The End of the World as We Know it?

“Are we living at the end of time?”

This inquiry has been posed to me at various points throughout my ministry but perhaps never more so than in the past month. With citizens hiding, businesses shuttering, and toilet paper disappearing at perplexing rates, it’s a totally legitimate question. I have attempted to answer those who have asked while at the same time shaking my head with a chuckle at all those knuckleheads over the past decade who have tried to persuade countless Christians that eschatology (the study of the end) specifically and theology (the study of God) generally just “isn’t that important.” How anyone can stare into the face of apocalyptic paranoia while holding sacred writ in hand and offer a pathetic stab at irrelevance is beyond me. Eschatology is far from theoretical or pointless. It shapes – like all of our beliefs – how we respond to disaster, how we address fear, and how we engage with a world in crisis.

I will save my eschatological answers for another time and will instead, for now, offer a reading list that I hope will provide aid to mind and soul during this time. There are, of course, tens of thousands of volumes on each of these subjects, but, having been asked to provide this list of theological resources, I wanted to do so from my understanding of the studies in question and with a nod to the authors who have most developed me in my doctrinal journey (and who are most faithful to the proper interpretation of Scripture). So, with no further monologue, here are my recommendations (while not shelving the Bible, of course) to lead you to a more robust explanation, appreciation, and adoration of God.

Theology Proper (The Study of God)

The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God
John Frame

No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God
John S. Feinberg

Christology (The Study of Jesus Christ)

The Person of Christ
Donald Macleod

Gospel Deeps: Reveling in the Excellencies of Jesus
Jared C. Wilson

God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ
Stephen Wellum

Pneumatology (The Study of the Holy Spirit)

He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Graham A. Cole

Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Bruce Ware

Hamartiology & Soteriology (The Study of Sin & Salvation)

Putting Amazing Back into Grace
Michael Horton

Faith Alone
R.C. Sproul

Redemption: Accomplished & Applied
John Murray

Chosen for Life: The Case for Divine Election
Sam Storms

Chosen by God
R.C. Sproul

From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective
David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson

Ecclesiology

The Household of God: Lectures on the Nature of the Church
Lesslie Newbigin

The Church
Edmund Clowney

The Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin

Eschatology (The Study of the End)

Kingdom Come
Sam Storms

When the Man Comes Around
Douglas Wilson

the Bible and the Future
Anthony Hoekema

I will save my recommended reading on apologetics, church history, biographies, and practical Christianity for another post…as if you don’t now have enough to read.

Semper Reformanda