It's that time of year again. The time when websites begin filling up with top ten lists. Top ten favorite books. Top ten favorite movies. Top ten favorite podcasts. Top ten favorite chicken sandwiches. (P.S. Chick-Fil-A is at the top of that list). I haven't written one of these in a few years, but this year is different. I actually remembered to do it before Christmas has come and gone. In the past, my top ten list has been devoted to the ten best books I read in a given year - regardless of the date of publication. This year's list is the top ten books I've read (or am currently reading) that were actually published in 2024. They are listed in no particular order, however. So, without further ado:
Michael Morales – Numbers 1-19
My friend and former colleague Michael Morales worked on this commentary for at least a decade. It was well worth the wait. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, even though it embarrasses him. Morales is our generation's Vos. He's a brilliant biblical theologian. Anyone who has read his book on the theology of Leviticus is well aware of this fact. The Introduction to this commentary alone is worth the price, but it is in the details of the text where this volume shines. I have no doubt that the second volume (cuurently scheduled for publication in January) will be equally as good. This is and will remain the go-to commentary on Numbers for the foreseeable future.
Harrison Perkins – Reformed Covenant Theology
There have been a number of good books on covenant theology published over the last decade. Most of these take a biblical-theological approach, tracing the developments of the covenants chronologically through Scripture. The best of these, in my opinion, is Stephen Myers's God to Us: Covenant Theology in Scripture. Harrison Perkins's book takes a different approach. He discusses the major elements of covenant theology from the perspective of systematic theology. This makes it somewhat easier, for example, to see the similarities and differences between Reformed covenant theology and Roman Catholic theology. For those wanting to understand Reformed covenant theology, I recommend reading both Myers and Perkins.
Harrison Perkins – Righteous By Design
I read what was to become this book at a point in its development when it was an Appendix to Perkins's book Reformed Covenant Theology (mentioned above). This book began as a short footnote to that volume, then developed into a much longer footnote before becoming a much longer Appendix. When the publisher of Reformed Covenant Theology declined to publish the Appendix, Perkins approached the editors of the R.E.D.S. series with the idea of expanding the Appendix into a book. Now, weighing in at around 400 pages, is the book Righteous By Deisign: Covenantal Merit and Adam's Original Integrity. I spent years looking for a thorough scholarly Reformed discussion of these topics. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only book in that category at the present time. If you want to understand the late medieval theological context of the Reformation better; if you want to understand how Reformed covenantal theology relates to late medieval soteriology; this is a must read. Perkins digs through the primary sources of late medieval and Reformation era soteriology, explaining the nuanced similarities and differences between the medieval theologians and between the medieval and Reformed theologians. It is a dense text and may require multiple readings depending on the reader's prior knowledge, but it is well worth the effort.
Joel Beeke – Reformed Systematic Theology
With the publication of volume 4 in 2024, Joel Beeke's massive systematic theology is now complete. As far as I'm concerned, this is now the best contemporary Reformed systematic theology. With each of the four volumes reaching somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300 to 1400 pages, Beeke has plenty of space to explore the exegetical foundations of Reformed doctrine. He also has the space to explore topics that sometimes receive little attention in shorter works. What I especially appreciate, however, about this work is that it puts back together things that should never have been torn asunder. The authors of the classic 16th and 17th century works of Reformed systematic theology understood that theology was not merely intellectual information. They understood that knowledge of God has to involve the head, the heart, and the hands. As William Ames said, "Theology is the doctrine, or teaching, of living to God." Theology that is not tied to prayer, godliness, and worship is not truly theology. Somewhere along the way, we lost that understanding. Beeke's systematic theology makes huge strides in bring this aspect of theology back into focus.
Crawford Gribben – J.N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism
As I wrote in a previous blog earlier this year, in March 2024, Oxford University Press released J.N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism by Crawford Gribben. Gribben's book is now the place to begin a study of Darby. Gribben braves Darby's thousands of pages of prose-challenged primary sources, and in doing so he corrects numerous misconceptions that have been held by both dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists alike. By revealing the wrong paths previous historical theologians have taken, Gribben sets the stage for more productive and accurate historical and theological study. My own takeaway is that historians should perhaps begin looking for the theological tributaries that converged in the nineteenth century and resulted in the earliest form of dispensationalist theology. Some of these tributaries (e.g. premillenniaism) have a long history in the church. Other tributaries were of more recent origins. Darby, of course, added his own contributions.
J. V. Fesko – The Giver of Life
J.V. Fesko is quickly becoming one of the most prolific Reformed theologians of this generation. In just the last several years, he has produced outstanding works on covenant theology, baptism, justification, apologetics, and more. He is currently working on volumes dealing with theological prolegomena, apologetics, and more. There is a lot of "and more" and I, for one, cannot wait. The Giver of Life is on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and is part of the "We Believe" series. Fesko approaches the topic with a method those who have read his other books will recognize. He begins with several chapters exploring the exegetical foundations of pneumatology. Then, in Part Two, he looks at the historical developmement of the relevant doctrines. Finally, in Part Three, he looks at the doctrine from a systematic and practical perspective. A number of good books on the the doctrine of the Holy Spirit have been written in the last few decades. This one is among the best.
Matthew Barrett, ed. – On Classical Trinitarianism
Like J.V. Fesko, Matthew Barrett has proven to be quite the prolific author over the last several years, authoring or editing at least a dozen books and contributing to many more. I am currently working through his most recently edited volume On Classical Trinitarianism, a massive 800 page tome with 40 contributing authors. This may turn out to be one of the most important publications Barrett has produced thus far. The reason for its importance lies in the sad state of modern evangelicalism. Once known for its strong defense of the orthodox fundamentals of the faith, modern evangelicalism is now in the vanguard in terms of introducing false doctrine into the church. And these are not just any false doctrines. They are false doctrines striking at the heart of Christianity, the doctrine of the Triune God. Heretical doctrines such as the eternal subordination of the Son are now taught in evangelical colleges and seminaries, taught in evangelical conferences, and taught in best-selling evangelical theology books. Such teachings were once rightly condemned as arch-heresies. The various chapters in On Classical Trinitarianism defend the ancient orthodox and biblical doctrine of the Trinity against the claims of heretics old and new. These are scholarly-level articles, so it is not light reading. It is, however, extremely important reading. Campegius Vitringa – The Fundamentals of Sacred Theology
It's always a great day when another work from the classic era of Reformed theology is translated and published. It's even better when the translation is done by a colleague and friend. In this case, my colleague Dr. Levi Bernstson translated a seventeenth century work by Campegius Vitringa, the subject of his doctoral dissertation. After providing an introduction to Vitringa the man and his life, the remainder of the book is devoted to Vitringa's Fundamentals of Sacred Theology, a series of one thousand short statements that outline the entirety of systematic theology. Imagine if someone summarized the substance of Reformed doctrine in 1000 tweets. Vitringa already did it.
Carl Trueman – To Change All Worlds
Several years ago, Carl Trueman wrote one of the most important books of our generation, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. If you want to understand why the Western world is the way it is today, this is one of the books you have to read (An abridged version was released under the title Strange New World). In his new book, Trueman, who seems to me to be something of a modern day Lewis, continues to help believers better understand the world in which we live by tracing the intellectual history of "critical theory." If you want to know why the biblical doctrine of humanity is now one of the most critical doctrines under attack in the modern world, you need to take the time to read this book.
Nathaniel Gray Sutanto and Cory Brock, eds. – T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism
Have you ever heard of Abraham Kuyper? Herman Bavinck? I hope so. They are among the most influential figures in the Reformed world in the last 200 years. Nathaniel Gray Sutanto and Cory Brock have been at the forefront of a movement to reintroduce the the major ideas of Neo-Calvinism to the contemporary church. They do not, however, simply want to dig up old books and dust them off. They are exploring whether or not more fruit can be gleaned in areas such as epistemology and anthropology, for example. Last year, Sutanto and Brock released a co-authored book titled Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction. This is an excellent book, and for those interested in the topic, this is the book I would recommend as a good starting place in addition to the primary sources themselves. For those who want to dig a little deeper, I would recommend a book released this year that was co-edited by Sutanto and Brock. The T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism contains 40 chapters by experts in the field on everything from common grace to political theology. A very helpful book.