So Many Books, So Little Time

There have been a ton of great responses to my question about what books or scholars have most significantly impacted how we read the Bible. Some lists are very similar, others rather unconventional, but all of them have been fun to read and offer plenty to add to anyone’s “need to read” list. I’ve also compiled some summary observations (including the highest “vote” getters) in a separate post here.

Alphabetically, here are the posts that I’ve seen, with their author choices (you’ll have to read each post to see what particular books they chose, and why):

John Anderson at Hesed we ’emet: Robert Alter, Terence Fretheim, Elie Wiesel, Walter Brueggemann, Marvin R. Wilson.

Eddie Arthur at Kouya Chronicle: The NIV, Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart, N.T. Wright, Rob Bell, The Kouya New Testament.

Mike Aubrey at ΕΝ ΕΦΕΣΩ: Trevor Burke, Moises Silva, Max Turner/Peter Cotterell, Gerald Wilson, Paul Kroeger.

Scott Bailey at Scotteriology: Kenton Sparks, Bruce Malina, Richard Horsley, James Kugel, George Nickelsburg (plus Moses Maimonides, Brennan Manning, Gustavo Gutierrez, C. S. Lewis, Stanley Grenz, G. K. Chesterton).

Michael Barber at Singing in the Reign: Scott Hahn, N.T. Wright, Jon D. Levenson, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Brant Pitre.

Rachel Barenblat at Velveteen Rabbi: Rashi, Alicia Ostriker, Rabbi Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl, Everett Fox, Wendy Doniger.

Pete Bekins at בלשנות: John Calvin, James Barr, Hermann Gunkel, Geoffery Khan, W.F. Albright.

Art Boulet at finitum non capex infiniti: Kenton Sparks, Peter Enns, Jon D. Levenson, James Kugel, William W. Hallo/K. Lawson Younger Jr.

Me (Ken Brown) here at C. Orthodoxy: Charles Dickens, E.P. Sanders, Robert Alter, Margaret Barker, Jon D. Levenson.

Matthew Burgess at confessions of a bible junkie: John J. Collins, Thomas F. Mathews, Wayne Meeks, David C. Parker, E. P. Sanders.

Ben Byerly at Ben Byerly’s Blog: Peter Enns, N.T. Wright, Michael Emerson/Christian Smith, Kwame Bediako, Laurenti Magesa (plus Walter Wink, Tiede, Jervell, Sperber/Wilson; he also includes a nice overview of how his reading changed through various phases of life).

Sam C. at Unrelated Ramblings: J.I. Packer, Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart, C.S. Lewis, George Mueller, Arthur Bennett (plus Charles Spurgeon).

Jared Calaway at Antiquitopia: M.M. Bakhtin, Erich Auerbach, Michel de Montaigne, Shakespeare, “vacant for Elijah” (heh).

Peter Carrell at Anglican Down Under: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John A. T. Robinson, Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, James D. G. Dunn, Walter Moberly (plus C.S. Lewis, John Stott, Francis Schaeffer, N. T. Wright, D.A. Carson, C. K. Barrett, C.E.B. Cranfield, F.F. Bruce, Richard Bauckham, Martin Hengel, Larry Hurtado, Francis Watson, Graham Stanton, Paul Trebilco, Karl Barth, Raymond Brown, Michael Goulder, Anthony Thiselton, Christopher Rowland, John Ashton). Nice.

CD-Host at Church Discipline: NIV Study Bible, Barry Holtz, Morton Smith, G.R.S. Mead, Earl Doherty (plus Walter Bauer, Rudolf Bultmann).

Doug Chaplin at Clayboy: J.D. Salinger, Julian of Norwich, N.T. Wright, E.P. Sanders, Jürgen Moltmann.

David Clark at Faith Promoting Rumor: Wayne Meeks, Bart Ehrman, Robert Alter, Richard Elliot Friedman, Gerald Bray.

Ros Clark at Conversational Theology: N.T. Wright, David Jackman, Robert Alter, David Field, James Jordan.

Andrew Compton at The Reformed Reader: Herman Bavinck, Michael Horton, Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos, Marvin A. Sweeney (plus Kevin Vanhoozer, Meredith G. Kline, David Carr, Scott Clark, Brevard Childs, Michael Fishbane).

Adam Couturier at משלי אדם(i.e. “Adam’s Proverbs”): Leo G. Perdue, James D.G. Dunn, Michael V. Fox, Neil Postman, Charles Dickens.

Daniel and Tonya both posted lists at Hebrew and Greek Reader. Daniel: Herman Hess, Peter Enns, Christo van der Merwe, Steven McKenzie, Ray Jackendoff; Tonya: Practico/Van Pelt, Bill Mounce, Koehler/Baumgartner, BDAG, Waltke/O’Conner.

Justin Dombrowski at Ad Fontes: James Kugel, James H. Charlesworth, Seth Schwartz, William V. Harris, Craig Muldrew.

Kevin P. Edgecomb at biblicalia: Lionel Casson, Henry H. Halley, James B. Pritchard, Jacob Milgrom, Yehezkel Kaufmann.

ElShaddai Edwards at He is Sufficient: William Barclay, Kenneth Gentry, Garry Friesen, Calvin Seerveld, Eugene Peterson.

Jonathan Evens at Between: Jamie Buckingham, Gabriel Josipovici, Walter Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, René Girard (plus Christopher Wright, Mark Oakley, Mike Riddell).

Foolish Tar Heel, of ‘Conn’-versation, in Art Boulet’s comments: Ray Dillard (and V. Philips Long/Moises Silva), Steve Taylor, Jon D. Levenson, Richard B. Hays, Dale Martin.

Brian Fulthorp at συνεσταύρωμαι: Walter Brueggemann, Robert Chisholm, Jr., George Eldon Ladd, Arthur Glasser, Andrew Purves.

J.K. Gayle posted twice at Aristotle’s Feminist Subject (before disappearing into the ether!): Homer, the LXX, Kenneth Lee Pike, Jacqueline Jones Royster, Philip Yancey; then Ruth Behar, Anne Carson, Cheryl Glenn, bell hooks, Gayl Jones, Anne Lamott, Nancy Mairs, Toni Morrison, Krista Ratcliffe, Alice Walker.

James R. Getz at Ketuvim: W. G. Lambert, Marvin Pope, Frank Moore Cross, David P. Wright, Catherine Bell.

Nijay Gupta at Nijay K Gupta: Richard B. Hays, J.L. Martyn, Francis Watson, V.P. Furnish, James D.G. Dunn.

Michael Halcomb at Pisteuomen: Stanley J. Grenz, Bruce Malina/John Pilch/Richard Rohrbaugh, Clark Pinnock, Everett M. Rogers, Dean M. Flemming.

Michael Heiser, in John’s comments: Frank M. Cross, Mark S. Smith, Tryggve Mettinger, Nicholas Wyatt, Julian Morgenstern (and E. Theodore Mullen).

John Hobbins at Ancient Hebrew Poetry not only offered some additional discussion of other people’s lists, but also posted his own: Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Martin Buber, Emil Fackenheim.

Jared at Anglopressy: N.T. Wright, William Dever, Walter Brueggeman, Henry Virkler, Brian Walsh/Sylvia Keesmaat.

Jeff at Blue Like Elvis: Richard B. Hays, Richard A. Burridge, Richard Bauckham, Walter Brueggemann, Philip J. King/Lawrence Stager.

Jill, in Calvin’s comments: Tod Linfelt, David Carr, William Schniedwind, Bernard Levenson, Jeremy Schipper (plus Jacob Wright).

Celucien Joseph at Christ, My Righteousness: N.T. Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gerd Theissen/Annette Merz, George Eldon Ladd, John Piper.

David Keen at St. Aidan to Abbey Manor: Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart, Francis Schaeffer, Matthew Fox, David Watson, Graham Cray (et al).

David Ker at Lingamish (always unconventional!): The Children’s Living Bible, The CEV, Better Bibles Blog, Bible bloggers, African story-telling.

Daniel Kirk at Sibboleth: Richard B. Hays, N.T. Wright, Richard B. Gaffin, Doug Green/Steve Taylor, E.P. Sanders.

Mike Koke at The Golden Rule: James D.G. Dunn, Larry Hurtado, Daniel Boyarin, John P. Meier and Walter Wink.

Mike Leaptrott at Progression of Faith: Marcus Borg, Brian McLaren, John Shelby Spong, Walter Wink, Walter Brueggemann.

Bryan Lee at Metalepsis: James D.G. Dunn, N.T. Wright, Michael Fishbane, Richard B. Hays, Robert Polzin.

Shane Lems at The Reformed Reader: Herman Bavinck, Michael Horton, Geerhardus Vos, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther (plus Kevin Vanhoozer, Lesslie Newbigin, Augustine, Francis Turretin, Karl Barth, William Willimon, the Heidelberg Catechism, R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer, R. S. Clark).

Levi at Blah Blah Blah: Walter Brueggemann, Page Kelley, Bernhard Anderson, Gerd Theissen (and Richard Longenecker), Rudolf Bultmann (and Richard Bauckham) (plus N.T. Wright, Crossan, Rogers).

Bryan Lilly at KATAGRAPHAIS: Greg Beale, Christopher Wright, Tremper Longman III, Andy Crouch, Michael Wittmer, Abraham Kuyper, Tim Keller, N.T. Wright (yeah, definitely more than five!).

Bob Macdonald at Sufficiency: the Bible itself, Jonathan Magonet, Douglas Hofstader, Hans Küng, Peter Craigie, Richard Bauckham (plus Mark Nanos, Lawrence Hoffman, Donne, Herbert, Milton, A. A. Milne and Lewis Carrol).

Matthew Malcolm at crypto-theology: Anthony Thiselton, The Second Temple Jewish Literature (!), Karl Barth, E. Randolph Richards, Liddell & Scott.

Doug Mangum at Biblia Hebraica: John Barton, Michael Fishbane, Bernard Levinson, James Kugel, Benjamin Summer.

Claude Mariottini at Dr. Claude Mariottini: Walther Eichrodt, Emil Brunner, John Bright, Joseph Callaway, Terence E. Fretheim.

Suzanne McCarthy at Suzanne’s Bookshelf: Aristotle, Paolo Freire, Kenneth Bailey, Simone Weil, Richard Bauckham (and the Septuagint, Mary Doria Russell, George Eliot).

Pat McCullough at kata ta biblia: David L. Balch, Willard M. Swartley, Stuart Murray, Anita Diamant, George W. E. Nickelsburg/James C. VanderKam (plus Robert McAfee Brown, Brian McLaren).

James McGrath at Exploring Our Matrix: James D.G. Dunn, John A.T. Robinson, Rudolf Bultmann, Keith Ward, Pimsleur.

Josh McManaway at Son of the Fathers: N.T. Wright, Brant Pitre, Bart Ehrman, Mark Goodacre, Mike Aquilina.

Michael Metts at, um, Michael Metts: Gordon Fee, N.T. Wright, John Bunyan, Thomas a Kempis, Wayne Grudem.

David M. Miller at גר־ותושב (An Alien and a Stranger): Richard Hays, John Barton, John Goldingay, Albert Schweitzer, Stephen Westerholm (plus N.T. Wright).

Nick Norelli at Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: The Gospel of Luke, The Gospel of John, Craig Evans, Richard Bauckham, Gleason Archer.

Sam Norton at Elizaphanian: John Ashton, James Barr, Andrew Mein, James Alison, Margaret Barker (plus N.T. Wright, Eugene Peterson).

Omar, in the comments: Donald Miller, C.S. Lewis, Rob Bell, Charles Spurgeon, Karl Marx.

David Ould at DavidOuld.net: Graeme Goldsworthy, John Piper, Hans Küng, Adrio König, D.A.Carson/John D. Woodbridge (eds.).

Calvin Park at the Floppy Hat: Peter Enns, Walter Brueggemann, Kittle/Hoffer/Wright, Michael V. Fox, Claus Westermann.

James Pate, of James’ Thoughts and Musings, in the comments: John MacArthur, C.S. Lewis, Ayn Rand, N.T. Wright, Madeleine L’Engle.

Polycarp at The Church of Jesus Christ: Peter Doble, Kenneth Bailey, Eugene Nida, Bart Ehrman, J.K. Gayle.

Darrell Pursiful at Dr. Platypus: A. T. Robertson, Joachim Jeremias, Joseph Campbell, Morton Kelsey, Thomas C. Oden (he also gave runners up: Watchman Nee, James Michener, Mircea Eliade, Walter Wink, Dan Williams).

Rachel at Re-vis.e Re-form: Gilbert Bilezikian, Justin Martyr, Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld, John Leach, Pete Ward.

Aaron Rathburn at Theology & Culture: Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart, Plato, John Walton, Pete Enns, The Bible.

Judy Redman at Judy’s Research Blog: Brendan Byrne, Nigel Watson, David Scholer, Majella Franzmann, April DeConick (plus Morna Hooker).

Richard at יהוה מלך(i.e. “The LORD is King”): Sigmund Mowinckel, Mark Futato, N.T. Wright, Frank Moore Cross, John Calvin.

Philip Ritchie at Phil’s Treehouse: Alan M. Stibbs (ed.), Dick Lucas, James D.G. Dunn, Walter Brueggemann, William Barclay.

Steve Rives at Jesus, Archaeology, Theology and the Bible: Meredith G. Kline, N. T. Wright, Thomas Brisco, James Pritchard, John Owen (plus Gerhard Forde, John Taylor, Robert W. Jenson, David Wenham, T. David Gordon).

Loren Rosson III at The Busybody: Malina/Rohrbaugh, E.P. Sanders, Dale Allison, Philip Esler (and Mark Nanos), Bill Herzog.

Rich S. at An Exegete Reflects: Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, C. F. W. Walther, James Voelz, David W. Pao, Frederick Danker.

Kevin Scull at Paul of Tarsus: E. Randolph Richards, Karl P. Donfried (ed.), Bruce Malina, Lauri Thuren, Stanley E. Porter/Thomas H. Olbricht (eds.).

Tony Siew at Revelation is Real: Augustine, John Calvin, Eric & Carole Meyers, Roland Meynet, Ian Kershaw.

Craig R. Smith at Notes from the Dreamtime: Paul Tillich, Richard Eliott Friedman, Morton Smith, Martin Buber (plus Søren Kierkegaard, Henri Bergson, Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, John of the Cross, Leo Tolstoy, The anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing Abraham Joshua Heschel, Henri Nouwen), Rudolf Otto.

Duane Smith at Abnormal Interests: Plato, Mark Twain, Angus E. Taylor, Charles Darwin, Arthur C. Danto (plus Whitehead, Merrilee Salmon [and Wesley Salmon], Kuhn, Aristotle, Dawkins, Dennett, Diamond, Loren Fisher, his wife Shirley and children).

Nathan Stitt at Discipulus Scripturae: Rob Bell, Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart, Gordon Fee (a twofer!), William Mounce, Eugene Peterson.

Jane Stranz at Of Life, Laughter and Liturgy: Rosemary Radford Ruether, Janet Morley, Fulbert Steffensky (plus Dorothee Sölle, Arndt Noack, Charles Elliott), André Chouraqui, Toni Morrison (plus Barbara Kingsolver).

TT at Faith Promoting Rumor: Daniel Boyarin, Stephen Moore, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Dale Martin, The Postmodern Bible.

Ronald Taska in Art’s comments: Thomas Paine, Albert Schweitzer, Paul Tillich, John Shelby Spong, Bart Ehrman.

Drew Tatusko, of Notes from Off-Center: Simone Weil, Mary Douglas, Calvin O. Schrag, Peter Berger, H. Richard Niebuhr (he also posted an earlier list in my comments: Kenneth Bailey, Rudolph Schnackenburg, Gehrard Von Rad, Karl Barth, Phyllis Trible).

Theophrastus at What I Learned From Aristotle gave more than five: Ramban (Nachmanides), John Milton, Dante, Augustine, Rambam (Maimonides), Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Thomas (Aquinas), Schneur Zalman, Shimon bar Yochai, Louis Ginzburg, Alter/Kermode, Gerald Hammond, James Kugel (whew!).

Karyn Traphagen at Boulders 2 Bits: Mark Smith, Christo van der Merwe, Robert Alter, Jon D. Levenson, John Hobbins (!).

Mark Traphagen at League of Inveterate Poets: Peter Enns, Kenton Sparks, Walter Brueggemann, N. T. Wright, Mark Strom.

Tzvee at Tzvee’s Talmudic Blog: Mircea Eliade, Sigmund Freud, Mary Douglas, Bronislaw Malinowski, Martin Noth.

Brandon Wason at Sitz im Leben(he’s also promised a second list): F.F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee/Douglas Stuart, D.A. Carson, Bruce Metzger, E.P. Sanders (plus Gregory E. Sterling).

Weekend Fischer at Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength: Vladimir Lossky, Eusebius the Historian, A.J. Heschel, Lao Tzu, Ambrose Bierce.

Jim West at Dr. Jim West: Gerhard von Rad, Rudolf Bultmann, Walther Eichrodt, Kurt Aland, Rudolf Bultmann (again).

Mike Whitenton at Ecco Homo: Bruce Metzger/Bart Ehrman, N.T. Wright, James D.G. Dunn, Brian H. Gregg, Richard B. Hays.

Tyler Williams at Codex: Hans-Georg Gadamer, Bruce Waltke, Emanuel Tov, Brevard S. Childs, Karl Barth (plus Herman Gunkel, Robert Lowth, Gerhard von Rad, Phyllis Trible, Walter Brueggemann, Sara Japhet, John Goldingay, George Eldon Ladd, Raymond Brown, N.T. Wright, Kenton Sparks).

Brandon Withrow at BrandonWithrow.com: Peter Enns, C.S. Lewis, James L. Kugel, Miguel A. De La Torre, Mark Allen Powell (and N.T. Wright).

The Yellow Dart at Faith Promoting Rumor: Bart Ehrman, William Dever, John Day, John Barton, William Dever (plus N.T. Wright, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Marc Brettler, Mark S. Smith).

Please let me know if I’ve missed anyone; I’ll try to keep this updated if and when more people post their lists.

It’s interesting to see a few names come up again and again (Peter Enns, Walter Brueggemann, Bruce Metzger, N.T. Wright, James D.G. Dunn, Jon D. Levenson), plus a few lists that are completely unique (like Jared Calaway and J.K. Gayle). Like John Hobbins, I’m honored to get to read and interact with so many well-read people from so many different perspectives. Thanks everyone!

UPDATE: I’ve continued to add all the lists I can find (and a big thank you to Brandon Wason and James McGrath, whose Google Reader shared feeds alerted me to several that I might otherwise have missed), but with more than 40 so far, it is getting more difficult to be sure I haven’t missed anyone. So please, let me know if you find any I’ve left out, and consider this an open invitation to anyone who would like to post their own lists.

Once again, thanks for the phenomenal response!

UPDATE 2: So, like Swine Flu, this thing has broken containment and spread far and wide. It’s turned up on at least 90 blogs, including in some rather significantly modified forms, most of which do not link back here, making finding them much more time-consuming. Therefore, from here on I’m not going to continue making a special effort to search for and include responses, but I will continue to add anyone who links here or leaves a comment. Thanks again to everyone who has made this such a fascinating collection!