LibGuides: THE2012/3 The Bible and the Church: Books

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Church (Ecclesiology)

11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern / by Elmer L. Towns, Ed Stetzer, Warren Bird There are many ways to present the Gospel, and this timely book will serve as a springboard for church leaders scratching their heads and asking themselves, "What should we do next?"
Canon of Scripture / by H. T. Spence. "This book is filled with background materials covering each of the books of the Bible along with charts and diagrams that will assist the reader in his studies of the Scriptures." Information from the publisher.
Church Administration and Finance Manual: Resources for Leading the Local Church / by Otto F. Crumroy Jr, Frank M. Witman, and Stan Kukawka. A detailed manual covering many of the areas within both the administration of the church but also its financial management.
Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry / by Robert H. Welch Basic things church pastors and leaders need to know to actually oversee a church.
Church Administration Handbook / edited by Bruce P. Powers. 21 chapters written by those who have had experience being administrators in a church or church body.
Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission / by Donald G. Bloesch This is an evangelical theology of the church.
Church: The Gospel Made Visible / by Mark Dever "The doctrine of the church is of the utmost importance. It is the most visible part of Christian theology."
Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit / by Craig Van Gelder. "This fresh perspective on the church explores its essential nature as a community of people governed by the Word and led and taught by the Spirit." Website information.
Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography / edited by Christian B. Scharen. "In this book Christian Scharen and several other contributors explore empirical and theological understandings of the church." Website information.
Household of God: Lectures on the Nature of Church / by Lesslie Newbigin. "This book discusses the question that the author regards as central in the present ecumenical debate: the nature of the Church itself." Website information.
Ministry of Helps: A Manual for Local Church Organization / by Rev. Lawrence C. Spencer. "This manual gives a road map for accomplishing the goal of choosing and training people and tips for managing them." Website information.
Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond / by David F. Hesselgrave and David J. Hesselgrave. "Discusses how to plant new churches in North America and around the world by examining important sociological, anthropological, and historical perspectives."
Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply / by Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im. This is an expanded edition which includes additional insights on ways to plant missional churches.
Sign of the Advent: A Study in Protestant Ecclesiology / by Gottfried Wilhelm Locher Study of the church beginning with the Reformation and its form according to Luther and Calvin.

Bible: How it came into being and why it is important

Authority of the Bible / by John Stott John R. W. Stott explains why the Old and New Testaments still form the authoritative basis for Christian faith and practice.
Bible as Word of God: In a Postmodern Age / by Terence Fretheim and Karlfried Froehlich. Two authors offer ways the Bible is the Word of God, even in the post-Modern Age.
Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority / by Lee Martin McDonald "...conclusions about canon formation have been strengthened..."
Divine Inspiration of the Bible / by Arthur Walkington Pink. A noted theologian writes about the divine inspiration of the text of the Bible.
Evangelical theories of biblical inspiration: a review and proposal / by Kern Robert Trembath The inspiration of the Bible is central to Christian faith, yet there is no general agreement on the nature of this inspiration. In this provocative book, Kern Robert Trembath reviews seven major evangelical explanations of inspiration and demonstrates that all either view the Bible itself as the actual recipient of inspiration or explain biblical authority on grounds more appropriate to the doctrine of God--in effect investing the Bible with characteristics that properly belong only to God.
Exploring the Origins of the Bible (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology ... / edited by Craig A. Evans and Emanuel Tov Eight authors present papers on the origins of the Bible - and why they are important.
Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church's Canon / by Lee Martin McDonald "...this is to help readers fill in some of the important background information on the formation of the Bible..."
Foundation: The Reliability of the Bible / by James L. Nicodem. Is the Bible reliable? That is the question answered in this book.
God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture / by Josh McDowell The Bible contains lots of words which have a lot of meaning. This book is help readers understand why these words are important AND reliable.
Holy Scripture: revelation, inspiration & interpretation / by Donald G. Bloesch Sets out the pivotal evangelical doctrines of the Bible's revelation, inspiration and interpretation.
How Reliable Is the Bible? / by Judson Poling. A book in the Tough Questions series.
Introduction To Bibliology: What Every Christian Should Know About the Origins and Composition, Inspiration, Interpretation, Canonicity and Transmission of the Bible / by Jefrey D. Breshears. The story and background of how the Bible to be.
Knowing the Truth about the Reliability of the Bible / by John Ankerberg and John Weldon Book on the reliability / inerrancy of the Bible.
New Testament History: A Narrative Account / by Ben Witherington III. Overview and history of the place where the New Testament of the Bible was written.
Reader in Ecclesiology / by Bryan P. Stone. This is a collection of 36 articles covering the early church to the present times presenting how the church was viewed or theologically presented.
The Origin of the Bible by Frederick Fyvie Bruce, Philip Wesley Comfort, J. I. Packer Provides a fascinating overview of how the Bible was first inspired, canonized, read as sacred literature, copied in ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, and eventually translated into the languages of the world.
Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible's Origin, Reliability, and Meaning / edited by Wayne Grudem, C. John Collins, and Thomas R. Schreiner An overview of the Bible's origin, reliability and meaning.

Additional Sources from the Course Bibliography

Christianity and the religions : a Biblical theology of world religions / edited by Edward Rommen and Harold A. Netland. Part 1 of 3 is available on Google Books preview.
Historical Reliability of the Gospels / by Craig L. Blomberg. The book was digested from the six volumes that were published by the Gospels Project. It was written for the people who need to be assured of the reliability of the four Gospels.
Holy Writings, Sacred Text: The Canon in Early Christianity / by John Barton.
Inerrancy / edited by Norman L. Geisler
Scriptural Authority and Narrative Interpretation / edited by Garrett Green. "The essays in this volume derive from or are in response to the theological agenda of Hans W. Frei, and are being presented in honor of him in recognition of his sixty-fifth birthday."
What on Earth is the Church?: An Exploration in New Testament Theology / by Kevin Giles. This "... is an exploration in New Testament theology, a careful study of the ecclesial community from Jesus to Paul and on through to Revelation."
Why Scripture Matters: Reading the Bible in a Time of Church Conflict / by John P. Burgess. "A combination of authentic piety and remarkable scholarship characterize this book, which is full of concrete suggestions for persons and and congregations." Website information.

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LCSH	Keyword
REVELATION--Biblical teaching	Church--universal
BIBLE--Authority	Church--local
BIBLE--Inspiration	global south
ISLAM--Relations--Christianity	theological translatability
Qur'ān--Relation to the Bible	Sutras
ISLAM--Sacred books	Vedras
BUDDHISM--Relations--Christianity
BUDDHISM--Sacred books
HINDUISM--Sacred books
CHRISTIANITY & other religions
PRIESTHOOD, Universal
GIFTS, Spiritual
PENTECOSTALISM [AND] MISSIONS--Theory
RAPTURE (Christian eschatology)
GUILT & culture
HONOR
SHAME
SALVATION--Buddhism
SALVATION--Christianity
SALVATION--Comparative studies
PURE LAND (Buddhist school)
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