I love books. I love reading them, love talking about them, love collecting them, love organizing them into logical groupings to optimize ease of retrieval. If I had the funds, my library would be bigger than my house. I firmly believe that Christians should build up their libraries with books that will aid in bible study. But books of a religious nature are overwhelmingly denominational and usually have strong doctrinal bias, so it can be very difficult to find books that are helpful to a Christian. I am far from an expert on this subject, but I thought I'd share some of my recommendations, and some places to get better recommendations.
Where to get recommendations
Guy N. Woods is one of my favorite authors and was a fellow collector of books. In his book “Questions and Answers Volume One”, Woods has a section where he recommends a number of his favorite books. I have found this list of immeasurable value. Many of his suggestions are rare and long out-of-print, but can be found on ebay or in used bookstores. In his book “How to Effectively Study the New Testament”, Woods gives a similar list of must-read titles, but there are enough differences that I would recommend reading both lists.
Wayne Jackson’s book “Guide to Greater Bible Knowledge” has another helpful list of recommended books. While Woods’ recommendations seemed geared more for the serious student or preacher, Jackson’s is geared more for the average Christian.
Winford Claiborne, a former professor at Freed-Hardeman, wrote “Books, Books and More Books”, a guide for building Christian libraries. The book is free, and only available from International Gospel Hour (I have only just ordered a copy for myself and haven’t received it yet, so I can’t comment on the quality of this list, though I have read favorable reviews of it) (EDIT: my copy was waiting in the mail when I got home and it didn't take long to flip through it. Claiborne advocates the reading of a large swath of literature types, including non-religious and denominational books, so it's a good list for finding side-reading type books, but it wont help much if one is looking for books to aid study or books by the brotherhood).
The textbooks used by Memphis School of Preaching are all excellent, and are listed in their brochure: msop.org/catalog.pdf
For those who like really digging to uncover lost books, I have found many books by reading biographies of early Church of Christ preachers (therestorationmovement.com) who were often also authors.
Books I have found helpful
Bible: Can’t study the bible without one. I mostly use a KJV and ESV. The ESV is great for plain reading as it flows so smoothly, but I find myself constantly aggravated by the loss of poetry (read 2 Timothy 2:15 to see what I mean). The KJV reads with more poetry and force, but the archaic English can slow one down a bit. I don't have an ASV, but I have read from one on different occasions and generally prefer it to the ESV. I also have a Modern Literal Translation on my desk which I highly recommend for accuracy (I hope more Christians find their way to a copy of this). I recently found a nice vintage Thompson Chain Reference bible (KJV) and I liked it so much I bought a second copy when I came across one on ebay. The references alone are worth the cost, but I also love the way Thompson lays out the text (double column, verse-by-verse, with references on the outside columns). I also have an Interlinear ESV, which is awesome.
Bible Dictionary/Encyclopedia: You need one, trust me. People’s Bible Encyclopedia is the best if you can find a copy. Smith’s Dictionary is also good (just don't read his ridiculous definition of behemoth). There are three versions of Smith’s: the original, which was multi-volume (I have been looking for month’s for a copy, but it seems to be pretty rare), a single-volume abridged version that was edited by Francis Nathan Peloubet (who possibly added some doctrinal bias in the process), and a “New Smith’s Dictionary” that was revised by a group of scholars that included two members of the church. The last is the most conservative, but I have yet to find a printing that I like (I’m a bit of a book snob, so I tend to avoid glued bindings, blurry ink, and weak covers).
Greek Lexicon: I don't read greek, so I have trouble using some of the common suggestions like Thayer or Moulton that require one to at least know the greek alphabet in order to navigate the book. My favorite is Vines, which is organized via the English translation.
Concordance: There are three main ones: Cruden’s, Strong’s, and Young’s. Most scholars seem to recommend Strong’s. I have all three, and I prefer Young’s.
Bible Handbook: This gives you a synopsis of each book of the bible: themes, general subjects, historical background, and additional information helpful to the understanding of the material. Almost like a commentary, but with a broader scope. Hailey’s Handbook is the standard, but it has denominational bias. I have two favorites in my library: W. W. Dowling's “Bible Handbook”, and Ashley Johnson’s (who was a member of the church) “Busy Man’s Bible Encyclopedia”. Johnson’s book is especially helpful if you are studying lengths of time based on genealogies. George W. DeHoff was also a member of the church and wrote “Dehoff's Bible Handbook”, but I don't have a copy of it (yet).
Other Recommendations: I think every Christian should read “Muscle and a Shovel”. Then they should read Dave Miller’s “Piloting the Straight”. The Gospel Advocate Commentaries are greatly helpful. Anything by these authors is worth reading: Wayne Jackson, Guy N. Woods, McGarvey, Moses Lard, Sweeny, Wendell Winkler, V.P. Black, Dungan, Thomas Holland, Kurfees, and C. R. Nichol. Wayne Jackson’s “Notes from the Margins of my Bible” is especially brilliant. I just bought a copy of "MacKnight on the Epistles" yesterday, and it already came in handy this morning. The depth of the work and layout of the information was impressive.
Feel free to add books that you have found helpful in the comments!
Where to get recommendations
Guy N. Woods is one of my favorite authors and was a fellow collector of books. In his book “Questions and Answers Volume One”, Woods has a section where he recommends a number of his favorite books. I have found this list of immeasurable value. Many of his suggestions are rare and long out-of-print, but can be found on ebay or in used bookstores. In his book “How to Effectively Study the New Testament”, Woods gives a similar list of must-read titles, but there are enough differences that I would recommend reading both lists.
Wayne Jackson’s book “Guide to Greater Bible Knowledge” has another helpful list of recommended books. While Woods’ recommendations seemed geared more for the serious student or preacher, Jackson’s is geared more for the average Christian.
Winford Claiborne, a former professor at Freed-Hardeman, wrote “Books, Books and More Books”, a guide for building Christian libraries. The book is free, and only available from International Gospel Hour (I have only just ordered a copy for myself and haven’t received it yet, so I can’t comment on the quality of this list, though I have read favorable reviews of it) (EDIT: my copy was waiting in the mail when I got home and it didn't take long to flip through it. Claiborne advocates the reading of a large swath of literature types, including non-religious and denominational books, so it's a good list for finding side-reading type books, but it wont help much if one is looking for books to aid study or books by the brotherhood).
The textbooks used by Memphis School of Preaching are all excellent, and are listed in their brochure: msop.org/catalog.pdf
For those who like really digging to uncover lost books, I have found many books by reading biographies of early Church of Christ preachers (therestorationmovement.com) who were often also authors.
Books I have found helpful
Bible: Can’t study the bible without one. I mostly use a KJV and ESV. The ESV is great for plain reading as it flows so smoothly, but I find myself constantly aggravated by the loss of poetry (read 2 Timothy 2:15 to see what I mean). The KJV reads with more poetry and force, but the archaic English can slow one down a bit. I don't have an ASV, but I have read from one on different occasions and generally prefer it to the ESV. I also have a Modern Literal Translation on my desk which I highly recommend for accuracy (I hope more Christians find their way to a copy of this). I recently found a nice vintage Thompson Chain Reference bible (KJV) and I liked it so much I bought a second copy when I came across one on ebay. The references alone are worth the cost, but I also love the way Thompson lays out the text (double column, verse-by-verse, with references on the outside columns). I also have an Interlinear ESV, which is awesome.
Bible Dictionary/Encyclopedia: You need one, trust me. People’s Bible Encyclopedia is the best if you can find a copy. Smith’s Dictionary is also good (just don't read his ridiculous definition of behemoth). There are three versions of Smith’s: the original, which was multi-volume (I have been looking for month’s for a copy, but it seems to be pretty rare), a single-volume abridged version that was edited by Francis Nathan Peloubet (who possibly added some doctrinal bias in the process), and a “New Smith’s Dictionary” that was revised by a group of scholars that included two members of the church. The last is the most conservative, but I have yet to find a printing that I like (I’m a bit of a book snob, so I tend to avoid glued bindings, blurry ink, and weak covers).
Greek Lexicon: I don't read greek, so I have trouble using some of the common suggestions like Thayer or Moulton that require one to at least know the greek alphabet in order to navigate the book. My favorite is Vines, which is organized via the English translation.
Concordance: There are three main ones: Cruden’s, Strong’s, and Young’s. Most scholars seem to recommend Strong’s. I have all three, and I prefer Young’s.
Bible Handbook: This gives you a synopsis of each book of the bible: themes, general subjects, historical background, and additional information helpful to the understanding of the material. Almost like a commentary, but with a broader scope. Hailey’s Handbook is the standard, but it has denominational bias. I have two favorites in my library: W. W. Dowling's “Bible Handbook”, and Ashley Johnson’s (who was a member of the church) “Busy Man’s Bible Encyclopedia”. Johnson’s book is especially helpful if you are studying lengths of time based on genealogies. George W. DeHoff was also a member of the church and wrote “Dehoff's Bible Handbook”, but I don't have a copy of it (yet).
Other Recommendations: I think every Christian should read “Muscle and a Shovel”. Then they should read Dave Miller’s “Piloting the Straight”. The Gospel Advocate Commentaries are greatly helpful. Anything by these authors is worth reading: Wayne Jackson, Guy N. Woods, McGarvey, Moses Lard, Sweeny, Wendell Winkler, V.P. Black, Dungan, Thomas Holland, Kurfees, and C. R. Nichol. Wayne Jackson’s “Notes from the Margins of my Bible” is especially brilliant. I just bought a copy of "MacKnight on the Epistles" yesterday, and it already came in handy this morning. The depth of the work and layout of the information was impressive.
Feel free to add books that you have found helpful in the comments!