Top Ten Books for 2010

I've read about eight of these lists in the past week, and I'm amused by the great variety of titles included on these lists...and the titles excluded. So here's the list of ten books that most piqued the interest of yours truly, in view of his unique blend of theological concerns, interests, foibles, aberrations, etc. (IOW, it's just like all the other lists, but this one's MINE).

#1: David VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms. Every few years a Eureka book comes along that puts a large amount of seemingly unrelated bits of theology together in a way that really makes sense. This book was one of those for me, connecting a swath of data on apologetics, ecclesiology, culture, and even dispensationalism (the latter, undoubtedly, to the author’s great chagrin).

#2: John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God. Finally, a comprehensive, seminary-level textbook on bibliology—and a really good one, too.

#3: Andrew A. Snelling, Earth’s Catastrophic Past. This one’s dated 2009, but I didn’t get it until 2010, so I’m letting this one in. It’s too important to ignore. A massive, two-volume summary update of flood geology by the premier creation geologist of our time. I’m hopeful that this work, published on the fiftieth anniversary of Whitcomb’s landmark work, The Genesis Flood, will have an impact as great as the earlier work.

#4: Fred Zaspel, The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary. Why didn’t someone have this idea sooner? The systematic theology that B. B. Warfield never published, almost a century after the fact, culled painstakingly from mountains of Warfield’s published and unpublished materials.

#5: Rolland D. McCune, A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity, volume 3. Dr. McCune’s magnum opus is now complete following this volume on the doctrines of salvation, ecclesiology, and eschatology. Perhaps the best volume of this highly recommendable system of theology.

#6: John D. Currid and David P. Barrett, The Crossway ESV Bible Atlas. OK, so I had some criticisms of this book’s opening chapter a few months back. That doesn’t detract greatly from its overall value. This is an outstanding atlas that leads a very competitive pack of Bible atlases published in the last two years.

#7: Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible. An outstanding contribution connecting exegesis and theology with politics. It’s very conservative, self-consciously Christian, and a lot less abrasive than Sean Hannity. Not in complete harmony with my #1 pick, but that’s part of what makes it enjoyable to read.

#8: Michael Vlach, Has the Church Replaced Israel? A decisive defense of dispensationalism against the replacement theology common in Covenant Theology. An adaptation of his dissertation for a more popular audience.

#9: John S. and Paul D. Feinberg, Ethics for a Brave New World, 2nd ed. The best available book on Christian ethics, now substantially expanded and updated. I haven’t gotten through this one yet, but so far I’m impressed.

#10: Biblical and Theological Essays: Selections from Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal, 1996-2000. Shameless Confession: I had about six volumes vying for the #10 spot and I picked this one because it doubles as a bit of advertising. If you aren’t familiar with our journal, here’s a nice “best of” collection from the first five years. Many of these early issues are out of print.