5 Books That Changed My Life: John Tweeddale
Posted On October 13, 2023
Books can play a significant role in shaping who we are and how we view the world. We recently asked Dr. John Tweeddale, our vice president of academics and professor of theology, to share five books that have been formative in shaping his life and ministry.
1. Athanasius, On the Incarnation
During a spiritually dry season during my doctoral studies, reading this masterpiece helped rekindle my love for Him who took on human flesh to die for my sins. My copy includes a splendid letter by Athanasius on how to read the Psalms, as well as the classic essay by C.S. Lewis on the value of reading old books.
2. Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
This was my first Puritan book. I read it with a group of men at Woodland Presbyterian Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as an undergraduate student at William Carey College (now University). Burroughs taught me a valuable lesson that Christian contentment is a skill that must be learned over the course of my whole life. At every juncture, I am called to take pleasure “in God’s wise and fatherly disposal.”
3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
No book outside the Bible has had a greater overall impact on my life than this one. Despite being a little polemical in places, it’s remarkably readable. His section on cross-bearing and self-denial is incredibly moving. Reading the Institutes along with Calvin’s commentaries has given me a model of studying Scripture for the purpose of gaining wisdom in the light of the knowledge of God.
4. John Owen, Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ
I’ve studied Owen more than any other individual in history. Of the myriad of books he wrote, this one has ministered to me more than any other of his writings. This collection of sermons represents Owen’s dying testimony to his congregation in London. In it, he explains how seeing Christ by faith here on earth is preparation for seeing Christ by sight in heaven. There is nothing I long for more than seeing Jesus face-to-face.
5. Francis Schaeffer, The Trilogy
This book includes three titles for the price of one: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. My late father gave me his copy on June 6, 1998, with this inscription: “May the profound intellect of Schaeffer and his love of our Savior inspire you to dig deep into the Word, to exploit its wonder and truth, and apply it to your life and ministry. Anchored in Him, Dad.” This book stimulated an intellectual and spiritual awakening in my life. While I’ve come to quibble with some of Schaeffer’s conclusions, my love for reading and theology began here.