Logos Staff
Steven Wedgeworth is the rector of Christ Church Anglican in South Bend, Indiana. He has written for Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, The Anglican Way, and Mere Orthodoxy; he served as a founding board member of the Davenant Institute. Steven also recently contributed an essay on concupiscence in the new book, Ruined Sinners to Reclaim (Crossway, 2024). Steven is married and has four children.
1. That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis
A fantastic science fiction take on the dystopian future with the literary twist that Lewis is also giving commentary on the relationship between men and women and demonstrating how they need each other to avoid mutual self-destruction.
2. How to Use the Book of Common Prayer, by Samuel L. Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane
The best introduction and commentary to Anglican theology and worship.
3. God Is: A Devotional Guide to the Attributes of God, by Mark Jones
An impressive work of scholastic theology in a popular format which also manages to connect academic doctrine with personal piety.
4. Echoes of Exodus, by Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson
One of the best works of biblical theology and typology which ties together the overarching narrative of the Scriptures in an easy-to-read manner.
5. An Exposition of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, by John Davenant
A seventeenth-century Bible commentary which also contains dense dogmatic treatises. One of the best primers on classic Christology can be found in Davenant’s treatment of Colossians.
6. Nicaea and Its Legacy, by Lewis Ayres
This book is essential reading for understanding the fourth century and the development of the pro-Nicene theological tradition.
7. The City of God, by Augustine of Hippo
An all-time classic of Christian apologetics, political theology, and eschatology. Though a long work, this book is nevertheless surprisingly accessible.
8. Three Treatises, by Martin Luther
These three works from Martin Luther capture the heart and soul of the Protestant Reformation. They show Luther’s own development and highlight the main topics of disagreement between historic Protestants and Roman Catholics.
9. The Origins of Feasts, Fasts, and Seasons in Early Christianity, by Maxwell E. Johnson and Paul F. Bradshaw
This is a very helpful reference work that explains the history of various aspects of Christian liturgical practice and the church calendar.
10. Thomas Cranmer: A Life, by Diarmaid MacCulloch
This is a tremendous biography which also serves as an historical primer on the English Reformation.
11. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, by Ronald Hutton
This book is full of fascinating historical tidbits and explanations of the folkways and customs which many of us take for granted but have not stopped to investigate.
12. On the Incarnation, by Athanasius of Alexandria
A slim but dense volume which defends the deity of Christ with the narrative of redemptive history.
13. The Commentary of Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism, by Zacharias Ursinus
A commentary on the famous Heidelberg Catechism which also functions as a dogmatic theology textbook.
14. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by Roland Bainton
This is still the best biography of Luther in that it is both serious in its scholarship and inspirational in its prose. Not to be missed.
15. Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin
An impressively comprehensive approach to Christian theology which can be read by laymen as well as scholars and clergy. Still essential.
16. Men and Movements in the American Episcopal Church, by E. Clowes Chorley
This survey captures what is an otherwise lost history of the American Episcopal Church as it was. This is no work of romantic idealism but the real-life rise and fall of a denomination which was once the premier Protestant body in the United States.
17. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart, by Harold Senkbeil
A modern classic which recovered an almost-lost perspective on the pastoral ministry as soulcare.
18. Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present, by Jonathan Gibson
A tremendous historical sourcebook which passes down the classic Protestant liturgies.
19. The Story of Christianity, by Justo L. Gonzalez
An engaging and informative survey of Christian history, covering the ancient world of the Hebrews through the emerging Christian church into the medieval and modern eras.
20. Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms, by Richard Muller
A Seminary education in a single volume. A great way to get started with scholastic theology.
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Timothy Muehlhoff
