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Recommended by Pastor Bernard

Five Books That Influenced Me

(outside the Bible)

  • C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. Christian worldview, apologetics, and theological understanding in clear English.
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. Valuable insight on the essential connection between faith and obedience, with implications for our understanding of the new birth, holiness, and Christian living.
  • Frank Ewart, The Phenomenon of Pentecost. Understanding and appreciation of Oneness Pentecostal origins and history; the spirit and motivation of those who founded our movement; inspiration to see evangelism, church growth, and miracles today.
  • Ronald C. White Jr., Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural. Lincoln's life teaches valuable lessons on character, moral vision, leadership under adversity, and the influence of one person. The study of his second inaugural address provokes profound thought on the role of divine providence, the spiritual heritage of our country, and the power of rhetoric. A close second here was Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America. See also these outstanding books on Lincoln for the serious student: A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War by Harry Jaffa; The Living Lincoln (anthology), edited by Paul Angle and Earl Miers; and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin.
  • Churchill Digest, compiled by Reader's Digest with a foreword by Clement Atlee. Churchill's life also teaches valuable lessons on character, moral vision, leadership under adversity, the influence of one person, and the power of rhetoric. Even more significant for me was Winston Churchill, The Second World War, 6 volumes, but it is monumental.

    • Honorable Mention

    • G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy: Christian worldview and apologetics.
    • Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (abridged in one volume). Helps develop analytical thought, vocabulary, expression, understanding of the ancient Western world, and insights for modern society.
    • Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (excerpts in one volume). Valuable insights on the Incarnation and Atonement; instills appreciation for theological thought far outside our movement yet in some ways sympathetic to our goals and concerns.
    • Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (fiction), The First Circle (fiction), and The Gulag Archipelago (3 volumes, nonfiction). Insights on totalitarianism, human nature, society, government, media, nature of evil, importance of standing for truth and against evil, analysis of society and politics by looking beneath the surface.
    • George Orwell, Animal Farm and 1984 (both fiction). Same comments as preceding.

    Bible Translations

    (supplement to King James Version)

  • New King James Version
  • New International Version
  • J. B. Phillips (or another interpretive translation)
  • The Interlinear Bible or at least Marshall's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament

    • Reference Works for Theology and Ministry

    For a comprehensive, annotated listing of biblical and theological references books, see the appendix and bibliography of my book Understanding God's Word. Below is a briefer listing.

    • Bible Introduction and Interpretation. David Bernard, God's Infallible Word and Understanding God's Word
    • Old Testament Introduction. Charles Pfeiffer, Old Testament History; Raymond Dillard and Tremper Longman III, An Introduction to the Old Testament
    • Old Testament Word Study. Harris, Archer, and Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament; Unger and White, Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament
    • New Testament Introduction. Robert Gundry, Survey of the New Testament; D. A. Carson, Douglas Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament
    • New Testament Word Study. Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (requires some knowledge of Greek); W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words; Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (abridged by G. W. Bromily)
    • Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. Zondervan (evangelical); Anchor or Interpreter's (non-evangelical).
    • Exegetical Commentaries. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries and Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; New International Commentary on the New Testament
    • Apostolic Theology. J. L. Hall and David Bernard, eds., Doctrines of the Bible; David Bernard, Series in Pentecostal Theology (4 volumes): The Oneness of God (rev. ed.), The New Birth, In Search of Holiness (rev. ed.), Practical Holiness; David Bernard, The Oneness View of Jesus Christ and In the Name of Jesus
    • Church History. David Bernard, A History of Christian Doctrine, Volumes 1-3
    • Apostolic Ministry. J. L. Hall and David Bernard, eds., The Pentecostal Minister

    Philosophy

    (Introduction)

    • Thomas Nagel, The Last Word (refuting relativism, subjectivism)
    • Esther Lightcap Meek, Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (epistemology)
    • Norman Geisler and Ronald Brooks, Come Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking

    Biblical Counseling

    • Gary Collins, How to Be a People Helper
    • H. Norman Wright, Crisis Counseling
    • Jerry Hardin and Dianne Sloan, Getting Ready for Marriage Workbook
    • Reference: Gary Collins, Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide

    Electronic Media

    • Bible program such as QuickVerse
    • Reference library on CD-ROM, such as the Sage Digital Library (Albany, OR); Bible translations, commentaries, theological and historical writings
    • Pentecostal Digital Reference Library (Pentecostal Publishing House): (1) Complete Works of David K. Bernard, (2) Pentecostal History, (3) Pentecostal Reference Studies