Books for a Preacher Boy

A good Bible College or Seminary will have all of these things plus some in their library and will get most of everything else they need in classes. I would probably invest in Hebrew dictionaries to get them BDB and TWOT. I really don't know much about Greek so I couldn't speak intelligently about that. If I were going to invest in good commentaries for them and had a lot of money (we are talking thousands probably), I would invest in the entire Word set and Hermeneia set.

My favorite Bible Atlas would be the Holman Bible Atlas written by my former Biblical Backgrounds prof., Dr. Thomas V. Brisco.

Joseph Botwinick

 

Dr. Griffin,

You came up with a great list and I respect your opinion!

I am a very computer oriented guy and wonder what the best Biblical software package is that would be purchased for the same young bible scholar headed off to college. I know many packages contain some of what you have included on your list. What one package includes the most translations, commentaries, etc?

The books are great, but they take up a lot more space and have to be moved each time someone's office changes. The software, also helps in doing quick searches etc.

God Bless

 

I would recommend John C. Maxwell's books on leadership. Another very informative book that is a must (IMO) for all prospective pastors is Shepherding God's Flock by Jay E. Adams.

I personally enjoy commentaries by Oliver B. Greene, but they can be hard to find.

Handfuls On Purpose by Smith-Lee has proven to be a great sermon resource and study aid.

 

Amen!

I would add Spurgeon's LECTURES TO MY STUDENTS to your list.

 

For devotional/inspirational reading, anything by A.W. Tozer.

 

In addition to the theological works already proposed:

</font>

• The Elements of Style, Strunk and White</font>
• Fowler's Modern English Usage</font>
• The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or an equivalent style guide</font>
• Informal Reasoning, Copi and Burgess-Jackson; Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, Hughes; or some other reputable textbook in critical thinking</font>
• good dictionary and thesaurus</font>

If my experience over at the FFF is typical, communication and critical thinking skills are sadly lacking amongst many preacher boys.

 

A great study into the teachings of Jesus to His disciples is, "The training of the twelve." by F.B.Bruce. WP

 

I'd start with good Bible translations: KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV.
- Study Bibles: NIV Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible, Disciple's study Bible
- Bible Dictionary: Holman Bible Dictionary (Especially the upcoming revised one), New Bible Dictionary (IVP)
- Bible Handbook: Holman Bible Handbook
- Bible Encyclopedia: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
- Concordance: Strong's, Young's
- Language Helps: New International Dictionary of Old Testament Exegesis by VanGemeren, New International Dictionary of NT Theology by Brown, Thayer's Greek Lexicon, BDB Hebrew Lexicon
- Bible software: Bibleworks, Logos, Online Bible
- Basic Commentary sets: Expositor's Bible Commentary, Hendriksen NT set, Matthew Poole's 3 vol set, Matthew Henry's set, Tyndale set on OT and NT
- Theological Works: Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. Milard T. Erickson's Christian Theology. A good guide to hermeneutics, such as Ramm or Stein's.
- Ministry works: Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students , Martyn Lloyd Jones "Preaching and Preachers", Charles Bridges "Christian Ministry" Warren Wiesrbe's "Making Sense of the Ministry"

I know I'm leaving some out!

 

Dito on this.
I would think that this qould intrest a large majority of begining seminary students. Do any of you old school pastors use computer bible software?

 

I cannot recommend the Online Bible too highly. It is free for downloading and has many add ons plus ability to add your own stuff.

 

If you are looking for a good Bible study software program, I have two recommendations:

1. For the advanced student only, I would recommend Bibleworks 5.0 . This program is expensive ($300.00) and requires a pretty advanced knowledge of Greek and Hebrew to be really useful.

2. After trying many of the programs out there, it is my opinion that nothing comes close to E-sword for the average user. It is user friendly, works flawlessly, and is absolutely free. It makes word studies a breeze. I find myself using the program constantly and have made many copies for friends and those in my congregation. They all love it, saying it is the easiest to use that they have found. Check it out at http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html and you won't regret it.

Pastork

[ November 04, 2002, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Pastork ]