Below are resources and books that I recommend for your reading, study, and edification. The resources are varied. Also, this site is a work in progress as I find time to enter books and other resources here. Hopefully this page can end up being a good reference tool for you.
The above painting is by Rembrandt – “Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul” – Public Domain
Click here for my write-up on some of the Biblical software on the market with a focus on Logos and Accordance (Bibleworks and Quickverse are mentioned). If you aren’t using this kind of software for your Biblical studies, you are missing out. The wealth of information at your fingertips is absolutely amazing. Our brothers and sisters of old relied on paper like in the portrait – now we have digital! Check out the review on some of what is on the market.
BibleGateway.com has online audio Bibles that you can stream on your computer for free. Click here to listen. You have the option of picking from nine different languages and six versions in English read by different authors.
Max McLean – You can purchase Audio Bibles on CD and also in mp3 format which you can download or purchase on disk. The Audio Bible on mp3s can be purchased and downloaded here, which is at the Listener Bible’s website featuring Max McLean’s recordings (including Christian classic works among other things). I’ve listened to and enjoyed Max McLean’s NIV reading (on CD) and ESV reading (mp3). He is a Christian who is passionate about the Scriptures and not just a performer with a good voice hired for the task. So, as one who has really enjoyed his work I can speak for him. If you have an iPod or iPhone you can load the mp3s onto it (or other such devices) and listen to the Bible while exercising, driving to and from work, etc. While I was in St. Louis I listened to the entire Bible in only three months while sitting in traffic!
C. H. Spurgeon stated in the December 1873 edition of the Sword and Trowel:
“If a man can purchase but very few books, my first advice to him would be, let him purchase the very best. If he cannot spend much, let him spend well.”
Good advice. There are so many hundreds of thousands of books out there to help in our studies of the Scriptures that the question invariably comes up, “What books are worth purchasing that are quality and will help me better study and understand the Bible?”
Here is a resource that can help you in a great way toward that end. If you are serious about not wasting money on texts that are inferior and wisely putting together your theological library for solid study you need this resource:
I have been using this resource since my early seminary days back when it was a printout bound together in a folder. Now it is a softbound book (480 pages).
Covenant Seminary Bookstore’s summary of what Evan’s book provides:
Dr. Evans’s guide is a comprehensive survey and bibliography of resources that is one of the most thorough and detailed aids available to help pastors and theological students sort through the many volumes of commentaries and reference works that are available to them. Evans surveys the vast majority of commentary series, individual commentaries by book, and other resources directly related to exegetical research and biblical interpretation. In addition, Evans includes recommendations for: a “Bare-Bones” library of essentials; an ideal pastor’s reference library; and a suggested “ultimate reference library”. Regularly updated, A Guide to Biblical Commentaries & Reference Works is one of the very few works of its kind to be conversant with recent releases. It is also the largest of its kind, and one of the few single-volume surveys that covers the entire Bible.
Francis Schaeffer
Here is a great collection of Francis Schaeffer resources at the L’Abri Ideas Library:
The Francis and Edith Schaeffer Collection
From the site:
“Dr. Schaeffer was a Christian theologian and philosopher who, together with his wife Edith, founded the first L’Abri community in Switzerland in 1955. From the 1960’s, until his death in 1984, Dr Schaeffer’s lectures and discussions were recorded as a resource for future students.”