[compiled 1 September, 2009]

Henry B Wright Professor of Theology

Founding Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture

Professor Volf’s recent books includeFree of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace(2006), Archbishop of Canterbury Lenten book for 2006;Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation(1996), a winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award; andAfter Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity(1998), winner of the Christianity Today book award. A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Volf was involved in international ecumenical dialogues (for instance, with the Vatican Council for Promotion of Christian Unity) and interfaith dialogues (most recently in Christian-Muslim dialogue). A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe.

http://www.yale.edu/divinity/faculty/Fac.MVolf.shtml

The following booklist represents a sample of significant books written through the centuries and illuminating different aspects of the Christian faith. Seminal works in Christian theology that have proven to be of historical import are followed by general introductions to the Christian faith, spiritual classics of a more devotional nature, and finally a list of books written by Christians that specifically engage Muslims in a particular aspect of dialogue.

While we recommend these books, clearly the only true and authoritative elucidation of the Christian faith is found in the Holy Bible. For anyone who desires to understand Christianity, we suggest starting with the Gospel of Luke (the third book of the New Testament) that recounts the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

I. Seminal Works in Christian Theology:

• Anselm, and Sidney Norton. Deane. Cur Deus Homo (Fort Worth, TX: RDMc, 2005).
• Augustine, Saint. The Trinity (Washington: Catholic University of America, 1963).
• Barth, Karl, Helmut Gollwitzer, and Geoffrey William. Bromiley. Karl Barth: Church Dogmatics (Edinburgh: Clark, 1961).
• Damascene, John. "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by St John Damascene - the Complete Text." St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church. Web. 08 July 2010. <http://www.orthodox.net/fathers/exactidx.html>.
• Calvin, Jean, and Henry Beveridge. Institutes of the Christian Religion (Grand Rapids, Mich: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publ. Company, 2001).
• Edwards, Jonathan. Freedom of the Will (Vancouver: Eremitical, 2009).
• Edwards, Jonathan, and John E. Smith. Religious Affections (New Haven: Yale Univ., 1987).
• Gregory, Palamas, and Robert E. Sinkewicz. The One Hundred and Fifty Chapters (Toronto, Ont., Canada: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1988).
• Kierkegaard, Søren, Howard Vincent. Hong, and Søren Kierkegaard. Philosophical Fragments (Princeton N.J: Princeton Univ., 1985).
• Luther, Martin, and Mark D. Tranvik. The Freedom of a Christian (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008).
• Norris, Frederick W., and Gregory. Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning: the Five Theological Orations of Gregory Nazianzen (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990).
• Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith: an Introduction to the Idea of Christianity (London: Darton Longman & Todd, 1978).
• Thomas. The Summa Theologica (Charleston, S. C.: BiblioBazaar, 2009).

II. Introductions to Christianity

• Benedict. Introduction to Christianity (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004).
• Gregory, Palamas, and Christopher Veniamin. The Saving Work of Christ: Sermons by Saint Gregory Palamas (Waymart, PA: Mount Thabor Pub., 2008).
• Hardon, John A. The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 1981).
• Jatlaoui, Hadi and Ali Makhlabi, Doha El Khatib, Afef Mouqou. The True Meaning of the Gospel and Acts in Arabic (Beirut: Dar Al Farabi, 2008).
• This book includes the text of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts (from the New Testament) with introductory articles and commentary written for intellectual Muslim readers by a group of Christian and Muslim scholars.
• Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity (London: Harper Collins, 2001).
• Luther, Martin, and Martin Luther. The Large Catechism of Martin Luther (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1961).
• McGrath, Alister E. Christianity: an Introduction (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006).
• Miller, William McElwee. Beliefs and Practices of Christians: (a Letter to a Friend) (Ft.
• Washington, PA: WEC International, 1989).
• Noll, Mark A. American Evangelical Christianity: an Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001).
• Stott, John R. Basic Christianity (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity, 1974).
• With Arabic translation, Al-Masīḥiyya al-Aṣīla, found at Link
• Volf, Miroslav. Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005).
• Williams, Rowan. Tokens of Trust: an Introduction to Christian Belief (Louisville:
• Westminster John Knox, 2007).
• Wright, N. T. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999).

III. Spiritual Classics

• Augustine, and Garry Wills. Confessions (New York: Penguin, 2006).
• Endo, Shusaku. A Life of Jesus (New York: Tuttle, 1982).
• Graham, Billy. How to Be Born Again (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1977).
• Thomas, Kempis. Imitation of Christ (General, 2010).
• "The Way of a Pilgrim Sā’iḥ Rūsī ʿalā Durūb Al-Rabb." Web. 08 July 2010. Link PDF

IV. Christian Books that Engage Muslims

• Accad, Fouad Elias. Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997).
• Aquinas, Thomas. De Rationibus Fidei: Reasons for the Faith.
• Bruce, F. F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960.
• Cragg, Kenneth. Jesus and the Muslim: an Exploration (London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1985).
• Kateregga, Badru D., and David W. Shenk. Islam and Christianity: a Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981).
• Newman, N. A. The Early Christian-Muslim Dialogue: a Collection of Documents from the First Three Islamic Centuries, 632-900 A.D. : Translations with Commentary (Hatfield: Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute, 1993).
  This is a very large volume, but we particularly recommend the translated dialogue between Nestorian Patriarch Timothy I and the ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-Mahdī.
• Mallouhi, Mazhar. Qirā’a Ṣufiyya li-Injīl Yūḥannā.
• Sweetman, James W. Islam and Christian Theology (London: Lutterworth, 1947).
• Zalāwī, Father Elyās. awl al-Injil wa-“Injīl Barnābā. (Regarding the Gospel and ‘The Gospel of Barnabas’).
• F.F. Bruce. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?