Books Recommended (Revised Oct 30, 2024)

Self-Help Books

Bible Study Books/Tools

About Protestant Christian Doctrine

Spiritual Abuse Books

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Bible Study Books/Tools

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (coded to Strong’s Concordance)

Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, pub 2001

The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grundem

How to Read the Bible for all its Worth by Gordon Fee

What the Bible Is All About by Henrietta Mears

Quest for the Original Text of the New Testament by Philip Wesley Comfort

The Men Behind the KJV by Gustavus S. Paine – Out of Print. Check with your library; order via interlibrary loan.

Bible: If you prefer the KJV: The King James Study Bible, Red Letter, Full-Color Edition, by Thomas Nelson, 2017

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TYPES of recommended books that several publishers print:

A Harmony of the Gospels for your preferred Bible version.
Recommended for KJV: Bakers Harmony of the Gospels
A Dictionary of the Bible
An Atlas of the Bible
A Parallel Bible (having 4+ different Bible versions showing same passage printed across each page)
A Greek-English New Testament Interlinear Bible referencing Strong’s Numbers
Recommended for KJV: Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Jay P., Sr Green (Editor)
A Dictionary of Theological Terms;
Recommended: Evangelical Dictionary of Theology by Daniel Treier and Walter A. Elwell

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About Protestant Christian Doctrine

Putting the Amazing Back into Grace: Who Does What in Salvation? by Michael Horton

The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll

What’s So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey

More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell

All About Jesus: The Single Story from Matthew, Mark, Luke & John by Roger Quy

The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict: Evidence I & II Fully Updated in One Volume To Answer The QuestionsChallenging Christians in the 21st Century by Josh McDowell

All the Doctrines of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer

All About the Holy Spirit by Herbert Lockyer

When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome by Richard E. Rubenstein

Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus by Timothy Paul Jones

The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events by Dr. Arnold G. Fruchenbaum
Published by Ariel Ministries, www.ariel.org

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Recommended Books by Ralph Woodrow:

Women’s Adornment – What does the Bible REALLY Say?
Does the Bible forbid the wearing of slacks, earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets? Did Paul forbid Christian women to cut their hair? Must women wear hats to church? Was it a “shame” that some men in the Bible had long hair? This book exposes the folly of external strictness.

Christmas – Reconsidered
Is Christmas an ancient pagan festival to which the name of Christ has been falsely attached? Was Nimrod the first Santa Claus? Was Christ born in winter? Shepherds did not “abide in the fields” in winter, or did they? Does preaching against Christmas ever bring any souls to Christ? Did Jeremiah condemn Christmas trees?

Easter, Is It Pagan? 
Simply put, this book shows that: “Easter” is not the name of a pagan goddess, Constantine did not start Easter at the Nicene Council, the 40 days of Lent did not start in Babylon, Christians who attend sunrise services are not worshiping Baal, eggs and rabbits are not vile, abominable objects! This study shows how many have been victims of misinformation.

Divorce and Remarriage: What Does the Bible Really Say?
Though Old Testament law permitted divorce–the Lord himself, figuratively, went through a divorce–by the time of Jesus, Jewish men were abusing this law by divorcing wives “for any cause.” This book answers the questions: In which situations does the New Testament permit divorce? Are divorced Christians who have remarried “living in adultery”? Church dogma often targets the wounded, rejecting the very ones who need Christ’s healing touch, thereby further complicating the pain and rejection of these wounded ones. While not encouraging frivolous marriage dissolutions, this book deals with the issues of divorce and remarriage from a biblical perspective–looking below the surface of what some have SAID the Bible teaches–to understand the obvious intent of Scriptural passages which deal with these issues.

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The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Created for Commitment by A. Wetherell Johnson
Biography of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) Founder
Review of book by Cherie Kropp

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe

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Self-Help Books

Come, Let Us Reason by Norman L. Geisler & Ronald M. Brooks

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette H. Elgin

The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to recognize it and how to respond by Patricia Evans

What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter

Forgive & Forget Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve by Lewis B. Smedes

Shame & Grace-Healing the Shame We Don’t Deserve by Lewis B. Smedes

Healing for Damaged Emotions by David A. Seamands

Tired of Trying to Measure Up by Jeffrey Vanvonderen

Risking by David Viscott (out of print)

Anger: Deal with it, Heal It, Stop it from Killing You by William DeFoore

Letting Go of Anger: The 11 Most Common Anger Styles and What to Do About Them by Ron Potter-Efron, et al

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Spiritual Abuse and Recovery

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church by David Johnson & Jeff VanVonderen 

When God’s People Let You Down/How to Rise above Hurts That Often Occur within the Church by Jeffrey VanVonderen

Soul Repair: Rebuilding Your Spiritual Life by Jeff VanVonderen and Dale & Juanita Ryan

Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves by Steven Hassan

Churches that Abuse by Ronald M. Enroth. See: “Two-By-Twos;” Pp 133-135, 155

Recovering from Churches that Abuse by Ronald M. Enroth

Toxic Faith by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton

Snapping by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman

Faith That Hurts, Faith That Heals/Understanding the Fine Line Between Healthy Faith and Spiritual Abuse by Stephen Arterburn, Jack Felton

Captive Hearts Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and other Abusive Relationships by Madeleine L. Tobias & Janja Lalich

Healing Spiritual Abuse: How to Break Free from Bad Church Experiences by Ken Blue

Healing Spiritual Abuse and Religious Addiction by Matthew Linn 

Twisted Scriptures: A Path to Freedom from Abusive Churches by Mary Alice Chrnalogar

In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing With Manipulative People by George K. Simon 

Serpents in the Manger: Overcoming Abusive Christianity by Jerry L., Ph.D. Harris, Melody J., Ph.D. Milam 

Damaged Disciples: Casualties of Authoritarian Churches and the Shepherding by Ron Burks, Vicki Burks

Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion by Marlene Winell

Combatting Cult Mind Control by Stephen Hassan

Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse by Michael D. Langone

When Trying Harder Isn’t Enough: Breaking the Bondage of Legalism by Neil T Anderson, Rich Miller, Paul Travis

Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias

Cult Proofing Your Kids by Paul R. Martin

What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter

Risking by David Viscott

Mormonism:
Out of the Cults and into the Church by Janis Hutchinson

Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith by Martha Beck

2×2:
Preserving the Truth: The Church without a Name and Its Founder, William Irvine by Cherie Kropp-Ehrig, pub 2022

Cult to Christ: The Church With No Name and the Legacy of the Living Witness by Elizabeth Joy Coleman  
(autobiography of Ex-2×2 author, Australian)