Won't You Read Along With Me? Theology Proper Edition
Book recommendations on the Doctrine of God
I love studying the Doctrine of God. And it’s a big topic: you have God’s nature and attributes as well as the doctrine of the Trinity in here. Furthermore, Systematic Theology gives separate categories to Christology (Study of the Son) and Pneumatology (Study of the Spirit), but no Paterology (If that’s even a word… Study of the Father) - so that’s included in Theology Proper too!
So, that being said, I’m including more than 2 recommendations. However, I’m technically following my own rules, because I’m putting them in a separate section :).
Part 1: My Top 2 Recommendations
My first recommendation is AW Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy. I’m not going to put a blanket endorsement over all his theology, but Tozer is excellent on the Doctrine of God. The Knowledge of the Holy walks through God’s attributes (defined loosely) in a very pithy and devotional manner. I read the 23 chapters with my daily devotions (a chapter a day) - I highly recommend you do the same.
The second recommendation is Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves. This was the book that first showed me the beauty and wonder of the Trinity. Reeves shows that the Trinity isn’t a math problem to be solved, but is a reality to be enjoyed and the actual foundation of everything that God is.
Part 2: Honorable Mentions
Since I couldn’t just recommend 2 books, here are 6 more to read after you finish those.
Crossway’s Short Studies in Systematic Theology series on The Attributes of God (Bray) and The Trinity (Swain). This series continues to impress me. The Attributes of God is helpful - especially alongside someone like Tozer or Pink’s books on the attributes because it explains how they work together. Bray explains the individual attributes within the larger schema of God’s attributes as a whole.
Matthew Barrett seems to be the ringleader in retrieving Classical Theism. His books None Greater and Simply Trinity both give you the riches of early Christian thinkers at a very accessible level. Not only do they distill 2,000 years of meditation very well, but if you’re a footnote-chaser, they will give you a lot to chase.
For my recommended book on the Trinity, I was debating between Delighting in the Trinity and Fred Sanders’ The Deep Things of God. It’s that good. The only reason it didn’t win is because I often find Sanders difficult to read - but he’s always worth the struggle. The basic premise of this book is that Christians already believe in the Trinity, delight in the Trinity, and engage with the Trinity, they just don’t often realize it. And so, the chapters turn out to be extremely relevant. Highly recommended.
Trusting God by Jerry Bridges is one of the most formative books I’ve ever read (and reread). He claims that if God is truly all-powerful, loving, and wise, then we have every reason to trust Him. So if you struggle to trust God (like everyone else), this one will surely be an encouragement.
Part 3: Full Bibliography
These are all the works I’ll cite in this series. As a bibliography, I don’t necessarily recommend all of them, but I found them at least somewhat helpful.
Anselm. “Proslogion.” In The Major Works, edited by Brian Davies and G. R. Evans. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Augustine, Saint, and Edmund Hill OP. The Trinity. Edited by John E. Rotelle OSA. Second edition. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2012.
Barrett, Matthew. None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019.
Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics Volume 2: God and Creation. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Vol. 2. 4 vols. Reformed Dogmatics. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2003.
Boersma, Hans. Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018.
Bray, Gerald Lewis. God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2012.
———. The Attributes of God: An Introduction. Short Studies in Systematic Theology. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2021.
Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God. Fifth printing. Colorado Springs, Col.: NavPress, 1990.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Beveridge, Henry. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.
Chester, Tim. Enjoying God: Experience the Power and Love of God in Everyday Life. Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company, 2018.
English, J.T., and Jen Wilkin. You Are a Theologian. Brentwood, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2023.
Ford, Coleman M. Formed in His Image: A Guide for Christian Formation. Brentwood, Tennessee: B&H Publishing, 2023.
Letham, Robert. Systematic Theology. Wheaton: Crossway, 2019.
Pennington, Jonathan T. Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2023.
Piper, John. God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2005.
———. Providence. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020.
Poythress, Vern S. The Mystery of the Trinity: A Trinitarian Approach to the Attributes of God. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing Company, 2020.
Sanders, Fred. The Triune God. New Studies in Dogmatics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016.
Swain, Scott R. The Trinity: An Introduction. Short Studies in Systematic Theology. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020.
Thomas. Summa Theologica. 1: 1a Qq. 1 - 119. Westminster, Md: Christian Classics, 1981.
Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy. Shippensburg, PA: Sea Harp Press, 2022.
Turrettini, François, George Musgrave Giger, and James T. Dennison. Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Phillipsburg, N.J: P&R Publishing, 1992