A 1hr a day reading list to make 2020 a year of theology

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Did you ever wish you knew more about theology or wanted to brush up on the basics? Maybe you’ve been a youth worker for years, but you skipped training and now you feel like you’re playing catchup? If you start the year right, then you can work in some new reading habits that – with a little commitment – should help you exit 2020 with a firmer grasp on Theology, the Bible, and Youth Ministry.

There’s so much you can read, and the internet is a maze of muddled advice and opinion-heavy black holes.  The aim of this post is to cut through some of that and give you a good place to start.

This is by no means a ‘definitive’ list, but it does include a fair few books that many Bible Colleges and Seminaries have on their first year list. It’s not meant to be a final word, but a helpful dotted line to follow.

The hope is to give you a roughly 1hr a day, 5 days a week reading list that will last you the whole year (with 2-4 weeks off somewhere depending on your reading speed).

This list is made up of four areas – starting with the Bible. Beyond that I’ve added three other types of book: Classical, Theory and Practice. The books are not listed in any particular order, however there is a ‘ * ‘ against those that I think are the more essential reads.

You can buy many of these books used on Amazon, but you might find the easier thing to do is take out a Library subscription somewhere and get them to order books for you. If you’re close to a University, then finding a College Library that uses the Heritage system will be your easiest bet.

Remember to check out what’s available as Audiobooks too.

The Bible

If you want to grasp any kind of theology better, then you really do need to start with the Bible. It takes about an hour a day to read the Bible in three months, so I’m going to suggest that half your daily reading allocation for the entire year is the Bible itself – meaning you’ll read all 66 books of the Scriptures twice through in the year.

My instinct is to begin with 20 minutes in the Old Testament, and 10 minutes in the New Testament. That could be three 10-minute sittings a day. Remember too, that the whole Bible is in Audiobook form for free online.

I’d recommend the first time through that you start to read a long-hand translation that you’re familiar with (NIV, CEV, NLT, ERV, GNB, etc.) followed by a slightly more structural translation (ESV, NRSV, NET, ASV, etc.). If you find the time then I’d suggest re-reading proverbs in the MSG version at some point too.

As you go through – reference the introductory page of each biblical book in How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Gordon Fee.

Old Testament

Start with the Pentateuch (Gen. – Deut.), then the first part of the History Books (Jos. – 2 Kngs.), then read through the Psalms & Wisdom Literature (Job, Prov. Eccl. Songs.). Finally go back to the History Books (1 Chron. – Est.), before finishing with the Prophets (Is. – Mal.).

New Testament

Go through it mostly in order, however perhaps read Jn. Before Lk. So, you can read Lk. and Acts together as they were designed to be.

Classical

So much contemporary theology is built upon these stones, and they tend to say more per line than modern books do in a few pages. So, take these slow. This is the small list, but if you were limited to just a few things to read – this is where I’d start.

*Book 1 of Calvin’s Institutes (Free online)

On the Incarnation – St. Athanaisius (Free online – quick read)

The Reformed Pastor – Richard Baxter (Free online)

The Mortification of Sin – John Owen

The Bruised Reed – Richard Sibbes

Books 1-5 of On The Trinity – St. Augustine (Free online)

Books 11 and 22 of City of God – St. Augustine (Free online).

*Parts 1-2 of The Religious Affections – Jonathan Edwards (0.49p on Kindle)

The Republic – Plato (easy to listen to in 3-4hrs it at 1.25 speed on YouTube)

The Nicomachean Ethics – Aristotle (6 hours at 1.25 speed on YouTube)

 

Theory

These books give you a bit more applicable insight to big questions about theology, philosophy, mission, and history.

*The Cross of Christ – John Stott

Part 1 of Systematic Theology v.1 – Katherine Sonderegger

*Knowing God – Jim Packer

*Know the Truth – Bruce Milne

Chs. 8, 10 and 11 of Doctrine – Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

Part 3 of Doctrine of The Knowledge of God – John Frame

The Pleasures of God – John Piper

The Doctrine of God – Gerald Bray

*The Passion of Jesus Christ – John Piper (you can use this as a daily meditation for a while – or get your home group to go through it).

Listening to The Spirit In The Text – Gordon Fee

*Dig Deeper – Andrew Sach & Nigel Beynon

Holiness – J.C. Ryle

Part 2 and 3 of The Gagging of God – Don Carson

Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis

The Universe Next Door – James Sire

The Difficult Doctrine of The Love Of God – Don Carson

Think – Simon Blackburn

*Gospel and Kingdom – Graeme Goldsworthy

*Turning Points – Mark Noll

History of Theology – Bengt Hägglund

 

Practice

These are mostly youth work books, and none of them should take more than 6hrs to read. Many of these are also available through audio book.

*Death By Love – Mark Driscoll

The Wounded Healer – Henri Nouman

No Perfect People Allowed – John Burke

*Christian Youth Work – Ashton & Moon

*The Contemplative Pastor – Eugene Peterson

Apologetics to The Glory of God – John Frame

Sustainable Youth Ministry – Mark DeVries

*Rebooted: Reclaiming youth ministry for the long haul – a biblical framework – Tim Gough

Models for Youth Ministry – Steve Griffiths

*Contemplative Youth Ministry – Mark Yaconelli

Parenting Children for a life of Confidence – Rachel Turner

5 Things to Pray for Your Kids – Melissa Kruger

Trained in the Fear of God – Randy Stinson & Timothy Paul Jones

The Justice Calling – Kristen Deede Johnson & Bethany Hanke Hoang

 

Photo by Jonny Swales on Unsplash

Reaching our unreachable inner city teens – on Evangelical Alliance

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Here’s a short post I wrote for the Evangelical Alliance. Check it our here.

A different way to evangelise – Jonny Price

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I remember clearly when my faith became an exciting prospect for me.

I had been a Christian for about 5 years, and was travelling in Australia for a few months. Someone had very kindly given me an audiobook on CD (I know, I’m old) of Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis. This was at the height of Rob’s influence in the Christian world, back before the cliff edge that Love Wins became.

I was on a train from Sydney to Newcastle, a journey of around 3 hours, and was listening, when something Rob said jumped out and grabbed me;

“I’m convinced being generous is a better way to live. I’m convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live. I’m convinced having compassion is a better way to live. I’m convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live. I’m convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live. I’m convinced being honest with people is a better way to live.”

During all the time I had been a Christian I had never heard anyone speak about Christianity like this. It was all about personal salvation, it was all to do with the cross and forgiveness. It was about what happened after death, I couldn’t recall anyone saying that it was about living before that.

This feeling has come back to me recently as I have been thinking about the way that we evangelise, and more generally, about how we talk about faith in the Church.

It seems that we are obsessed with the death of Jesus, but can take or leave His life.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus are absolutely non-negotiable in any understanding of orthodox Christianity, but in focusing so clearly on the end of Jesus’ life, I believe that we have missed something significant. If we can redress this balance, I think there are three significant impacts we could see:

  1. It shows us the best way to be Human

Through His life Jesus shows us the best way to be human, the best way to be an image bearer of God. He shows us a better way to live.

For a while now Christianity has been plagued by a version of humanism, the idea that human reason and logic are all that is needed for a better world. Some parts of Christianity have taken this idea, and said that because we are image bearers, we are able to make this a better world in our own strength.

The problem with this is that it is untrue, it is not our idea of image bearing that matters, but what Jesus shows us about being image bearers.

 

  1. It reminds us we are called to build God’s Kingdom

If we can call young people to a better way to live, as well as to salvation beyond, then we can help to grow excitement in them for building God’s Kingdom on Earth.

This ties into an ancient tradition in the Jewish faith, of tzedekah and mishpat. These literally mean righteousness and justice, but in their Jewish forms, evoke ideas of righteousness as something given by God, and of going from retributive justice to restorative justice.

If a young person makes a commitment to Christianity at age forteen, there is a lot of life still to live between their commitment and the results of their salvation. But if that same young person is taught about tzedekah and mishpat, then they can see how their life can tie into this incredible, rich tapestry of people building the Kingdom of God. They can live for a purpose greater than any other.

 

  1. We can make our evangelism more effective.

Millennials and post-millennials are keen to make the world a better place. They want to see equality in wealth, health, education, standards of living, and gender. They want to see peace.

And Christianity has an umbrella for all of these ideas to come under. If we can show people hungry for change that all of these causes can fit into the Kingdom, then think what a different picture that paints of the Church.

It ceases to be an institution desperate to serve and save itself, and becomes a movement that seeks to serve others. It becomes something people want to be a part of.

 

Final thoughts

Jesus died for the sins of the world, but let’s not forget that He lived a life as well. His life was more than a way to get to the cross, it was to show us how to live as image bearers, how to be Kingdom builders, and how to seek after His righteousness and justice, putting others before ourselves.

Jesus did die for us, but he also lived for us. Let’s not sit around waiting for heaven, but live fully alive just like Jesus did.