Karl's Reading List

Updated and Expanded version published by Zondervan Books: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2016. Originally published 1998. In Christian circles, The Case for Christ is an extremely famous apologetics book. Author Lee Strobel - a journalist who often covered court cases - felt challenged when his wife became a Christian, and set out to investigate the claims of Jesus himself. The Case for Christ was written much later, when Strobel took that base journey and re-enacted it by interviewing various experts to present the court-room style 'case' for Christ. Chapters have titles like "The Medical Evidence", "The Fingerprint Evidence" and "The Eyewitness Evidence" and are presented as interviews between 'prosecutor' Strobel and his interview subjects playing 'witnesses for the defence.' I first read The Case for Christ when I was much younger. I have always enjoyed it as a resource, and as a result, have given away my personal copy numerous times...

Published as an audiobook by Blackstone Audio, Inc: 2013. First published 1536/1559 in Latin, 1541/1560 in French. Translated into English by Henry Beveridge, 1845. Audiobook narrated by Bob Souer. There is a real artifice to creating a yearly book list, that is sometimes more apparent to me than others. In terms of the placement of Institutes at this point in this list in this year, it becomes very apparent to me, because this is an audibook I started listening to in (I seem to recall) 2024. That means that I actually listened to the vast majority of this book (which at normal speed is 67 hours long - I did listen to parts of it at 1.25 speed) in 2024 and 2025, and yet, because it was finished now, I add it to my 2026 list. Potentially I could have divided it into four reviews, matching the four books/volumes of the overall work, but as it is gathered together under one title, I'm mostly happy with my decision. Still, I'm happy to be able to add it to any list, because this ha...

Published by InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois, 2010. Recently, I met someone who is theologically suspicious of Constantine. I realise that numerous people are, but this person is of the opinion that Constantine was 'playing' the Council of Nicaea, cynically attempting to take over the Church, and even changing Scripture! As someone who has studied Theology, including Church History, this hasn't sat well with me - it doesn't feel accurate to the historical record, or to my theological understanding of the purpose of Scripture.  So, I have been re-reading some theological works I enjoyed in years past, and making sure I understand the arguments for and against Constantine. Guess which side Defending Constantine takes! This book begins with a focus more on the history of the time period and a biography of Constantine. Author Leithart gives the reasons why he is convinced that Constantine experienced a 'genuine' conversion to Christianity, and argues per...

Published in flipback format by Hodder & Stoughton: London, UK, 2011. First published 2003. A book marketed right at me, seemingly, The Adventure of English is a history of the English language, from around 500 AD through til just after the year 2000. The subtitle is The Biography of a Language , and this feels fairly accurate: the focus is always on the language itself, and how the various influences of history has shaped it; events come and go within the pages only as needed for explanation. As a result, we get chapters on figures like Chaucer and Shakespeare, chapters on areas where specific branches of English have developed - such as USA, India and Australia - and even a few chapters devoted to Church History figures like Wycliffe and Tyndale, and their efforts to translate the Bible into English. It's all fascinating - far more than it might at first appear. Although the book eventually dragged on a bit (understandable, as it is covering almost 2000 years of history in a ...

Published by SCM Press Ltd: London, 1959. I enjoy early church history, and the commentaries of William Barclay, so learning that he had written a book about the twelve apostles, telling their history, was intriguing. Unfortunately, there are certain aspect to Barclay's writings that I have some issues with, and The Master's Men leans far enough into those issues that I struggled with the book as a whole - actually, I started this in the middle of 2024, and only picked it up recently in order to finish it off, rather than from a sense of enjoyment. Firstly, the good. Each chapter looks at one of the '12 disciples' named in the gospels (as well as some extra individuals - there are 15 chapters), giving the list of scriptural mentions (which, for some, are not very many), and then going into the 'historical' accounts found of them outside scripture. Barclay is quite good at joining the dots, and it is in these moments that the book becomes to most interesting. An ...

Published by Adam and Charles Black Limited: London, 1963. Translated from German by LA Garrard. First published in German as 'Griechische Kirchenväter' in 1955. A 'proper' theological work by a 'proper' theologian, The Fathers of the Greek Church gives a brief biography of a number of the - wait for it - fathers of the Greek Church. Being written by a theologian, it is no surprise that the book focuses more on the theological writings of each individual than their actual biography, although this is still covered. I love church history, and what I enjoyed about  Fathers was learning more about the beliefs of a number of these individuals, or even (for a few) hearing about them at all! With early church history it is also interesting to track the development of concepts that modern believers take for granted. It is not that these concepts had to be invented - as Scripture alludes to them -   but it took some time for the understanding of these concepts to be soli...