Recommended Resources

Whether you are just starting to consider Jesus, or have been walking with him for a long time, an endless treasure of truth and wisdom can be found in him. Below are a list of recommended books and resources for your personal, spiritual, and intellectual growth.

Introductory

These books are intended for a beginning-level reader who is considering what it may look like to follow Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

  1. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7
  2. Isaiah 53 Explained, Mitch Glaser
  3. Introduction to Messianic Judaism, David Rudolph & Joel Willitts, eds.
  4. Messianic Foundations, Sam Nadler
  5. The Complete Jewish Bible, David Stern
  6. The Fall Feasts of Israel, Mitch & Zhava Glaser
  7. Israel’s Glorious Future, Harold Sevener
  8. More Than a Carpenter, Revised Edition, Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell
  9. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Timothy Keller
  10. Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of The Son of God, Timothy Keller
  11. Confessions, St. Augustine
  12. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
  13. Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon
  14. Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
  15. The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis
  16. The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster

Intermediate

These books are for readers who have a familiarity with the Bible and complex issues that arise in the relationship between followers of Jesus and the Jewish roots of their faith.

  1. Evidence That Demands a Verdict, 2017 Edition, Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell
  2. Israel’s Holy Days in Type and Prophecy, Daniel Fuchs
  3. Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus, Brad Young
  4. Messiah in the Passover, Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser, eds.
  5. Our Hands Are Stained With Blood, Second Edition, Michael Brown
  6. The Complete Jewish Study Bible, Barry Rubin, ed.
  7. The Gospel According to Isaiah 53, Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser, eds.
  8. The Real Kosher Jesus, Michael Brown
  9. The Remnant of Israel: The Theology, History, and Philosophy of the Messianic Jewish Community, Arnold Fruchtenbaum
  10. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary Habermas and Mike Licona
  11. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn

Advanced

These are academic-level works with significant depth in the topics they cover. Higher-level linguistic, historical, philosophical, theological, and biblical knowledge may be required to get the most out of these suggestions.

  1. Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Five Volumes, Michael Brown
  2. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Norman Geisler (Abridged version: The Big Book of Christian Apologetics)
  3. Christian Theology, Third Edition, Millard Erickson
  4. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, D.A. Carson and G.K. Beale, eds.
  5. In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity, Oskar Skarsaune
  6. Jesus the Messiah: Tracing the Promises, Expectations, and Coming of Israel’s King, Herbert W. Bateman IV, Darrell L. Bock, and Gordon H. Johnston.
  7. Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries, Oskar Skarsaune, Reidar Hvalvik, eds.
  8. Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God, Brian Rosner
  9. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig
  10. Reasonable Faith, Third Edition, William Lane Craig
  11. Scaling the Secular City, J.P. Moreland
  12. The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Second Edition, Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds.
  13. The Messianic Theology of the Old and New Testaments, William Varner
  14. The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, Michael Rydelnik and Edward Blum, eds.
  15. The New American Commentary, Multi-volume commentary series, Available for every book of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. For example, Genesis 1-11 here.
  16. The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs, Ephraim Urbach
  17. The Soul of Science, Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton