I’ve recently been asked if I’d recommend any books. Previously, I’ve given ad-hoc recommendations of some of my favorite titles. This time, the question has triggered me to write down a summary of my top ten books to help one study the Bible.
In my graduate Bible studies at Liberty University, I amassed over one hundred books. The majority of these are academic texts at graduate level that are not for casual reading.
However, I believe that my suggestions below will be enjoyed by those without a background in formal Bible education. If you are looking for a book to help you dig deeper into the Bible, check out my recommendations below.
How To Read the Bible
The book’s foreword by Kevin Vanhoozer describes the book well: “This is a wonderful user-friendly book for serious readers who desire to journey into the world of the Bible in order better to understand and to live faithfully in today’s world.”
Duvall and Hays structure their book with twenty-two chapters in five sections. After a foundational chapter on Bible translations, their second chapter on “The Interpretive Journey” is the most valuable ten-page read about interpreting the Bible that I have found. In it, the authors explain a simple method to approach the Bible from the perspective of its authors, by crossing from “our town” to “their town.” An underlying principle is that it is the reader’s goal to understand the author’s intent behind the text. Three subsequent chapters in the first part explain the importance of looking at sentences, paragraphs, and discourses when reading the Bible.
The book’s second part explores the Bible’s context, which includes its historical-cultural context, the literary context, the role of word studies, and where a reader’s preunderstanding fits. Part three explores meaning, the balance between the roles of the human author and the Holy Spirit, and how meaning must lead to application. Parts four and five look at the different types of books in the New and Old Testaments and how those differences lead to varying approaches to the text.
The second chapter of this book is a ten-page goldmine. The ninety pages of the first part are extremely valuable. The subsequent chapters are built on the first part. Each chapter ends with optional assignments to help with learning. The chapter lengths make it suitable for a group Bible study, with one chapter a week, though I have not gone through the book this way.
The book’s fourth edition from 2020 costs about $30 for a hardback or Kindle edition. I found some used copies of the 2012 third edition, which is the one I have, for less than $10. There is also a workbook, which I am not familiar with, but be careful not to buy that by mistake!
If you want more after reading this, I recommend The Hermeneutical Spiral by Grant R. Osborne (~$30 new), which is considered by many as the standard, advanced text on the topic. The book’s “spiral” represents the cycle of revisiting biblical texts and gaining renewed insight each time due to broadened knowledge and understanding.
Avoiding Injecting Western Bias Into the Bible
Grasping God’s Word outlines steps to look at Scripture from the author’s perspective. Randolph Richards and Brandon O’Brien examine the perils of failing to read Scripture in the author’s cultural context. They use many readable, sometimes amusing examples in which cultural differences lead to misunderstandings.
They compare cultural differences to an iceberg, where there are the obvious differences above the surface (chapters 1–3), more subtle differences just below the surface (chapters 4–6), and well-hidden differences deep below the surface (chapters 7–9).
The obvious differences that the authors discuss are around cultural norms, ethnicity, and language. The more subtle differences that the authors examine are individualism and collectivism, honor and shame and saving face, and the importance of time. The differences that can be hidden include the rules around relationships and family, varying virtues and vices, and God’s plan for each person. A short conclusion outlines practical steps for removing cultural blinders.
The book is very readable through the pertinent and engaging stories that the authors use to illustrate their points. The book was effective in my small group Bible study, in which we covered one chapter a week. It is also suitable for an individual read as it is lightweight and amusing. The 2012 paperback costs $20 new, maybe $10 used, and it is available on Kindle and audiobooks.
Appreciating the Bible’s Cultural Context
Our good friend, Mark Callaghan, who leads a ministry called Jester for Jesus in England, suggested I read this book. It changed the way I look at the New Testament, and I have not looked back.
Kenneth Bailey spent forty years living and teaching in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem, and Cyprus. He discovered that today’s peasant culture in the Middle East has changed little since the time of Christ. He uses his knowledge of that peasant culture to provide fresh insight into cultural meaning in the Scriptures that is hidden from western eyes. Bailey also leverages ancient Arabic translations of the Bible to help understand nuances of the original Greek text.
The Cross & the Prodigal is his first book, published in 1973, examining Luke 15. He explains that the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, are linked, though the climax is missing. He notes how cultural norms, from saving face to father-son relationships, would have made the text of the Prodigal Son truly shocking to Luke’s first century audience. This book completely changed how I appreciate these three parables in Luke 15.
The book is an easy read of less than ninety pages, yet incredibly rich with insights. I used it in a small group Bible study. The Senior Pastor of a megachurch that we used to attend preached a great series on Luke 15, and it appeared that most of his material came from this book.
It is $12 for a paperback or Kindle version. My Bible study group found this book so enlightening that we subsequently studied some other books by Kenneth Bailey. We found both Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes and Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes to be highly readable and insightful. His eleven-page analysis of “The Story of Jesus’ Birth” in Luke 2:1–20 is worth buying the first of these two books, as he brilliantly unentangles five critical flaws in the traditional understanding of this passage. Our Bible study group also started working through Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes, but we found that it was too heavy. The list of Bailey’s works can be found here.
Engaging Across Cultures in the Christian Context
This textbook was a wake-up call during my Global Studies class. My secular career had blessed me with living in multiple countries, through which I had learned about many cultural differences. However, Sherwood Lingenfelter’s book brought this into the Christian context.
He starts each of his thirteen chapters with a case study. His examples make his text highly readable, and I could relate to his examples in the first four chapters. Then chapter five slapped me on the side of the head. With a background in project management, I had been laser-focused on the task at hand. Lingenfelter explains how task-focused priority blinds one to what’s really important – building a covenant community.
I had missed this difference in approach on a mission trip. While the book’s title suggests it is for leaders, I see that anyone engaging in cross-cultural activity as a Christian needs to understand this perspective. It’s a $22 paperback, also on Kindle.
I can also recommend a couple of other books in this area. When Helping Hurts is a brilliant explanation of how traditional approaches to helping the poor can have the opposite effect. The book’s subtitle describes it well: “How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself.” Second, I found that Understanding Intercultural Communication by Stella Ting-Toomey and Leeva C. Chung was an excellent book. Though it has an academic approach, its conversational style makes it readable. While it costs $107 for a new copy, I found a used one for $5.
Jesus’s Timeline
With this recommendation, I change direction from culture to historical accuracy. This is a valuable book that reviews what the literature tells us about the life of Christ. As Stein explains in his introduction, historical investigation of Christ has been taken over by critical scholars who dismiss a supernatural Christ. This is a problem in many parts of academia, but thankfully not all. Stein supports his positions with careful research while prioritizing the biblical text.
Stein lays the foundation for the book in the first part, “Key Issues in Studying the Life of Christ.” He explains that there are three different ways of approaching the topic that determine the outcome. The first is the role of presuppositions. If one approaches Jesus with a presupposition that nothing in the world is supernatural, the outcome will be very different from if one accepts that Jesus is divine. The second is the literature one uses. Stein assesses non-Christian literature, extrabiblical Christian literature, and the Bible in his arguments, including arguments for the truth of the Bible. The third is the timeline of Christ’s life that one uses. The second part of the book examines the evidence that describes each stage of Christ’s life.
The book is great. The third chapter, which defines the chronology of Jesus’s life, is brilliant. Among other things, he uses a combination of Jewish festivals and celestial events. If you have ever wondered about this, these ten pages are the answer! In summary, Jesus’s birth was 7–5 B.C., the beginning of his ministry was in A.D. 27–28, his ministry lasted one and a half to three and a half years, and his crucifixion was either A.D. 30 or 33, with the former more likely.
The paperback or Kindle edition costs $20, though I saw a used hardback for $6.
Where Did My Bible Come From?
Why do you treat the Bible with reverence? How do you know that the New Testament accurately captures the authoritative writings from the first century while rejecting the counterfeits? Ben Laird’s book, published in 2023, answers those questions.
Dr Laird was one of my professors at Liberty University, and I spent two weeks with him on a trip following Paul’s footsteps in Greece. He knows his material and is very personable. In his book, he explains the history of the formation of the New Testament in three parts. The first part discusses questions about the production of the original writings. The second part examines the formation of the New Testament canon, and the final part explores the authority of the New Testament.
Some people will find this book more academic than others on my list. If you think that’s you, you might find my blog post, Where Did My Bible Come From?, a good starting point. However, if you read my blog, I encourage you to seek our Laird’s book, as it investigates the topics properly. It’s $20 for a paperback or Kindle, with a used one available for $12.
Are There Different Ways to Read Genesis 1–2?
My career enabled me to learn about geology and topics ranging from plate tectonics to volcanology. Evidence in these fields points to the Earth being many hundreds of thousands of years old. I worked with scientists who cored the Earth’s crust in ultradeep water. We discussed the historical reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles, which occurs about every 450,000 years. However, biblical timelines appear to place Adam and Eve in 4000 B.C., with the earth being formed a few days earlier. I believed the biblical account while struggling to rationalize it with my geoscience understandings. Within certain Christian circles, I feared I would be shunned for even suggesting that any old-earth geological theories could be valid.
Reading Genesis 1–2 was a very refreshing read that I was assigned during a doctoral seminar on the Pentateuch. In the book, five respected evangelical scholars present their interpretation of Genesis 1–2 and offer arguments against the other scholars’ arguments. One of the scholars writes, “All the writers of the five views presented in this book believe in the truth, authority, and reliability (inerrancy) of the Bible, including Gen 1–2.”
Richard Averbeck argues that the literary structure of the text indicates that the seven days of creation represent God’s work week and should not be taken as a literal seven days. Todd Beall takes the literal position and dismisses five questions that challenge the literal, seven-day account. John Collins writes to support his position that the days are analogical and explores what the passages tell us beyond a seven-day timeline. Tremper Longman III builds the case that the passage “is theological history that intends to teach that God created creation but not how he did it.” John Walton examines how the ancient Israelites and the surrounding cultures would have received the text and proposes that it is an ancient cosmology. I must admit that I struggled to understand Walton’s chapter in comparison to the other four.
While this book does not provide concrete answers, I was very happy to find that there were different, evangelical positions. My main takeaway was to consider the purpose of this passage. I believe that its objective is not to provide details, including a timeline, of how God made the Earth. The Bible is not a science book. I believe the intent was to show that God made the Earth. As the book explains, all other religions at this time had gods that were created; the Bible is unique in that God existed before creation.
If you struggle with your understanding of how the Bible’s creation accounts align with your scientific understanding of the Earth’s formation, this is a great book, and you will be motivated to understand the different positions to help with your rationalization.
The book is about $19 in paperback or Kindle. I very much enjoyed reading the different, Bible-believing, evangelical positions on a difficult topic. It is often difficult for a church to present such complexity, except perhaps around Revelation. If you like the idea of reading multiple positions, the following two books will also be of interest.
When Did the Exodus Happen?
When I started digging into the biblical accounts, I yearned to understand when they happened. Different commentators provide different dates, and it is often challenging to find the basis on which they propose that date. Robert Stein’s book, Jesus the Messiah, which I discussed above, clarified the timeline of Jesus’s life. This book presents different positions about the timing of the Exodus.
Amazon provides a fine overview of the book:
Five Views on the Exodus brings together experts in the fields of biblical studies, Egyptology, and archaeology to discuss and debate the most vexing questions about the exodus. Each offers their own view and constructive responses to other leading views:
- Early Date: The Exodus Took Place in the Fifteenth Century BC (Scott Stripling)
- Late Date: A Historical Exodus in the Thirteenth Century BC (James K. Hoffmeier)
- A Hyksos Levite Led Exodus in the Time of Ramesses II (Peter Feinman)
- Alternative Late Date: The Exodus Took Place in the Twelfth Century BC (Gary A. Rendsburg)
- The Exodus as Cultural Memory: A Transformation of Historical Events (Ronald Hendel)
The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.
A narrated Bible that I own dates the Exodus to around 1525–1400 B.C. Google begins its answer to the question by explaining that it “is traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE.” The early date (around 1446 B.C.) is derived from a literal reading of 1 Kings 6:1. The late date (around 1290 B.C.) links the building of the city of Ramses, in Exodus 1:11, to Pharaoh Ramses II.
This book helped satisfy my curiosity about the two positions. However, none of the positions convinced me that it was the correct one above the others. I also realized that having a position on the Exodus’s date was not a priority for me, yet I was glad to have explored the topic.
In What Different Ways Do Denominations View Paul?
When I started my academic studies of the New Testament, I soon came across the term “The New Perspective on Paul.” This represents the position of a group of scholars from the late 20th century who have challenged the traditional Protestant position that Paul was arguing against Jews working toward their righteousness. Their position is that Judaism at Paul’s time promoted obeying the Law in response to being chosen by God rather than legalistically striving for God’s favor. This position has been popularized by N. T. Wright.
I read this book as part of my studies. The four views it presents are those of an Evangelical, a Catholic, a mainline Protestant, and a Jew. The authors limit their discussion to Paul’s thoughts about salvation, the significance of Christ, his vision for churches, and his overall theology. It complemented my other learnings about the New Perspective.
Rather than answering initial questions, this book taught me a lot of things that I did not even know about. It was a different type of mental stimulation, making me aware that a topic was more complicated than I had assumed.
This book is $12 for a paperback or Kindle version. Unless you have a particular interest in different positions on Paul, I doubt you will find this of great interest. However, there are thirty-eight books in the Counterpoints series, and the presentation of multiple positions on subjects might be of interest. Topics include homosexuality, Hell, the role of works, divine providence, the Lord’s Supper, evangelicalism, remarriage after divorce, baptism, women in ministry, and eternal security. The full list is on the publisher’s website here.
What Mistakes Are Made When Translating?
This is an excellent book for those who attempt to translate the New Testament from the original Greek. Today’s electronic tools help anyone pull up a Greek/English Interlinear, look up Strong’s numbers, and consult a lexicon, aiming to gain a “better” understanding of the Greek text than their English translation provides.
I found it fascinating, as I had heard respected pastors use erroneously one of the first exegetical fallacies that Carson explains in his book. On the topic of being a servant, John MacArthur is famous for saying, “I just really want to be known as someone who was a servant of the Lord. You know, Paul uses the word hupēretēs, a galley slave, under rower.” The context comes from 1 Corinthians 4:1, where Paul describes himself using this term. The Greek word looks like the combination of words for “under” and “rower.” I heard the pastor at my former church preach on the same concept, and there are many online articles about how “under rowers” reflect being Christ’s servant.
In this book, D. A. Carson notes that R. C. Trench popularized this view in 1854. However, Carson uses this as an example of what he calls the root fallacy. Carson writes,
to derive the meaning of ὑπηρέτης (hypēretēs) from ὑπό (hypo) and ἐρέτης (eretēs) is no more intrinsically realistic than deriving the meaning of “butterfly” from “butter” and “fly,” or the meaning of “pineapple” from “pine” and “apple.” Even those of us who have never been to Hawaii recognize that pineapples are not a special kind of apple that grows on pines.
Carson explains many other erroneous translations. The book costs $13 for a paperback or Kindle version.
Others
This link takes you to a list of all the books I read for my Liberty studies. I have recommended the subset that I think will be of interest to those not undertaking academic study, and I would be happy to answer any questions about any books on the list. In addition to these, I am always happy to discuss anything related to the Apostle Peter, who he was my dissertation topic.
Finally, what have I missed? I welcome your suggestions for great books that help interpret the Bible. Please leave your suggestions and any feedback that you have on this list as a comment below. I hope that this might inspire you to get one or more of these books and use them to understand more about the Bible!
Leave a Reply