Book List

Book Reviews for Christians

This Book List contains reviews of books of interest to Christians. These are a few of the books that I own and use. Please understand - I have no financial interest in these books at all. I do not know the authors, the publishers, or anyone connected with them. I have to buy my books just like anyone else. This Book List is offered for those who want to read more about spiritual subjects. I have found these books to be interesting, and useful in my research work. I hope they will be of help to good souls who are seeking more information about God, Christ, and the Gospels. I don't take credit for compiling this list, but it is interesting that I was guided to books that show that God and Christ are real. Some of these books are out of print now. It may be possible to find some second hand copies with a book search for rare and out of print books.

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The Holy Bible

THE HOLY BIBLE, Authorized King James Version [AKJV]

[Note - THE HOLY BIBLE, Authorized King James Version (AKJV), is -- as far as I know -- the most accurate translation of the Bible from the ancient Greek and Hebrew. Because the King James Version is available from many publishers, and at a great variety of prices, it is simply NOT possible to single out one edition and say that it is best for every person or occasion. (Personally, I have quite a variety of the KJV - the King James Version - and I like them all very much.) However, for very special occasions, please see the Cambridge Bibles from Baker Publishing on our Gift Book List page.

While it's not possible to say what is perfect for everyone, it is possible to give you the clues that I always look for to make sure that I am getting the genuine KJV. In England it is called the: "Authorized Version", and here in America it is often called the "AKJV": The "Authorized King James Version" from 1611. Some publishers simply call it the "King James Version", which can lead to some confusion, because there is a New King James Version, too.

In order to be sure that you are getting the real deal, you can check for certain clues:

- It may say, "Authroized Version" if printed in England.
- It may say "Authorized King James Version" if printed in America.
- It may say "AKJV" from 1611.
- The genuine King James Bible will normally have a dedication which begins: "To the Most High and Mighty Prince James by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France... etc."
- Bibles printed in England will normally say "Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible are vested in the Crown."
- The test I use to be sure that it is a genuine King James version, is to look up St. Matthew and St. Luke for these quotations:

"The Light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of Light."
-Jesus, quoted in St. Matthew 6:22

"The Light of the body is the eye: Therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of Light;"
- Jesus, quoted in St. Luke 11:34]

TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT, Translated from the Greek by William Tyndale in 1534, In a modern-spelling edition and with an introduction by David Daniell. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. Copyright © 1989 by Yale University. This edition published 1995.

[Note - I want to begin this review by expressing my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Yale University Press (and to the other elite institutions of higher learning including Cambridge and Oxford) for publishing books that would other-wise be virtually unavailable for study. The selfless work of our greatest universities benefits scholars, students and the public. Great gratitude is also owed the authors and editors of these rare books. Thank you!

TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT, translated from the original Greek by William Tyndale, is one such rare book. Author, David Daniell, has created a modern masterpiece with modern spelling, which makes Tyndale's work and sacrifice available to the world. Mr. Daniell's excellent introduction is more than illuminating, it is inspired.

For those new to Tyndale, his work led the way in making the New Testamant, and then the entire Bible available to the English-speaking world. His work eventually formed the basis for the King James Bible, and by extention, to all subsequent modern Bibles. Tyndale's dedication to his work of translation was a danger to the monopoly held by the Church. Tyndale was breaking the law by making the New Testament English translation. English-speaking people could finally read the New Testament for themselves. For this "crime" against the power structures of Church and State, Tyndale was captured and tortured to death.

It is clear that the translators and editors of the King James Bible obviously consulted Tyndale's work and in many cases found that it was so good, so faithful to the original Greek, that they could not improve upon it.

We owe Tyndale a debt that can never be repaid. In making Tyndale's work available to a modern generation, David Daniell and Yale University Press, share in the work and the honor of William Tyndale.

History of the Exodus & The Lost Ark of the Covenant

THE EXODUS CASE New Discoveries of the Historical Exodus by Dr. Lennart Möller. © Scandinavia Publishing House, 2000, 1st edition; 2002, 2nd edition; 2008 3rd extended edition; Copenhagen NV, Denmark.

[ Please note - I want to begin this review of Dr. Möller's book, The Exodus Case, by saying that I think that it is a work of genius. Dr. Möller has made important discoveries of Biblical locations. Moreover, he has conducted scientific research to prove the validity of his many discoveries. This excellent book is, I think, now out of print. I have the second and third editions, both are good. The Exodus Case covers many vital historic events.

The Exodus Case covers the route of the Exodus, the ruins of the Egyptian army under the Red Sea; the campsite at the base of the real Mountain of God; the altar of the golden calf; and - intriguingly - the fact that the top of the mountain is covered with obsidian, which only forms at very high temperatures.]

THE SIGN AND THE SEAL: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, by Graham Hancock, Copyright 1992 by Graham Hancock, A Touchstone Book, Published by Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York, First Touchstone Edition 1993, Published by arrangement with Crown Publishers, Inc. New York.

[Note - This is an excellent book by an archeologist whom I respect. The author makes an excellent case for how the Ark of the Covenant ended up in Ethiopia. It is a first class detective story and an adventure, combined with brilliant historical analysis.]

Afterlife

[NOTE: The typical skeptic will attempt to dismiss the honest testimony of those souls who bear witness to afterlife experiences. The doubters will usually claim that the witnesses were mistaking the brain's dying malfunction for real afterlife experiences. However, it will be much more difficult for the skeptics to dismiss the true eyewitness testimony of a real brain surgeon. I don't want to give away the whole story, so, let's just say that God has given us an expert witness on brain function, a surgeon who died, and then came back to this world to give us his testimony.]

Bible Reference

[Note - THE STRONG'S CONCORDANCE is tailor made to fit the Authorized King James Version [AKJV] of, THE HOLY BIBLE. It allows you to find quotes, even if you only remember one key word. It also allows you to look up the original Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic in the Dictionaries in the back. Excellent! ]

The Cambridge Companion To The Bible, Second Edition, Edited by Bruce Chilton, Published by Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Delhi. Copyright Cambridge University Press 1997. Second Edition published 2008.

[NOTE: This is an excellent companion to the Bible, as exemplified by this quote from page 603: "as God's people; the first generation of Israelites who escaped from Egypt in the Exodus but whose disobedience led to their death in the desert (Jude 6); the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose indulgence in immorality and sexual perversion brought down destruction on the people and their land (Jude 7). Like these horrible examples of self-indulgence and disobedience, those who have now fallen away from the the faith have defiled themselves, dishonored God and the angels, and taken authority to themselves in a way that not even the archangels would dare to do (Jude 8-10). They follow the example of the self-willed and rejected of Israel's past -- Cain, Balaam, and Korah (Genesis 4:3, Numbers 22-4; Numbers 16) -- and they will share similar destruction at the hand of God."]

A Dictionary of the Bible, [Cover says: Oxford Dictionary of the Bible] Second Edition, Edited by W.R.F. Browning, Published by OXFORD University Press Inc. New York, Copyright Oxford University Press 1996, 2004, 2009.

[Please note - I was so impressed with this Dictionary by Oxford University Press, that I wanted to share a quotation with you. On page 110 of the hard cover we find the definition for "eye." It goes like this: "eye The eye is found in the Bible in both literal and metaphorical senses (Job 21: 20; Ecclus. [= Sir.] 14: 9). Jesus refers to those without understanding as being blind (Mark 8: 18). An eye in good condition brings the benefit of light to the whole body; so if the spiritual eye is healthy, the whole personality will be sound (Matt. 6: 22 -3)." It is so very impressive that a major Dictionary from a prestigious University would actually mention the Spiritual Eye. THANK YOU!]

1611-2011 KJV Bible History

This is the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Holy Bible. These are excellent histories of the KJV, which has been an enormous force for good in the English speaking world.

IN THE BEGINNING: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, A Language, and a Culture, By Alister McGrath, Published by Anchor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, Copyright 2001 by Alister McGrath.

Fiction that Contains Christian Themes for All Ages

I am listing boxed sets for the sake of simplicity. These books can be enjoyed by people of all ages who are young at heart. Parents should decide when their child is ready to read a given book. These authors all have a spiritual perspective, which is why they are included. [Please note - there was a great kerfuffle over Harry Potter some years ago. Eventually, the various spiritual leaders realized that God was using J.K. Rowling — although she may not have realized it. Nevertheless, a lot of Divine Inspiration was occurring; for instance, all of the self-sacrifice to fight evil, the battles of Good vs. evil, the willingness of Harry to offer himself to protect his friends. These themes recur throughout the stories. God was feeding kids spiritual truth in a form that they could not resist. And, ironically, the well-intentioned protests only made the kids more determined to absorb the stories, stories with messages of a spiritual nature in a great disguise.]

The Chronicles of Narnia [www.narnia.com] Illustrations by David Wiesner, Copyright 2007 by C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Published by HarperCollins Childrens' Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, New York.

Ancient Bible History

THE JESUS PAPYRUS by, Carsten Peter Thiede, and, Matthew d'Ancona (A Galilee Book, published by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., The Jesus Papyrus was originally published in hardcover by Doubleday as, Eyewitness to Jesus in April 1996.) Copyright 1996 by, Carsten Peter Thiede and Matthew d'Ancona.

[Note - THE JESUS PAPYRUS presents cutting edge scholarship which proves that the Gospels were written by people who would have known Jesus, probably no later than about 60 A.D. The "Jesus Papyrus" is most often called the "Magdalen Papyrus," because it belongs to the Magdalen College in Oxford, England. It consists of three small fragments of the Gospel of St. Matthew. The three fragments are tiny, but the implications of the recent re-dating are enormous. The authors have shown that, St. Matthew actually did write the Gospel that bears his name, and that the Gospels are the true testimonies of living eyewitnesses to history and to Christ.]

History of the True Cross

THE QUEST FOR THE TRUE CROSS, by; Carsten Peter Thiede and Matthew d'Ancona, Copyright, 2000. (First published in the United Kingdom in 2000 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.) Published in 2002 by PALGRAVE, NEW YORK.

[Note - THE QUEST FOR THE TRUE CROSS presents ground breaking information that at least a part of the True Cross survived the centuries. It means that we have a part of the inscription that was placed over Christ's head as He died. The sign with the inscription is called the "Titulus." Obviously, we know that this is NOT a random bit of wood, because of the inscriptions about Christ. The authors have shown that it cannot be a forgery, because a forger would copy what is in the Bible -- exactly -- so as to escape being caught. For example, the Titulus has many unique elements such as an unconventional order for the three languages mentioned in the Bible. You could argue that the unconventional ordering of languages is in itself an arguement for its authenticity. It also has reversed, or mirror image, writing for the Greek and Latin lines. No forger would make that 'mistake,' but an ancient sign maker, who was in a hurry due to an urgent order from Roman soldiers, might very well cut corners due to pressure. This is an excellent book, and the authors have made history -- or revealed history -- twice, now. There is also a DVD -- [out of print, I think] -- called the Quest for the True Cross, from the Discovery Channel, Distributed by Artisan, Family Home Entertainment, Copyright, 2002. Copyright 2001 Discovery Communications Inc., Package design and summary, Copyright 2002. Family Home Entertainment, Artisan Entertainment, Inc. Copyright 2002.]

History of the Shroud of Turin

THE BLOOD AND THE SHROUD New Evidence That the World's Most Sacred Relic Is Real, by Ian Wilson, Published by THE FREE PRESS, A Division of Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, Copyright 1998, by Ian Wilson.

[Note - This a very comprehensive analysis of the Shroud of Turin. It has information that the bloodstains are from human blood and not some sort of iron pigment, because the bloodstains contain real human DNA. The presence to DNA was confirmed by two independent laboratories, one in Italy, and one in America. They found that the blood has both X and Y chromosomes, which means that the victim on the shroud was a man, which confirms what we already knew, that the victim depicted on the shroud is a man.]

[Note - THE RESURRECTION OF THE SHROUD is excellent and has very interesting information about the images of coins, on the Shroud, over the closed eyes of Christ. These images of coins are photographic negatives because the entire Shroud image is a photographic negative. (The Shroud also has elements of X-Ray imaging, which can be seen in the bones of the hands, and elsewhere.) The coins over the closed eyes of Christ are called "Pontius Pilate coins," which are also known as "leptons." These coins were only issued between 29 A.D. and 32 A.D., the time period of the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Christ.]

SACRED BLOOD, SACRED IMAGE: The SUDARIUM of OVIEDO, New Evidence For the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, by; Janice Bennett, Published by Libri de Hispania, Publications About Spain, Littleton, Colorado. Copyright 2001, Janice Bennett.

[Note - SACRED BLOOD, SACRED IMAGE: The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence For the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, presents evidence for the Shroud, as well as the second cloth that is mentioned in the Gospel of St. John 20:7 "And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself."]

Ancient History - In Context

DECODING THE HEAVENS: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer — And the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets, by Jo Marchant, Copyright 2009 by Jo Marchant, Published by Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

[Note - This is the story of the discovery of an ancient computer called the Antikythera Mechanism. The reason that this book is included is twofold. First, it is a really cool discovery that has amazed a number of scientific experts. Second, and related to the foregoing, is the fact that this discovery is amazing to experts, because it shows how advanced the understanding of our ancestors really was. Our ancient ancestors were not credulous fools! They invented philosophy, astronomy, architecture, advanced mathematics, democracy, and we are in their debt. Therefore, we should take them seriously when, for instance, we see that they took the trouble to tell the stories in the Gospels in Greek, - the absolute acme of culture and scholarship in that time - so that the Gospelss were available to the entire Roman Empire.]

THE ARCHIMEDES CODEX: How a Medieval Prayer Book is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist, By Reviel Netz & William Noel. Copyright 2007, by Reviel Netz & William Noel. Published by Da Capo Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group.

[Note - This story is about the discovery of an ancient book that had been erased and then rewritten as a prayer book. The authors have done an excellent job of research to reveal the truth about Archimedes. The reason that this historical detective story is included here, is because it proves that the ancient world included people of true genius.]

Very Ancient History

[Note - This book is included because it contains valuable and mysterious information that is hard to find in print. Information about the Piri Reis Map, in; "Part I, Introduction: The Mystery of the Maps" as well as, information about the great cycles of time in which the Earth moves, in; "Part V, The Mystery of the Myths: 2, The Precessional Code." Dear reader, obviously, ONLY ONE GOD EXISTS, -- I know that, and hopefully you do, too -- the author is, (I think), taking poetic license with the title of his book.]

The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind, by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, A Member of the Crown Publishing Group, Copyright 1996 by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval.

[Note - The Giza Plateau, in Egypt, where the Great Pyramid and the two other pyramids form a line in relation to the position of the Nile River, is actually a map of the sky. The authors have shown that the position of the three pyramids relative to the Nile River are an exact copy of Orion's Belt and its position relative to the Milky Way. More importantly, they have shown that the entire monument complex on the Giza Plateau correlates to the sky as it appeared in 10,500 BC. By showing the existence of advanced civilizations to be much earlier than previously believed, the authors are exposing facts about our history on Earth; facts that actually favor the Spiritual Position, that all of mankind was created by God as an act of special creation, and not, as the secular humanists argue, a product of evolution. Please note, very great Saints have confirmed that humanity was, in truth, an act of special creation by God.]

The Holocaust - Culmination of an Ancient Evil

THE WORLD MUST KNOW: The history of the Holocaust as told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by, Michael Berenbaum (This book is published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum under exclusive license from the author.) Copyright 1993, 2006 by, Michael Berenbaum.

[First: The Holocaust Memorial Museum is a must see for anyone with an interest in history, especially if you have kids who are old enough to understand it.

Second: This book is truly an accurate and an unblinking record of the most horrific evil event in human history. The author deserves great praise for exposing ~~Evil~~.

Third: From a Spiritual perspective, the Holocaust makes the war between God and ~~evil~~ evident for all to see. The Jews are good. You can't have a Judeo-Christian tradition, without first having a long Jewish history in the Holy Land which prepares the way for the Christ. Let us remember that the first Christians were Jews! The Jews are God's chosen people and they have been persecuted and murdered, since God chose them.

The Holocaust is the most recent example of how the ~~evil~~ ~~force~~ that Jesus called "the ~~devil~~," has tried to destroy the Jews by using ~~evil~~ people; who created and executed the Holocaust.

You may be sure that the victims of the Holocaust were highly purified by the suffering and that they went straight to God. You may also be sure that evil ones that served the ~~devil~~ went straight to hell.]

The End

[Note - Modern people tend to dismiss the existence of Hell as mythology. However, here are two witnesses, who are sharing their experiences of the life after death, when there are serious negative consequences. More importantly, Jesus Christ, himself, spoke about the reality of Hell, repeatedly, and in some detail. Also, I can testify that I have been shown some recently departed materialistic souls in a place of darkness. Moreover, I have to warn you that the devil does exist, unfortunately.]