A pastor gave me an interesting challenge:
Greetings! I am a pastor in a free grace church in PA. I have received your magazine for many years. My question: we have a high school student graduating now and going on to a secular college in the fall. She is a believer and has had a fundamental church background. We are looking at giving her two or three books as graduation gifts. Could you recommend three top books, other than a Bible, that you would want a HS student to have as she goes on to college? Thank you for your ministry.
God bless!!!
Here was my answer:
Picking three books for a student about to enter college is a challenging assignment.
I think she ought to get books that deal with postmodernity, Darwinism, inerrancy, and Free Grace Theology.
Postmodernity: maybe she could read some free articles and then decide if she wants to read further about it. Here are links to some articles we have published on postmodernity:
“The Gospel According to Evangelical Postmodernism” by me. See here.
“Postmodern Doubts and Theological Education (Part 1)” by me. See here.
“The Challenge of Postmodernism,” a book review by Zane Hodges. See here.
“Postmodernism: The Death of God and the Rise of the Community” by Michael Makidon. See here.
“Above All Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World,” a book review by me. See here.
Free Grace: Zane Hodges, A Free Grace Primer. It is three books in one and covers the issues.
Darwinism: Darwin on Trial by Phillip Johnson. Books on intelligent design might be a good choice as well.
Inerrancy: For a short and simple treatment, my book Inerrancy for Dummies might be helpful. For a longer treatment, Norman Geisler’s The Big Book of Bible Difficulties is a great resource.
When a student goes off to college, and sometimes even to a Christian college, he or she is bombarded with thinking which is antithetical to the Bible and to Christianity. In order to be prepared, the student needs to know the types of things coming his way, hence the need to study up on postmodernity, Darwinism, inerrancy, and Free Grace.
Christianity is a battle for the mind. Transformation of life comes by the renewal of minds via regular input of God’s Word in a solid Bible teaching church (Rom 12:2). Hence it is vital that incoming freshmen find such a church. I’d go so far as to say that one’s choice of a college should be determined by the presence of a sound church in the area. If you can’t find a solid church near the college, pick another college.
