David Powlison. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context. (2010).

• David Powlison. Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture. (2012).

• David Powlison. Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness. (2016).

• David Powlison. Making All Things New: Restoring Joy to the Sexually Broken. (2017).

• David Powlison. Which Presuppositions? Secular Psychology and the Categories of Biblical Thought. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 12(4), 270-278. 

• David Powlison. Crucial Issues in Contemporary Biblical Counseling. Journal of Biblical Counseling, 9(3), 53-78.

• David Powlison. Critiquing Modern Integrationists. Journal of Biblical Counseling, 11(3), 24-34.

• David Powlison. Idols of the Heart and “Vanity Fair.” Journal of Biblical Counseling, 13(2), 35-50.

• David Powlison. Biological Psychiatry. Journal of Biblical Counseling. 17(3), 2-8. 

• David Powlison. Affirmations & Denials: A Proposed Definition of Biblical Counseling. Journal of Biblical Counseling. 19(1), 18-25.

• David Powlison. Is the Adonis Complex in Your Bible? Journal of Biblical Counseling. 22(2), 42-58.

• David Powlison. The Sufficiency of Scripture to Diagnose and Cure Souls. Journal of Biblical Counseling. 23(2), 2-14.

• David Powlison. Cure of Souls (and the Modern Psychotherapies). Journal of Biblical Counseling. 25(2), 5-36.

• David Powlison. The Therapeutic Gospel. Journal of Biblical Counseling. 25(3), 2-7.

• David Powlison. How Does Scripture Teach Us to Redeem Psychology? Journal of Biblical Counseling. 26(3), 18-27.

• David Powlison. Giving Reasoned Answers to Reasonable Questions. Journal of Biblical Counseling. 28(3), 2-14.

• Eric L. Johnson (ed.). Psychology & Christianity: Five Views. (2000).

• Eric L. Johnson. Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Proposal (2014); God & Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith (2017).

• Allan Horwitz. DSM: A History of Psychiatry's Bible (2021).
  
  

History:

• Azar Gat. War in Human Civilization (2008)

• Amaury de Riencourt. Sex and Power in History (2014).

• William McNeil. The Rise of the West (1992)

• Carroll Quigley. Tragedy and Hope (2004).

• David Hackett Fischer. The Great Wave (); Albion’s Seed ().

• Tamim Ansary. The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection (2019).

• Matthew White. Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History (2011).

• Nick Needham, 2000 Year's of Christ's Power, 5 vols. (2023).

• Justo Gonzales. The Story of Christianity, 2 vols. (2010).

• J. N. D. Kelly. Early Christian Doctrine (1978).

• Philip Schaff. History of the Christian Church, 8 vol. (2001); Creeds of Christendom, 3 vol. (1984); The Complete Collection of Early Church Fathers. (2014).

• Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (2019).

• David A. Andelman. A Shattered Peace:  Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today ().

• Allen Guelzo. Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (2024); Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction (2013); Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (2013). 

• Paul Ingrassia. Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars (2013).

• Jesse Norman. Edmund Burke: The First Conservative (2015)

• Jean Manco. Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings (2021)

• Andrew Roberts. Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2018); Napoleon: A Life (2015).

• Ian Kershaw. Hitler: A Biography (2010)

•  Barbara W. Tuchman. The Guns of August. (2008). 

• Ron Chernow. Washington: A Life (2011); Joseph J. Ellis. His Excellency: George Washington (2005). 

• David McCullough. John Adams (2002); 1776 (2005).

• David Herbert Donald. Lincoln (1996).

• Jay Cost. James Madison: America's First Politician (2021).

• Thomas Sowell. Conquests and Cultures: An International History (1999).
  
  

Philosophy: 

• Julian Baggini. The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods. (2010).

• Clark, Smith, & Lints (eds.). 101 Key Terms in Philosophy and their use for Theology (2004).

• Esther Lightcap Meek. A Little Manual for Knowing (2014).

• James K Dew Jr. How Do We Know?: An Introduction to Epistemology (2020); W. Jay. Wood. Epistemology (1998).

• Arthur Holmes. Ethics. (2009); Norman Geisler. Christian Ethics: Contemporary Issues and Options (2010); John Murray, Principles of Conduct

• Ross Inman. What Is Reality?: An Introduction to Metaphysics (2024); William Hasker. Metaphysics: Constructing a World View (1983).

• Roger Scruton. A Short History of Modern Philosophy (2001).

• J. P. Moreland. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul. (2012); Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit's Power (2017).

• Alvin Plantinga, Warrant and Proper Function (1993); Warranted Christian Belief (2000); Warrant and the Current Debate (1993); Knowledge and Christian Belief (2015); Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism (2011). 

• Frederick Copleston. A History of Philosophy, 8 vols. (2003).

• Gordon Clark, Thales to Dewey. (1989); R. C. Sproul. The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World. (2009).

• Copi & Cohen, Introduction to Logic (2019)

• Morris Engel. With Good Reason: An Introduction to Informal Fallacies (2014).; Norman Geisler, Come, Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking (1990); Forrest Baird. How Do We Reason?: An Introduction to Logic (2021).

• Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (2013).

Theology: 

• Francis Turretin. Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 3 vols. (orig. 1685; 1997). 

• Richard Muller. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols. (2003).

• Thomas Joseph White. The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (2022).

• Matthew Barrett. Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit (2021); God's Word Alone---The Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught and Why It Still Matters (2016); On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God (2024); The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (2023).

• Joel Beeke, Reformed Systematic Theology, 4 vols. (2024).

• Mark D. Thompson, A Clear and Present Word: The Clarity of Scripture (2006).

• Rhyne Putnam, When Doctrine Divides the People of God (2020)

• J. Todd Billings, The Word of God for the People of God: An Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (2010).

• L. Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus (2015).

• Marcus Johnson. One with Christ (2013)

• Marcus Johnson & John Clark. The Incarnation of God: The Mystery of the Gospel as the Foundation of Evangelical Theology (2015).

• Fleming Rutledge. The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. (2017). 

• John Calvin. The Institutes of the Christian Religion. (1541st French edition, 2014); Sermons on Ephesians, (orig. pub. 1562, 1974).

• Herman Bavinck. Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols. (2008); Reformed Ethics, 4 vols. (2025).

• John Owen. Communion with God (orig. 1657; 2007).

 
Other: 

• David Koyzis, Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies. (2003).

• Samuel Francis. Leviathan and It’s Enemies (2016).

• Christian Smith. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (2001).

• Iain McGilchrist. The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World (2 vols.). (2021); The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2019).

• Leland Rylen (ed.), et al. The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing. (2002).

• Jonathan Haidt. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018); The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012); The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024).

• Flannery O'Connor. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories. (1983); Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose. (1962).

• Frederick Buechner, Godric: A Novel (1999).

• Bo Giertz. The Hammer of God (orig. 1941; 2004).

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Brother's Karamazov. (orig. 1879; 2002).

• John Milton. Paradise Lost. (orig. 1674; 2003).

• Alan Paton. Cry, the Beloved Country. (2003)

• Voltaire. Candide. (orig. 1759; 2022).

• David Foster Wallace, Shipping Out: On the (Nearly Lethal) Comforts of a Luxury Cruise (1996).

• Poets: Emily Dickinson, W. H. Auden, George Herbert.