Building a Suitable Preacher's Library/Book List Expanded (originally published on November 9 and14)
The Bible should be the basis for all studies, but every preacher is also on the look-out for books to build his library so he can more capably preach God’s Word and all the lessons taught therein.
But, how to get all those books? Time is tight with so many duties pressing (visitation, preparation of sermons, writing, funerals, weddings, counseling, family time…etc. ad nauseum). Money is also tight, and the price of books is not getting any cheaper any time soon. Resources such as Christian Book Distributors, Amazon.com and eBay may help, but books–especially good commentaries and reference materials–still cost a lot of money.
Please read the article whose link is found here. [Note: you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this article. It may be downloaded for free by clicking here.] This is an essay written to help “pastors” answer the question of building a library. While it does have much denominational bias, the material is still very good. The most interesting part, to me at least, is the list of “The First 750 Books for an Expositor’s Library,” which begins on page 8 of the essay and runs through the remaining 15 pages. This essay can be read in about 20 minutes. Please notice that on page 10 a brother in Christ made the list. Jack P. Lewis’s The English Bible from KJV to NIV is recommended.
Please comment on this essay and also recommend some “essential” books and some ways you have found to save money buying them. Any help you can offer would be appreciated by any serious Bible student, especially in the area of buying reference books and commentaries.
Book List Expanded
On November 9th, we published an article on there entitled “Building a Suitable Preacher’s Library.” In that article, there was a link to a list of 750 books that were recommended. Since then, I have done some research and found that, in 2002, that list was expanded to 850. You may read that list by clicking the link found here.
Please note that I am not endorsing the list per se, but it is an interesting one to use for some ideas as to how to begin building a library that will be useful for years to come. Anyone can have a library, but will the books serve well in a few years? Please post your comments concering the list or ways to save money buying books. Also, please post some books not listed which you feel are essential for a preacher to have.
Comment originally published by Kurt Hankins on November 11:
I agree that building a library is essential to any and everyone who wishes to be a minister. I am also in agree with Adam about the high cost of these books. Let me start by saying that I love books – I like to hold a book in my hands and read it, I like the smell of old books (I have a few that came from my grandfather), I like the feeling of accomplishment when you finish reading a book. That being said, I seem to have not the money to purchase books as of late.
I have found that CD-ROMs provide a great alternative to the actual book in print. For example, I have a program called Power Bible CD ($20) that has Matthew Henry’s and Adam Clarke’s commentaries for the whole Bible, as well as some interesting writings from Paul Spurgeon and others. It also has several other translations and lexicons- all for $20.
I just recently purchased the Gospel Advocate commentaries on CD ($99) which includes the whole set (in print it runs about $200 to $300 I think). Also on this CD are some other dictionary’s, lexicon’s and McGarvey’s Four Fold Gospel and McGarvey’s commentary on Acts. Again all this for just $99 – I can’t imagine what it would all cost in print.
Lastly, I have just been made aware of the Pulpit Commentary series (which runs about $300 to $400 I think). They have just been made available on CD for about $80 – I hope to get this for Christmas from Santa.
Is it more enjoyable to actually have the book in hand – of course! But, using this electronic media I am able to have more resources at my fingertips than I could afford in print. Maybe, one day, I’ll be able to purchase some more books in print to add to my library- until then my shelves look bare and my hard drive is full.
Comment originally published by Adam Faughn on November 11:
The CD-Rom idea is a good one. I am not a fan of them, though, because I cannot “mark up” a CD. I don’t underline or highlight much, but, when I do, it’s a big deal to me.
Kurt, I saw a deal on a CD-Rom the other day that you might be interested in. John MacArthur is a great writer, although he has a ton of denominational bias in his book. Sam’s had a CD of almost all the books he has ever had in print for $18.99. It totaled something like $1200 worth of books.
