Anchored in Christ

Books have the ability to shape our thinking and our lives. For every book you read, there are 10,000 other books you can’t read, so it is important to choose the right books to read during your short life in order to reach the end goal that you want.

Influential evangelical theologian J.I. Packer, the author of Knowing God and Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God recently sat down and discussed some of the books that were the most influential in his life.

Without a doubt, these books shaped him and his theology in a profound way and should catch our attention as worthwhile books to read. Personally, I now have all of them on my “Books to Read” list and have started to be blessed by The Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owen.

Here are the books he mentioned:

1. Calvin Institutes Vol 1 and 2 Set: Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (Library of Christian Classics) by John Calvin
2. Holiness by J.C. Ryle
3. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
4. Many from Richard Baxter notably The Reformed Pastor
5. Many from John Owen, notably Indwelling Sin In Believers (Puritan Paperbacks) and The Mortification of Sin (Puritan Paperbacks). Also from Owen: Treatise on the Justification by Faith, Treatise on the Holy Spirit, The Death of Death and The Death of Christ.

You can see the interview with Dr. Packer below:

What have been the most influential books in your life?