For Further Study

 

The textbook for this class was Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ. “Concise” is the key word. If you’ve been intrigued by the subject and want to learn more about some aspect, here are some recommended resources. As always, my recommendation of the book doesn’t mean a wholesale endorsement of the contents. In fact, some of the books are included precisely because they give an alternate view, often from the perspective of the Independent Christian Church.

 

Most of these books are available from Amazon. Click on the book name to see the page for it at Amazon. Christian bookstores such as the Gospel Advocate or the OVU bookstore also carry these books.

 

Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas Foster, et al.; Eerdmans, 2005 —This is an 800+ page encyclopedia that covers all three branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement.

 

The Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett, College Press, 1994.  This covers the same material as our textbook but goes into more detail from a Christian Church perspective.

 

Torn Asunder: The Civil War and the 1906 Division of the Disciples by Ben Brewster, College Press, 2006. This book explores the impact of the Civil War and it’s consequences within the American Restoration Movement. It was written by a minister in the Churches of Christ.

 

Redigging the Wells: Seeking Undenominational Christianity by Monroe Hawley, Quality Publications, 1976.

 

The Search for the Ancient Order by Earl Irvin West, Gospel Advocate, 1986. This is four volume set that is very detailed in its coverage. It is written by an historian from the churches of Christ.

 

Show Us How You Do It: Marshall Keeble and the Rise of Black Churches of Christ in the United States, 1914-1968; Edward J. Robinson, University of Alabama Press, 2008. This is a new book that I haven’t read but it does give insight into Keeble’s role in black churches.

Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding.  John Mark Hicks and Bobby Valentine, (Abilene: Leafwood Press, 2006).

 

Reviving the Ancient Faith. Richard T. Hughes, (Abilene: ACU Press, 1996). Hughes’ background is in churches of Christ but one sometimes has the feeling Hughes has an axe to grind. Nonetheless, he explores many issues in more depth than some of the other books do.

Here are some of the resources I mentioned in the Q&A session Sunday night. As always, I think these are great resources but that doesn’t mean I necessarily endorse everything in them.

Leadership books by John Maxwell

Summer Celebration at Lipscomb University– June 30-July 2 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Elderlink– A joint effort between Abilene Christian University and Lipscomb University

Books on church growth and evangelism:

In connection with the sermons on marriage from the book of Ephesians, here are some resources I mentioned in the sermon plus one other you’ll find to be helpful:

In addition to these books, you should also consider taking our Dynamic Marriage classes and/or Financial Peace University.

I’ve mentioned some books in my Restoration history class recently that I wanted to link to for you at Amazon. Remember, the fact that I think the book has value doesn’t mean I agree with everything in it. Here are the books:

Our Restoration history class will be in the winter quarter on Wednesday nights. If you are interested, you’ll need to order the book (below) or sign up in the lobby and the church can order it for you. The book is $15 from Amazon. Click on the picture below to go to the Amazon page for the book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Sunday night’s devotional, I mentioned a couple of books and had several inquiries about them afterward. Here are links to the books at Amazon:

The Lost History of Christianity is a fascinating read and is available in the religion section of most bookstores. If you have an interest in rethinking how we reach our changing culture, Missing in America will give you some ideas to consider. It may be available in local Christian bookstores. Both can be ordered from Amazon or other bookstores.

Mark Drew is making his notes from the class on the church that he’s teaching available here. The book that is serving as a resource for Mark’s study is a good one worthy of your consideration if you’d like to learn more about the concepts Mark is teaching. Here’s the book at Amazon.com:

This fall’s session of our Advanced Studies class will focus on an Introduction to the New Testament.

 

An Introduction to the New Testament focuses on historical questions dealing with the authorship, date, sources, purpose, audience, etc. of the books of the New Testament. Understanding these issues will help ensure that the New Testament books will be accurately understood within their historical settings. These are basic concepts that are necessary for us to understand if we want to accurately understand the New Testament but they are issues we often ignore.

 

 

Topics this class will cover:

 

• A thorough exploration of each book of the New Testament regarding provenance, date, authorship, sources used, addressees, purpose, internal issues of the integrity of the book, etc.
• The synoptic gospels and the issue of “Q”
• The New Testament canon.
• How these issues affects our understanding/interpretation of specific Bible passages.

 

 

Class structure and what’s expected of the participants:

• This class is designed for a seminar, or discussion, format. All participants will be expected to share in the discussion and in sharing the fruit of their studies.
• Class will meet twice a month from September through late April or May (approximately 16 classes). Each class will be 90 minutes to two hours in length.
• Classes will likely meet on Thursday evenings.
• Participants will be required to purchase the textbook (see below) and complete the assigned readings.
• Additionally, each student will be expected to write a research paper on a relevant topic. Topics must be cleared with the teacher. The goal of the paper is not to force you to relive the horrors of your freshman English. Rather, it is to get you involved in a thorough study of a topic that will enhance your understanding of the New Testament. You should document your sources (bibliography, footnotes, etc) but nobody is going to grade your work. Your paper will be shared with the class and the content discussed in class.

 

 

Is this class for me?

 

This is an advanced studies class. It is expected that all participants are mature Christians who regularly study the Bible on their own and have been doing so for some period of time. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to benefit from this class but you should be prepared to spend time preparing for each class. If you’re not willing to do the work outlined above, this class isn’t for you.

 

 

Resources You’ll Need

 

The textbook for the class is An Introduction to the New Testament by D.A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo. Carson and Moo are both conservative New Testament scholars and both have written numerous books and commentaries. This book is available from Amazon.com ($28.75 plus shipping) and other bookstores. A link directly to Amazon’s page is available on this page. You can also have the church order it for you but I need your payment in advance. ($34, including shipping—checks payable to the church).

 

Additionally, you should have Bible study software on your computer. It doesn’t have to be an expensive program but it should have two or three Bible translations, a bible dictionary, concordance features, maps, etc.

 

There is a free Bible program called E-Sword that I would recommend if you don’t already own Bible software. The basic program is free and there are numerous free downloads, including such Bible translations as the English Standard Version, God’s Word, American Standard Version plus other free resources. You can also pay to buy other Bibles and books.

 

If you want more options than E-Sword has, Quickverse, PC Study Bible and Logos all have their promoters (I used PC Study Bible primarily). All are available from www.christianbook.com, the online version of Christian Book Distributor.

 

From time to time, additional resources may be made available through the church library or in the form of photocopies for you to read and use.

The textbook for this class was Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ. “Concise” is the key word. If you’ve been intrigued by the subject and want to learn more about some aspect, here are some recommended resources. As always, my recommendation of the book doesn’t mean a wholesale endorsement of the contents. In fact, some of the books are included because they give an alternate view from the Christian Church perspective.

 

All of these books should be available from Amazon.

 

Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas Foster, et al.; Eerdmans, 2005 —This is an 800+ page encyclopedia that covers all three branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement.

 

The Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett, College Press, 1994.  This covers the same material as our textbook but goes into more detail from a Christian Church perspective.

 

Redigging the Wells: Seeking Undenominational Christianity by Monroe Hawley, Quality Publications, 1976.

 

The Search for the Ancient Order by Earl Irvin West, Gospel Advocate, 1986. This is four volume set that is very detailed in its coverage. It is written by an historian from the churches of Christ.

Show Us How You Do It: Marshall Keeble and the Rise of Black Churches of Christ in the United States, 1914-1968; Edward J. Robinson, University of Alabama Press, 2008. This is a new book that I haven’t read but it does give insight into Keeble’s role in black churches.

Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding.  John Mark Hicks and Bobby Valentine, (Abilene: Leafwood Press, 2006).

 

Reviving the Ancient Faith. Richard T. Hughes, (Abilene: ACU Press, 1996). Hughes’ background is in churches of Christ but one sometimes has the feeling Hughes has an axe to grind. Nonetheless, he explores many issues in more depth than some of the other books do.

 

In our Restoration history class we talked about David Lipscomb’s view that Christians should not be involved in any way in government– should not vote, should note serve in the military, etc.

If you’re interested in learning more about Lipscomb’s position, you can read his book, Civil Government, in its entirety here: Civil Government by David Lipscomb.