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My 2024 Reading List

For the past several years, my goal has been to read at least one book a week for 52 weeks. I read the Bible every day. I have spent the last year in Paul's first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy) and Exodus, carefully reading through the original languages (Greek and Hebrew). In the coming year, I plan to complete my reading in the Pastoral Epistles (2 Timothy and Titus) and move on to studying Leviticus in Hebrew. 

I practice three types of reading.

(~50%) Reading for the forest -- very broad reading to get a big picture of the book. I familiarize myself with the table of contents, the introduction, the conclusion, headings, subheadings, and perhaps the conclusion of each chapter. 

(~30%) Reading for the trees -- this type of reading is more nuanced and would require rereading book chapters, intros, conclusions, and references. This would also include very light highlights, annotations, and some comments. 

(~20%) Reading for the bark -- the most detailed reading possible, with detailed and heavy notes, annotations, comments, and analysis. I reserve this reading for highly technical and challenging works, commentaries on the Bible, and the Bible itself. 

*books I reread every year or every other year

GENERAL THEOLOGY

PARENTING AND FAMILY













PRODUCTIVITY






MISCELLANEOUS/GENERAL INTEREST/CULTURE








PERSONAL FINANCE/INVESTING






Personal Finance (13th Edition) by E. Thomas Garman, Raymond Forgue

The Marriage Challenge: A Finance Guide for Married Couples by Art Rainer

Housing Allowance for Ministers: Made Easy by Art Rainer






















PHYSICS/MATH/GENERAL SCIENCE

(I've challenged myself to gain a better grasp on math and physics -- these are some of the books I'm using. I've been following this guide for Math and this one for Physics)

Khan Academy Math -- Precalculus, Calculus, Physics




READING FOR ThM Studies (Master of Theology)

Bartlett, Andrew. Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light from the Biblical Texts. Nottingham: IVP, 2019.

Carlson, Robert A. “An Evaluation of 1 Timothy 3:15 As a Pauline Description of the Nature and Task of the Local Church,” 2002.

Collins, Raymond F. “How Not to Behave in the Household of God.” Louvain Studies 35 (2011): 7–31.

Ehrensperger, Kathy. “Striving for Office and the Exercise of Power in the ‘House of God’: Reading 1 Timothy 3:1–16 in the Light of 1 Corinthians 4:1.” Pages 104–23 in The Bible in Church, Academy and Culture: Essays in Honour of the Reverend Dr. John Tudno Williams. Edited by Alan P. F. Sell. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011.

Henson, Joshua D. “Getting God’s House in Order: An Intertexture Analysis of Titus 1.” Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership 6 (2014): 176–200.

Huizenga, Annette Bourland. “God’s Household Management: 1 Timothy 1:4.” The Bible Today 57.3 (2019): 157–64.

King, Fergus J., and Dorothy A. Lee. “Lost in Translation: Rethinking Words about Women in 1–2 Timothy.” Scottish Journal of Theology 74.1 (2021): 52–66.

Köstenberger Andreas J, and Terry L Wilder. Entrusted with the Gospel : Paul's Theology in the Pastoral Epistles. Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Academic, 2010.

Köstenberger, Andreas J. “Faithful Stewardship in God’s Household: Discipleship in the Letters to Timothy and Titus.” Pages 193–212 in Following Jesus Christ: The New Testament Message of Discipleship for Today. Edited by John K. Goodrich. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2019. 

Malherbe, Abraham J. “Overseers as Household Managers in the Pastoral Epistles.” Pages 72–88 in Text, Image, and Christians in the Graeco-Roman World: A Festschrift in Honor of David Lee Balch. Edited by Aliou Cissé Niang and Carolyn Osiek. PTMS 176. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2012. 

Oppong-Kumi, Peter Yaw. “Akan Concept of House in the Light of the Concept of Church as ‘House of God’ in 1 Tim 3:15.” Pages 191–212 in Ein Meisterschüler: Titus and sein Brief, ed. Hans-Ulrich Weidemann and Wilfried Eisele. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2008.

Stanford, Robert Lee. “The Ecclesiological Grounding of Pauline Language of Leadership in 1 and 2 Timothy.” Dissertation, Boyce Digital Library, 2015.

Thornton, Dillon. Hostility in the House of God: An Investigation of the Opponents in 1 and 2 Timothy. BBRSup 15. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2016.

Verner, David C. The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles. SBLDS 71. Chico, CA: Scholars, 1983.

Wieland, George M. “Re-Ordering the Household: Misalignment and Realignment to God’s οἰκονομία in 1 Timothy.” Pages 147–60 in Sin and Its Remedy in Paul. Contours of Pauline Theology. Edited by Nijay K. Gupta and John K. Goodrich. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020.

Zamfir, Korinna. “Is the ekklēsia a Household (of God)? Reassessing the Notion of οἶκος θεοῦ in 1 Tim 3.15.” New Testament Studies 60 (2014): 511–28.
___________. Men and Women in the Household of God: A Contextual Approach to Roles and Ministries in the Pastoral Epistles. NTOA/SUNT 103. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013.


BIBLE COMMENTARIES

Dibelius, Martin, and Hans Conzelmann. The Pastoral Epistles : A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Edited by Helmut Koester. Translated by Adela Yarbro Collins. Hermeneia--A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972.

Marshall, I. Howard. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. In collaboration with Philip H. Towner. The International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1999.

Mounce, William D. Pastoral Epistles. Word Biblical Commentary 46. Nashville: Nelson, 2000.





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Bible Phrasing: 1 Timothy 4:1–5

Paul's opening conjunction in chapter 4 changes the topic from what was previously discussed about leadership but keeps the discussion within the confines of one's behavior in the household of God. The theme of these verses is faithlessness as a result of thanklessness. 


1) Verses 1–3 form the first part of this passage that deals with faithlessness, and 2) verses 4–5 form the second part that deals with thankfulness. 

2) In the first part, Paul characterizes faithlessness in several ways. First, in verse 1, Paul notes that the Spirit of God is the one who expressly states that "some will depart." Second, Paul qualifies "some will depart" by adding a dimension of time, "in later times." In other words, this departure from orthodox faith, although somewhat jarring, is not surprising by any means, especially to God. Third, Paul notes the manner of the departure -- some will depart by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. Although Paul does not elaborate on what the deceitful spirits are, he notes some of the teachings of demons. Fourth, in verse 3, the false teaching to which the faithless subscribe consists of 1) forbidding marriage and 2) requiring abstinence from foods. These people have lost their ability to gauge morality, since their consciences are seared and since they have been duped by the insincerity of liars. 

3) In the second part, Paul characterizes thankfulness, a trait missing in the first part, in several ways too. First, he notes that for those who believe and know the truth, thankfulness is the expected response toward what God has created, namely marriage and food. Second, Paul states that the quality of what God has created is good, which is why people should receive it with thanksgiving. Third, because God created everything, and because it is good, Paul clarifies that nothing is to be rejected. Fourth, Paul adds a conditional clause to this last point to show that something can be rejected if one cannot receive it with thanksgiving. Fith, verse 5 offers the reason for why one should not reject what God has created: because it is made holy. Finally, when God creates something, he expects people to receive it with thanksgiving. they should not reject the thing outright. And the way they show thanksgiving for what God has created is by acknowledging God's goodness, what his word says, and through pray. 

The proper response to what God has created is thanksgiving. 


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