Recommended Reading List

[Elmer]

I have found various recommended reading lists out there such as ones by Leonard Ravenhill and A. W. Tozer. I have also run across the Reading Lists in the back of Kent Hughes' book, Disciplines of a Godly Man.

I like the idea of Recommended Reading Lists because there are many books out there (of the making of books there is no end), but I have a limited amount of time to read. However, I have found few lists for people with a Kingdom Christian/Conservative Anabaptist Worldview. Do you all have lists of books that you recommend to others? (Maybe the top 5, 10, or 25 books you recommend.)

Here would be an example:

Top 3
1. The Theology of Anabaptism by Robert Friedman
2. The Anabaptist View of the Church by Franklin Littell
3. Glimpses of Mennonite History and Doctrine by J C Wenger

More in top 15
4. Anabaptist History and Theology by C. Arnold Snyder - one of best surveys of the movement
5. Brotherly Community, the Highest Commander of Love by Andreas Ehrenpreis
6. Brothers in Christ: The History of the Oldest Anabaptist Congregation Zollikon by Fritz Blanke
7. The Anabaptist Story by William R. Estep
8. The Legacy of Michael Sattler by John Howard Yoder
9. Hutterite Beginnings by Werner Packull
10. On the Backroad to Heaven by Donald Kraybill
11. Why do They Dress That Way? By Stephen Scott
12. Amish Society by John A. Hostettler
13. Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up by David Bercot
14. The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down by David Bercot
15. The Sources of Swiss Anabaptism by Leland Harder

What would your recommended list look like?

[barnhart]

I like your list. Off the top of my head I would add two:
1. The Pilgrim Church, by Broadbent (a good survey of remnant church groups through the ages that were faithful to ideas like believers baptism, separation from the world, peace and non resistance)
2. Dominion, by Tom Holland (a secular examination of the influence of the first century church on world history)

[Elmer]

In Peter Hoover's book, The Secret of the Strength, I found the following interesting list.


How to Find the Anabaptists' Writings

For preliminary English-language research on the Anabaptists we suggest the following informative books (even though some conclusions drawn in them are not our conclusions):
1. C. Arnold Snyder, Anabaptist History and Theology, Pandora Press, 1995.
2. Walter Klaassen, editor, Anabaptism in Outline, Herald Press, 1981. Translations of Anabaptist writings on a wide variety of subjects.
3. Cornelius J. Dyck, Spiritual Life in Anabaptism, Herald Press, 1995. Includes many valuable translations.
4. George Williams and Angel Mergal, editors, Spiritual and
Anabaptist Writers, Westminster Press, 1992. Includes important writings by George Blaurock, Conrad Grebel, Michael Sattler, Obbe and Dirk Philips, Ulrich Stadler and others.
5. James M. Stayer, The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods, McGill-Queens University Press, 1991. Invaluable for the under standing of the Anabaptist movement in southern Germany and Austria.
6. Werner O. Packull, Hutterite Beginnings, Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1995. Without a doubt the best book available on the subject. Includes the story of the Gabrielites and Philippites.
7. John Horsch, The Hutterian Brethren, Macmillan Bruderhof, 1985. An inexpensive and truly inspirational history.
8. C. Arnold Snyder, The Life and Thought of Michael Sattler,
Herald Press, 1984.
9. John L. Ruth, Conrad Grebel, Son of Zurich, Herald Press, 1975.
10. Cornelius Krahn, Dutch Anabaptism, Herald Press, 1981.
11. Cornelius J. Dyck, An Introduction to Mennonite History,
Herald Press, 1981. Includes a valuable overview of the Anabaptist movement.
The Mennonite Encyclopedia and the issues of the Mennonite Quarterly Review, published at Goshen College, offer information about a wide variety of subjects pertaining to Anabaptist life and thought.
Historical research may help you, but Hans Langenmantel,
beheaded with his foster son and housekeeper on May 11, 1528, wrote: “Neither spirit nor soul can ever be fed except in following the living Word of God.”
That is still true.

[MaxPC]

Elmer, I see a great number of history books, which are enjoyable to be sure. Are there devotional books and Bible studies that are also helpful for the discipleship walk?

[Elmer]

The late Harold S. Martin, a conservative Brethren writer and preacher, had this list of Ten Influential Books in His Life:

1. The Bible - The one Book which answers the deepest questions of life is the Bible. Christians aim to make the Bible their rule for deciding the issues of life. The New King James Version is a favorite translation because it maintains the beautiful word flow of the older editions of the King James Version (with which I grew up), and at the same time eliminates the word endings and pronouns, etc., which are no longer in common use.
2. The Suffering Savior, F. W. Krummacher - This book in my early years helped center the focus of attention on a core doctrine of the Christian faith–the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to give His life “a ransom” for us. This is the heart of the Gospel message as defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Krummacher’s book gives lucid insights on every detail of the last week of Christ’s earthly ministry.
3. George Washington Carver, Rackham Holt - This was a book which I read in early high school days. It helped develop in my thinking a love for persons of all races, and Carver’s humble attitude and hard work-earning his way through college by cooking, doing laundry; and working as a janitor-became a challenge which helped me to try and persistently succeed in life even against many odds.
4. How to Prepare Sermons, William Evans - This book is filled with practical instruction which became a helpful tool to me as a young preacher. The book explained how to choose and interpret a Biblical text, and demonstrated how to gather and arrange sermon material. In more recent years, the book Between Two Worlds, by John R. W. Stott, has provided a fresh updating of concepts related to preaching.
5. The Home, Courtship, Marriage, and Children, John R. Rice - The book is a helpful manual giving guidelines for successful living in the home. Following the Biblical principles lifted up in the book has helped make our home a bit of heaven on earth, and the kindly admonitions contained in the book have helped me to become a more loving husband and a more caring father than would otherwise have been.
6. The New Testament Doctrines, J. H. Moore - This book has strengthened my convictions regarding the importance of Bible teachings, and has helped to more concisely define those doctrines which over the years have been more distinctively Brethren. Moore deals with the nature and work of God, the plan of salvation, the work of preaching, the importance of the New Testament ordinances, and the final destinies of all human beings.
7. Albert Cassel Wieand, V. F. Schwalm - It is the life of A. C. Wieand that helped to challenge me to become a careful student of the Bible, to continually seek growth in the deeper spiritual life, and to hold firmly to the evangelical faith. Wieand’s belief in the fundamentals of the faith, his ecumenical association with noted Bible teachers such as F. B. Meyer, D. L. Moody, and R. A. Torrey, and yet his determination to loyally uphold the distinctive Brethren teachings–these have set a pattern that was beneficial to me.
8. Separated Unto God, J. C. Wenger - This book helped to explain in simple terms how the believer in Christ needs to make a clean break from the sub-Christian standards of the world, and at the same time maintain a-clear and strong commitment to Jesus Christ. The book has been useful in showing how Christians in our contemporary society can best win men and women to faith in Christ, without becoming entangled in worldliness themselves. The book contains much helpful information about the early Anabaptist and Pietist movements.
9. What the Bible Is All About, Henrietta Mears - It is common to find persons who are familiar with favorite Bible passages, but do not have a grasp of the teachings of the Bible as a unit. This books helps give a broad overview that pictures the Bible as a cohesive whole. The book points out principal characters, basic outlines, and main lines of thought that are found in all sixty-six books of the Bible. Miss Mears was deeply committed to the greatness of God, the lordship of Christ, and the absolute trustworthiness of Scripture.
10. Facing Death, Billy Graham - There are lots of voices that tell us how to live, but solid teaching on how to die is more difficult to find. Yet only those who are prepared to die are really prepared to live. Since, except for the very possible soon return of Christ, all of us will face death, we need to know how to face that enemy for ourselves, and also how to deal with the inevitable deaths of loved ones and friends. Billy Graham’s book gives a clear Christian perspective on death and dying.

[Josh]

Elmer, I see a great number of history books, which are enjoyable to be sure. Are there devotional books and Bible studies that are also helpful for the discipleship walk?

Devotional books/Bible studies are more of an evangelical thing. They don’t seem to exist in historic Anabaptism but you can find reams of them filling the bookshelves in any bookstore that caters to plain or ex plain people.

[MaxPC]

Elmer, I see a great number of history books, which are enjoyable to be sure. Are there devotional books and Bible studies that are also helpful for the discipleship walk?

Devotional books/Bible studies are more of an evangelical thing. They don’t seem to exist in historic Anabaptism but you can find reams of them filling the bookshelves in any bookstore that caters to plain or ex plain people.

I wonder why there are none authored by Anabaptists? Is it due to a dependence on ordnungs? Community teachings and values?

[Ernie]

Elmer, I see a great number of history books, which are enjoyable to be sure. Are there devotional books and Bible studies that are also helpful for the discipleship walk?

Devotional books/Bible studies are more of an evangelical thing. They don’t seem to exist in historic Anabaptism but you can find reams of them filling the bookshelves in any bookstore that caters to plain or ex plain people.

I wonder why there are none authored by Anabaptists? Is it due to a dependence on ordnungs? Community teachings and values?

I know of quite a few devotional books/Bible studies among Plain Anabaptists so I'm not sure what Josh is referring to.

[MaxPC]

Devotional books/Bible studies are more of an evangelical thing. They don’t seem to exist in historic Anabaptism but you can find reams of them filling the bookshelves in any bookstore that caters to plain or ex plain people.

I wonder why there are none authored by Anabaptists? Is it due to a dependence on ordnungs? Community teachings and values?

I know of quite a few devotional books/Bible studies among Plain Anabaptists so I'm not sure what Josh is referring to.

Ernie, are they written by Anabaptists?

[Elmer]

I wonder why there are none authored by Anabaptists? Is it due to a dependence on ordnungs? Community teachings and values?

I know of quite a few devotional books/Bible studies among Plain Anabaptists so I'm not sure what Josh is referring to.

Ernie, are they written by Anabaptists?

I'm not Ernie, but there is a book out there called Our Amish Devotional Heritage. You can read an overview here: https://anabaptisthistorians.org/2018/0 ... -heritage/

Also there are some Daily Devotional Books such as the Beside the Still Waters Compilations (2 volumes) and Honey from the Hive by Joseph Stoll. Other Devotional books include Dewdrops in the Garden by Janis Good, Hearing God in Ordinary Days by Mary Ellen Beachy, Paws on My Porch by Gary Miller, Tea Leaves by Nancy Stutzman, Through the Scent of Water by Margaret Penner Toews, The Great Cloud of Witnesses by David G. Burkholder, The Family Bible by Lloyd Penner, Water My Soul: 90 Meditations from an Old Order Mennonite by Darla Weaver, Prayers for a Simpler Life by Faith Sommers, God's Grace in the Valley by Faythelma Bechtel, Behold the Lilies by Susan Schwartz & Verna Mast, Journey into God by John Coblentz, Out of His Abundance by Rebecca Martin, Senior Moments with God by Various, Sixteen Minutes Later by Robert Stauffer, My Quiet Time With God by Jon Kropf, Growing Into His Likeness by Wilma Webb, and Harmony for the Heart by Elaine Berry.

As far as Bible Studies go, Aaron Lapp and Harold S. Martin both have an extensive amount of commentaries on the New Testament. There is also the Exploring Series by Rod & Staff. Pilgrim Conference has published various little studies that you can download free on their website. Also Christian Light has published various little study guides as well.

I would agree with Ernie that there are "quite a few devotional books/Bible studies among Plain Anabaptists." I would say they are both written by and used by Conservative Anabaptists.