DOCTRINE OF GOD
Selected Bibliography -- Spring 2013
[One * = generally useful; two ** = recommended for purchase. Names in bold print indicate sources relevant for the open theism debate.]
I. GENERAL WORKS
Bavinck, Herman. The Doctrine of God, tr. William Hendriksen. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951; reprint, Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth. Scholarly Calvinistic classic. [In this kind of study one’s Calvinism will affect several crucial aspects of the doctrine as a whole. Otherwise it may be quite sound.]
Bloesch, Donald G. God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love. “Christian Foundations,” vol. 3. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995. Bloesch is about halfway between Evangelicalism and Neoorthodoxy.
*Bray, Gerald. The Doctrine of God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993. “Contours of Christian Theology” series.
Bright, Bill. God: Discover His Character. New Life, 2000.
*Brunner, Emil. Dogmatics, Vol. I: The Christian Doctrine of God, tr. Olive Wyon. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1950. Readable Neoorthodoxy with many good insights. Volume I of his threevolume systematics.
Callen, Barry L. God as Loving Grace: The Biblically Revealed Nature and Work of God. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Publishing House, 1996.
Carman, John B. Majesty and Meekness: A Comparative Study of Contrast and Harmony in the Concept of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. Compares the Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem views of God.
Clark, William N. The Christian Doctrine of God. New York: Scribner’s, 1909. An example of classic Liberalism.
Claassens, L. Juliana M. Mourner, Mother, Midwife: Reimagining God’s Delivering Presence in the Old Testament. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012. Feminist.
Cooper, John W. Panentheism—The Other God of the Philosophers: From Plato to the Present. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. Origin, history, influence, & critique of this philosophical view.
*Copan, Paul. Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011.
**Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says About God The Creator/Ruler/ Redeemer (three volumes). Joplin, MO: College Press, 19831987; now published by Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR.
Craig, William Lane & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. God: A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004.
Curry, Allen. The God We Love and Serve. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1991. A brief survey of God’s character and works. Reformed.
*Davis, Stephen T. Logic and the Nature of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983. Philosophical defense of the Biblical concept of God. Philosophical theology.
**Erickson, Millard J. God the Father Almighty: A Contemporary Exploration of the Divine Attributes. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.
Feinberg, John S. No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2001.
Flamming, Peter James. God and Creation. Nashville: Broadman, 1985. Brief study of not only creation but also the will of God, miracles, predestination, etc.
*Frame, John M. The Doctrine of God. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2002. Reformed.
Geisler, Norman L. Systematic Theology, Volume 2: God, Creation. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2003.
Grenz, Stanley J. The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of the Imago Dei. Louisville: WestminsterJohn Knox, 2001. Vol. 1 of projected 6vol. systematic theology.
Hanson, R. P. C. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006 (pb. ed.; first published 1988). 952 pp.
*Highfield, Ron. Great Is the Lord: Theology for the Praise of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. A Restoration Movement author.
Huffman, Douglas S., and Eric L. Johnson, eds. God Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001. A critique of openness theology.
*Henry, Carl F. H. God, Revelation, and Authority, 6 vols. Waco: Word, 19761983. The magnum opus of the dean of evangelical scholarship. Combines studies of theological method, the doctrine of Scripture, and the doctrine of God. Insightful, wordy, and Calvinistic where relevant. Henry is always worth consulting.
Humphreys, Fisher. The Nature of God. Nashville: Broadman, 1985. A brief survey by a Southern Baptist.
Ingram, Chip. God: As He Longs For You to See Him. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.
Jewett, Paul K. God, Creation, and Revelation: A NeoEvangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991. Scholarly, substantial.
*Kaiser, Christopher B. The Doctrine of God. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982. Brief survey of the Biblical doctrine and its historical development.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. The Doctrine of God: A Global Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.
Kennard, Douglas. The Classical Christian God. Lewiston, NY: Mellen Press, 2002. Defense of classical theism.
Lamb, David T. God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist, and Racist? Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2011.
*Lewis, Gordon T., and Bruce A. Demarest. Integrative Theology, Vol. I: Knowing Ultimate Reality; The Living God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. The first volume of a conservative systematic theology.
*Lightner, Robert P. The God of the Bible: An Introduction to the Doctrine of God. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978 (reprint of The First Fundamental: God (Nelson, 1973). A small but wellwritten volume.
Lightner, Robert P. The God of the Bible and Other Gods: Is the Christian God Unique Among World Religions? Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998.
McCormack, Bruce L., ed. Engaging the Doctrine of God: Contemporary Protestant Perspectives. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008. Miscellaneous essays, e.g., on God’s hiddenness, sovereignty, aseity, wrath, compassion.
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*Morey, Robert A. Battle of the Gods: The Gathering Storm in Modern Evangelicalism. Southbridge, MA: Crown Publications, 1989. A defense of the traditional Biblical doctrine of God, contrasted with what are perceived to be some current mediating views.
Morris, Thomas V. Our Idea of God: An Introduction to Philosophical Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1991. An evangelical, introductorylevel philosophical discussion of the nature of God.
Morris, Thomas V., ed. The Concept of God. New York: Oxford, 1987. Some contemporary philosophical discussions of the traditional Biblical concept of God.
**Nash, Ronald. The Concept of God: An Exploration of Contemporary Difficulties with the Attributes of God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983. A brief, welldone philosophical defense of the Biblical view of God, in response to attacks by unbelieving philosophers.
Oden, Thomas C. The Living God: Systematic Theology, Vol. I. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987.
Owen, Huw Parri. Christian Theism: A Study in Its Basic Principles. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1984. Philosophical essays on miscellaneous aspects of theism.
Owen, Huw Parri. Concepts of Deity. New York: Herder & Herder, 1971. A useful survey of the main philosophical concepts.
**Packer, J. I. Knowing God, new ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1993 (1973). A very readable Biblical study of God. Calvinistic where relevant. Minimal changes in the new edition.
*Phillips, J. B. Your God Is Too Small. New York: Macmillan, 1964. A popular-level “makes you think” study of popular parodies of God.
*Pratney, Winkie. The Nature and Character of God. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1988. A rather substantial, nonCalvinistic study.
Scharlemann, Robert P., ed. Naming God. New York: Paragon House, 1986. Comparative study of different religions’ views of God.
Spencer, Aida B.; and William D. Spencer, eds. The Global God: Multicultural Evangelical Views of God. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998. A Bridgepoint Book.
*Swinburne, Richard. The Christian God. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1994. Philosophical theology; defends the Christian view.
Swinburne, Richard. The Existence of God. Second edition. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004.
Vardy, Peter. The Puzzle of God. San Francisco: Harper, 1992. A light and liberal examination of different ideas of God.
Wallace, Stan W., ed. Does God Exist? The Craig-Flew Debate. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2003. By William Craig, a leading evangelical philosopher, and Antony Flew, who recently accepted the validity of intelligent design.
Ward, Keith. The Concept of God. Oxford: Blackwell, 1974.
**Ware, Bruce, ed. Perspectives on the Doctrine of God: Four Views. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2008. Paul Helm presents the classical Calvinist view; Ware, modified Calvinist; Roger Olson, classical Arminian; John Sanders, Open Theist.
Wright, Christopher J. H. The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.
II. GENERAL REVELATION AND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Baillie, John. Our Knowledge of God. New York: Scribner’s, 1939. A classic Barthian (Neoorthodox) work.
Baillie, John. The Sense of the Presence of God. New York: Scribner’s, 1962.
Berkouwer, G. C. General Revelation. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955. A scholarly, conservative work in the Calvinistic tradition.
Charnock, Stephen. Knowledge of God. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985. Reprint of a lesserknown work by this wordy Puritan theologian.
*Demarest, Bruce A. General Revelation: Historical Views and Contemporary Issues. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982. Scholarly and thorough.
Frame, John M. The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1987. A major work on the subject by a Van Tillian Calvinist.
Jewett, Paul K. God, Creation and Revelation. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishing, 2001..
Templeton, John M.; and Robert L. Herrmann. The God Who Would Be Known: Revelations of the Divine in Contemporary Science. San Francisco: Harper, 1989. Not necessarily the Biblical God.
III. STUDIES OF GOD’S NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES
Benton, John. How Can a God of Love Send People to Hell? Welwyn: Evangelical Press, 1985. Distributed by Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed.
*Charnock, Stephen. The Existence and Attributes of God, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979. One of many reprints of this wordy but useful work by this seventeenthcentury Puritan Calvinist.
Carson, D. A. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000.
*Cooke, Ronald. Modern Man and the Wrath of God. Columbus, GA: Brentwood Christian Press, 1989. Brief but worthwhile.
Coppedge, Allan. Portraits of God: A Biblical Theology of Holiness. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
*Craig, William Lane. The Only Wise God. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishing, 2000.
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Creel, Richard E. Divine Impassibility: An Essay in Philosophical Theology. New York: CambridgeUniv. Press, 1986.
Dorner, Isaak A. Divine Immutability. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.
Edwards, Jonathan. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Made Easier to Read, ed. John Jeffery Fanella. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1996.
Fiddes, Paul S. The Creative Suffering of God. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1988. Philosophical comparison of ideas of divine suffering in process theology, deathofGod theology, and classical theism.
Gunton, Colin E. Act and Being: Towards a Theology of the Divine Attributes. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003.
Helm, Paul; and Carl R. Trueman, eds. The Trustworthiness of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.
Jeffery, Peter. Great God of Wonders: The Attributes of God. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1993. Popularlevel Calvinism.
*Jukes, Andrew. The Names of God in Holy Scripture. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1976 reprint.
Keating, James F.; & Thomas Joseph White, eds. Divine Impassibility and the Mystery of Human Suffering. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
Knowles, Michael P. The Unfolding Mystery of the Divine Name: The God of Sinai in Our Midst. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Kreeft, Peter. The God Who Loves You: Knowing the Height, Depth, and Breadth of God’s Love for You. Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 1992.
Long, D. Stephen. The Goodness of God. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2001.
MacArthur, John, Jr. God: Coming Face to Face with His Majesty. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1993.
MacArthur, John F. The Love of God. Dallas: Word, 1996.
Mettinger, Tryggve. In Search of God: The Meaning and Message of the Everlasting Names, tr. Frederick H. Cryer. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1988. A naturalistic study of Old Testament names for God.
*Morris, Leon. Testaments of Love: A Study of Love in the Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981. This is a general study of love but has considerable relevance for this aspect of the nature of God.
*Moser, K. C. Attributes of God. Austin, TX: Sweet, 1964. A small study volume by a church of Christ author.
Newlands, George M. Theology of the Love of God. London: Collins, 1980.
*O’Brien, Peter T., and David G. Peterson, eds. God Who Is Rich in Mercy. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987. A festschrift with 20 essays, primarily on the mercy of God.
*Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Glory of God. Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1978. A good study of a difficult subject.
Pike, Nelson. God and Timelessness. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1970.
Pink, Arthur W. The Attributes of God. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988 reprint. Covers most of the attributes in a concise fashion. Calvinistic when called for.
Piper, John. The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1991.
Sanderson, John W. Mirrors of His Glory: Images of God from Scripture. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1990. Devotional studies of 24 common wordpictures of God in the Bible.
Sarot, Marcel. God, Passibility and Corporeality. “Studies in Philosophical Theology,” no. 6. Netherlands: Kok Pharos; and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992. Suggests that passibility requires embodiment.
**Sproul, R. C. The Holiness of God. Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1985. An excellent study.
*Stone, Nathan. Names of God in the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody, 1944.
*Storms, C. Samuel. The Grandeur of God: A Theological and Devotional Study of the Divine Attributes. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984. Quite useful, but watch for the strong Calvinism.
**Tasker, R. V. G. The Biblical Doctrine of the Wrath of God. London: Tyndale, 1951. Just a booklet, but gives a needed perspective.
Tolsma, Neil. This Is Love: Tracing the Love of God Throughout the Bible Story. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2012.
Towns, Elmer L. My Father’s Names: The Old Testament Names of God and How They Can Help You Know Him More Intimately. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1991. A study of Old Testament names for God and how they can help Christians relate more intimately with Him.
*Tozer, A. W. The Attributes of God: A Journey into the Father’s Heart. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1997.
**Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy. The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1978 reprint. Brief and very practical studies of the attributes.
Travis, Stephen H. Christ and the Judgment of God: Divine Retribution in the New Testament. Marshall Pickering: 1986. This is a needed study of a neglected subject, but it unacceptably weakens the idea of retribution.
Trevethan, Thomas L. The Beauty of God’s Holiness. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995. Devotional.
Van den Brink, Gijsbert. Almighty God: A Study of the Doctrine of Divine Omnipotence. “Studies in Philosophical Theology,” no. 7. Netherlands: Kok Pharos; and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993. Defends the classical view.
Van den Brom, Luco, ed. Divine Presence in the World. “Studies in Philosophical Theology,” no. 5. Netherlands: Kok Pharos; and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993. Reflections on divine immanence and transcendence, and God’s relation to space in general.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J., ed. Nothing Greater, Nothing Better: Theological Essays on the Love of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. Chapter on “The Wrath of God as an Aspect of the Love of God.”
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Weinandy, Thomas. Does God Change? The Word’s Becoming in the Incarnation. Petersham, MA: St. Bede’s Publications, 1985. Utilizes process thought to defend divine mutability.
Willis, David. Notes on the Holiness of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
*Young, Edward J. Psalm 139: A Study in the Omniscience of God. London: Banner of Truth, 1965.
IV. THE TRINITY
Beisner, E. Calvin. “Jesus Only” Churches. “Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements” series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. A critique of “oneness” groups that deny the Trinity.
Bernard, David K. The Oneness of God. Hazelwood, MO: Word Aflame Press, 1983. An example of the “Jesus Only” doctrine, which denies the Trinity and says God is only one person who has existed in three successive modes. This view is refuted by C. Beisner above, and by G. Boyd, C. Brumback, and B. Ross in their books listed below.
Bobrinskoy, Boris. The Mystery of the Trinity: Trinitarian Experience and Vision in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition. St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, 1999.
*Bowman, Robert M., Jr. Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989.
Boyd, Gregory A. Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity: A Worldwide Movement Assessed by a Former Oneness Pentecostal. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992.
*Brumback, Carl. God in Three Persons. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press, 1959. A good defense of the Trinity in response to the “oneness” doctrine held by the “Jesus Only” group (see Beisner and Boyd above).
Buckley, James J., and David Yeago, eds. Knowing the Triune God: The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.
Coffey, David. Deus Trinitas: The Doctrine of the Triune God. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1999.
Coppedge, Allan. The God Who Is Triune: Revisioning the Christian Doctrine of God. Downers Grove: IVP, 2007.
Cunningham, David. These Three Are One: The Practice of Trinitarian Theology. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998. “Challenges in Contemporary Theology” series.
Clark, Gordon H. The Trinity. Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1985. A standard conservative presentation of the doctrine.
Davis, Stephen, Daniel Kendall, and Gerald O’Collins, eds. The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1999.
de Margerie, Bertrand. The Christian Trinity in History. Petersham, MA: St. Bede’s Publications, 1986. A good study by a Catholic author.
Edgar, Brian. The Message of the Trinity in “The Bible Speaks Today – Biblical Themes” series. Downers Grove: IVP, 2005.
**Erickson, Millard J. God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.
*Erickson, Millard J. Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.
Fortman, Edmund J. The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1982 reprint of a 1972 work. Scholarly and comprehensive. The treatment of the Biblical data is brief and somewhat inconclusive.
George, Timothy, ed. God the Holy Trinity: Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.
Giles, Kevin. The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Giles, Kevin. Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.
Gunton, Colin E. The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, revised ed. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1997.
Gunton, Colin E., ed. The Triune Creator: A Historical and Systematic Study. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Hanson, R. P. C. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006 (pb. ed.; first published 1988). 952 pp.