What to Read On the Trinity and Christology

At the very heart of Christian theology is the notion of the triune God, and the idea of the deity of Christ. Both these doctrines – properly understood and explained – have always been at the centre of Christian orthodoxy. Indeed, they help to delineate orthodoxy from heresy.

Most of the cults and heresies over the centuries have gotten these matters wrong. So anyone seeking to be a faithful Christian, true to the biblical witness, must know something about these core biblical teachings, and must be able to promote and defend them.

Yet I suspect that the great majority of believers in the West today would know little or nothing about these most basic of biblical beliefs, and would flounder if pressed to explain them and champion them. Thus if a cultist such as a Jehovah’s Witness came along, or if a Muslim with his distorted views showed up, attacking the notion of the Trinity and the deity of Christ, I fear most believers would be ill-equipped to face the challenge.

So we must do our homework here. Paul insisted that we ‘study to show ourselves approved’ (2 Timothy 2:15). He also told us to not allow ourselves to be ‘blown about by every wind of doctrine’ (Ephesians 4:14). And he often warned against false teachers and false doctrines creeping into the church.

It is incumbent upon all believers to do some study here. In theory, their pastors and priests should be offering good theological teaching from the pulpits, but sadly many do not. So Christians need to become disciplined, and perhaps put off some laziness, and carefully study these vital biblical truths.

For the most part, the volumes listed here are somewhat newer volumes which are penned by evangelicals or conservatives. Thus older classics are not featured here, nor are works by theological liberals, and so on. There are 30 books on the Trinity and 62 books on Christology. They should keep you busy for a while!

The Trinity

Note: there are countless books about God and who he is which I do not include here. And there are plenty of systematic theologies which also devote meaty chapters to the issue of the Trinity which I recommend folks make use of. So the books featured here are only a small sampling of some of the better, more recent, and more specific works on the Trinity.

Ankerberg, John and John Welden, Knowing the Truth About the Trinity. Harvest House, 1996.
Bates, Matthew, The Birth of the Trinity. OUP, 2015.
Beisner, Calvin, God in Three Persons. Tyndale Press, 1984.
Coppedge, Allan, The God Who Is Triune. IVP, 2007.
Crowe, Brandon and Carl Trueman, eds., The Essential Trinity: New Testament Foundations and Practical Relevance. P&R, 2017.
Durst, Rodrick, Reordering the Trinity: Six Movements of God in the New Testament. Kregel, 2015.
Edgar, Brian, The Message of the Trinity. IVP, 2004.
Erickson, Millard, God in Three Persons. Baker, 1995.
Erickson, Millard, Making Sense of the Trinity. Baker, 2000.
Erickson, Millard, Who’s Tampering with the Trinity? Kregel, 2009.
Grenz, Stanley, Rediscovering the Triune God: The Trinity in Contemporary Theology. Fortress Press, 2004.
George, Timothy, ed., God the Holy Trinity. Baker, 2006.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti, Trinity and Religious Pluralism: The Doctrine of the Trinity in Christian Theology of Religions. Ashgate, 2004.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti, The Trinity: Global Perspectives. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Kostenberger, Andreas and Scott Swain, Father, Son and Spirit: The Trinity and John’s Gospel. IVP, 2008.
Letham, Robert, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology and Worship. Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004.
McGrath, Alister, Understanding the Trinity. Zondervan, 1987.
Morey, Robert, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues. World Publishing, 1999.
Olson, Roger and Christopher Hall, The Trinity. Eerdmans, 2002.
Poythress, Vern, Knowing and the Trinity: How Perspectives in Human Knowledge Imitate the Trinity. P&R, 2018.
Reeves, Michael, Delighting in the Trinity. IVP, 2012. 
Sanders, Fred, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything. Crossway Books, 2010.
Sanders, Fred, The Triune God. Zondervan, 2016.
Sexton, Jason, ed., Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity. Zondervan, 2014.
Toon, Peter and James Spiceland, eds., One God in Trinity. Cornerstone, 1980.
Torrance, Thomas, The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being in Three Persons. T&T Clark, 1996.
Trier, Daniel and David Lauber, eds., Trinitarian Theology for the Church. IVP, 2009.
Ware, Bruce, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance. Crossway, 2005.
White, James, The Forgotten Trinity. Bethany House, 1998.
Yarnell, Malcolm, God the Trinity. B&H, 2016.

Christology

Note: Once again, there are countless book on Christ. I offer only two groupings here: general works about Christ, and books about the person of Christ. Other issues, such as on the work of Christ, the resurrection, etc., are not included here.

Christology – General Works

Akin, Daniel, Christology: The Study of Christ. Rainer Publishing, 2015.
Barnett, Paul, Jesus and the Logic of History. Apollos, 1997.
Bauckham, Richard, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Eerdmans, 2006.
Bauckham, Richard, God Crucified. Paternoster, 1998.
Bauckham, Richard, Jesus and the God of Israel. Paternoster, 2008.
Bird, Michael, The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus. Eerdmans, 2014.
Bird, Michael, Jesus the Eternal Son: Answering Adoptionist Christology. Eerdmans, 2017.
Bird, Michael, ed., How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus’ Divine Nature. HarperCollins, 2014.
Bloesch, Donald, Jesus Christ: Savior and Lord. IVP, 1997.
Bowman, Robert and Ed Komoszewski, Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. Kregel, 2007.
Carson, D. A., Jesus the Son of God. Crossway, 2012.
Cole, Graham, The God Who Became Human. IVP, 2013.
Dunn, James, Christology in the Making, 2nd ed. Eerdmans, 1980, 1989.
Edwards, James, Is Jesus the Only Savior? Eerdmans, 2005.
Fee, Gordon, Pauline Christology. Hendrickson, 2007.
Fee, Gordon, Jesus the Lord according to Paul the Apostle: A Concise Introduction. Baker, 2018.
Fernando, Ajith, The Supremacy of Christ. Crossway Books, 1995.
France, R. T., The Evidence for Jesus. IVP, 1986.
Gathercole, Simon, The Preexistent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Eerdmans, 2006.
Green, Joel and Max Turner, eds., Jesus of Nazareth: Lord and Christ: Essays on the Historical Jesus and New Testament Christology. Eerdmans, 1994.
Green, Michael, ed., The Truth of God Incarnate. Eerdmans, 1977.
Harris, Murray, Jesus as God. Baker, 1992.
Harris, James, Three Crucial Questions about Jesus. Wipf and Stock, 1994, 2008.
Hurtado, Larry, Honoring the Son: Jesus in Earliest Christian Devotional Practice. Lexham, 2018.
Hurtado, Larry, How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Eerdmans, 2005.
Hurtado, Larry, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. Eerdmans, 2003.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti, The Doctrine of God. Baker, 2004.
Karkkainen, Veli-Matti, Christology: A Global Introduction. Baker, 2003.
Keener, Craig, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels. Eerdmans, 2009.
Lewis, Peter, The Glory of Christ. Hodder & Stoughton, 1992.
Lutzer, Irwin, Christ Among Other gods: A Defense of Christ in an Age of Tolerance. Moody, 2016.
Macleod, Donald, From Glory to Golgotha: Controversial Issues in the Life of Christ. Christian Focus, 2002.
Marshall, I. Howard, The Origins of New Testament Christology. Apollos, 1976, 1990.
McGrath, Alister, Understanding Jesus. Zondervan, 1987.
Morgan, Christopher and Robert Peterson, eds., The Deity of Christ. Crossway, 2011.
Reymond, Robert, Jesus, Divine Messiah. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1990.
Stein, Robert, Jesus the Messiah. IVP, 1996.
Stott, John, The Incomparable Christ. IVP, 2002.
Strobel, Lee, The Case for Christ. Zondervan, 1998.
Strobel, Lee, The Case for the Real Jesus. Zondervan, 2007.
Twelftree, Graham, Jesus the Miracle Worker. IVP, 1999.
Van Voorst, Robert, Jesus Outside the New Testament. Eerdmans, 2000.
Warfield, B. B., The Person and Work of Christ. Presbyterian and Reformed, 1950.
Wellum, Stephen, God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ. Crossway, 2016.
Witherington, Ben, The Christology of Jesus. Fortress, 1990.
Wright, N. T., The Challenge of Jesus. IVP, 1999.
Wright, N. T., Jesus and the Victory of God. Fortress Press, 1997.
Wright, N. T., The Original Jesus. Lion, 1996.
Wright, N. T., Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters. HarperOne, 2011.

Christology – The Person of Christ

Berkouwer, G. C., The Person of Christ. Eerdmans, 1954.
Bock, Darrell, Studying the Historical Jesus. Baker, 2002.
Bock, Darrell and Robert Webb, eds., Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus. Eerdmans, 2010.
Clark, Stephen, ed., The Forgotten Christ. IVP, 2007.
Erickson, Millard, The Word Became Flesh. Baker, 1991.
Habermas, Gary, The Historical Jesus. College Press, 1996.
Letham, Robert, The Message of the Person of Christ. IVP, 2013.
Macleod, Donald, The Person of Christ. IVP, 1993.
McCready, Douglas, He Came Down From Heaven. Apollos, 2005.
Marshall, I. Howard, I Believe in the Historical Jesus. Eerdmans, 1977.
Nichols, Stephen, For Us and For Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church. Crossway, 2007.
Pate, C. Marvin, 40 Questions About the Historical Jesus. Kregel, 2015.
Ware, Bruce, The Man Christ Jesus. Crossway, 2013.
Wells, David, The Person of Christ. Crossway Books, 1984.

With 92 books featured here, some might feel a tad overwhelmed. If you want some help here as to where to begin, maybe I can just mention a few authors who tend to be helpful and consistently good on these issues: Bird, Bock, Erickson, Hurtado, Keener, Letham, McGrath, Sanders, Stott and Wright.

Happy reading.

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