Required reading for ministry?

[Scott Pitta]

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

1.) The Four Gospels and Acts.

All that a person needs to be saved and live saved is contained in those five.

2.) Still thinking...

3.) Depends if a family is present or not. With a family, the top five are:

A.) Love the wife as Christ loved the church
B.) Spend quality spiritual time with the children (i.e. the nurture and admonition of the Lord)
C.) Make certain Christ is being presented in the home to all present at all times
D.) Maintain loving headship over the wife and family
E.) Keep the home open to fellowship, for both saint and sinner, and do so as often as is possible

If a wife/family isn't present, then something more like this:

A.) Read. As much as is possible and is Godly, especially non-fiction
B.) Meet regularly with trusted friends to keep the iron sharp
C.) Be a common face in the community
D.) Work hard with joy so as to be a light to your lost coworkers
E.) Find a place of service, especially among the lost

Granted a lot of those are true even if a family is present, but I don't think they take priority over the five listed for when a family is present.

After giving it more thought, I've come up with a list:

1.) Church History, by Eusebius
2.) The Complete Works of Jospehus, By Flavius Josephus (especially The Wars of the Jews)
3.) Any scholarly treatise on the Dead Sea Scrolls (with translation)
4.) Any scholarly treatment of the Septuagint (with translation)
5.) Any scholarly Bible atlas

Runner Ups:

Institutes of Christian Religion, by Jean Calvin
City of God, by Augustine
Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas
Halley's Handbook to the Bible, by Henry H. Halley
The Talmud
The Qu'ran
Any scholarly Bible dictionary and/or lexicon

[Esaias]

Aquinas is good exercise for the brain, lol. However, my son and I both discovered that in some places he refutes himself.

But he definitely exercises the intellect.

[votivesoul]

Yeah, I'm not recommending the readings so as to feed the spirit of the minister, as much as I recommend them because they are the tomes that have shaped the history of all Western civilization after the Bible, and if a minister wants to know anything about what almost all Western Christianity believes, those books are the place to turn (good, bad, or indifferent).

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by votivesoul

Yeah, I'm not recommending the readings so as to feed the spirit of the minister, as much as I recommend them because they are the tomes that have shaped the history of all Western civilization after the Bible, and if a minister wants to know anything about what almost all Western Christianity believes, those books are the place to turn (good, bad, or indifferent).

Absolutely. I haven't read Augustine's City of God yet, but his On Christian Doctrine I think is highly beneficial as well.

Ah, the Classics... too bad nobody writes that caliber anymore these days. We could sure use an apostolic Aquinas or Augustine or Chrysostom or...

[navygoat1998]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Absolutely. I haven't read Augustine's City of God yet, but his On Christian Doctrine I think is highly beneficial as well.

Ah, the Classics... too bad nobody writes that caliber anymore these days. We could sure use an apostolic Aquinas or Augustine or Chrysostom or...

If you get a chance read "The Gospel's Power and Message" - written by Paul Washer.

[Scott Pitta]

My intern was with Denzil Holman, a long time ago in Arizona. He is a great guy !!

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Those of you involved in ministry, whatever it may be, I have a few questions, the answers to which may be of benefit to those preparing for ministry:

1 Which FIVE (5) books of the Bible are ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, and MASTER? Obviously, one should be familiar with the whole Bible, and certainly should read the entire Bible, but that having been done, which are the first five books of the Bible a minister should thoroughly study and master?

2 What FIVE (5) books do you consider ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, master, besides the Bible itself? Please don't just copy a 'required reading list' from a ministerial license qualification system, UNLESS you believe those five books are essential regardless of what the licensing authorities said.

3 What FIVE (5) daily habits are absolute musts for any and every minister to inculcate? (Daily prayer and daily Bible reading not included, as that should be a daily habit for ALL Christians period anyway.)

I dont think it should or can be limited to just 5 sorry. All the Pastoral Epistles should be studied.

Acts

All the gospels

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Scott Pitta

My intern was with Denzil Holman, a long time ago in Arizona. He is a great guy !!

I know brother Holman. He was our assistant Pastor for a while. He is married to my former Pastor's former wife (He died)

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I dont think it should or can be limited to just 5 sorry. All the Pastoral Epistles should be studied.

Acts

All the gospels

My question is limited to five of each. So think "top five" lol.