Discernment of Books

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'Bibles' To Avoid

▼ For more details, click on the respective title. ▼

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Amplified Bible (AMP)  by Mrs. Frances Siewert (Presbyterian)

Joseph Smith Translation (JST)  by Joseph Smith, used by Mormons

New World Translation (NWT)  used by Jehovah's Witnesses

Reader's Digest Bible  by John Walsh and Bruce Metzger

Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible  by D. Willard, E. Peterson, R. Foster and W. Brueggemann

Scofield (Reference) Study 'Bible'  promoting (Christian) Zionism

Simplified Cowboy Version (SCV)  by Kevin Weatherby

The Everyday Life Bible  by Joyce Meyer

The Evidence Study Bible: NKJV: All You Need to Understand and Defend Your Faith  by Ray Comfort

The Green Bible  by Harper Collins Publishers

The Living Bible (TLB)  by Kenneth Taylor, used by Billy Graham

The Message Bible (MSG)  by Eugene Peterson

The Mirror Bible  by Francois du Toit, used by New Age

The New Geneva Study Bible / The Reformation Study Bible  used by Calvinists

The Passion Bible (TPT)  by Brian Simmons, used by the NAR

The Talmud (Including the Mishnah = Oral Law despised by Jesus)  used by Mainstream Judaism

The Voice Bible  by Ecclesia Bible Society

Tony Evans Study Bible  by Tony Evans

Books to Avoid (Non-Canonical)

▼ For more details, click on the respective title. ▼

Books To Avoid (General)

▼ For more details, click on the respective title below. 

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23 Minutes in Hell  by Bill Wiese

90 Minutes in Heaven  by Don Piper

A Brief History of Everything  by Ken Wilber

Accidental Saints  by Nadia Bolz-Weber

A Discourse On Inequality  by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam  by Karen Armstrong (Catholic)

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith  by Kathleen Norris (monastic Roman Catholicism mixed with Presbyterianism)

Anatomy of the Soul  by Curt Thompson

A Secular Age  by Charles Taylor (Catholic, probably Jesuit)

A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy, and Triumph  by Sheldon Vanauken

A World Waiting to Be Born  by M. Scott Peck

Awakened Heart  by Gerald May

Become A Better You  by Joel Osteen

Being Called, Being Gay  by Gregory Millikin

Bring on the Blessings  by Beverly Jenkins

Celebration of Discipline  by Richard Foster

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening  by Cynthia Bourgeault

Centering Prayer  by Basil Pennington

Chasing The Dragon  by Jackie Pullinger

Chicken Soup for the Soul  by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Christian. Muslim. Friend. by David W. Shenk

Church History in Plain Language  by Bruce L. Shelley

Close Encounters of The God Kind  by Jesse Duplantis

Contemplative Prayer  by Thomas Merton

Contemplative Youth Ministry  by Mark Yaconelli

Convergence  by Jon Thompson

Deeper Still  by Pearl Moses

Early Christianity and the First Christians  by Brian E. Daley (Jesuit)

Eat, Pray, Love  by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat This Book  by Eugene Peterson

Emergence, the Rebirth of the Sacred  by David Spangler

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality  by Peter Scazzero

Escaping The Matrix  by Richard Moore

Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God  by J. I. Packer

Everything Belongs: Contemplative Prayer  by Richard Rohr

Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation  by Miroslav Volf

Experiencing God  by Henry Blackaby

Finding God  by Ken Kaisch

Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog  by Whiteley and Maynard

Gifted Hands  by Ben Carson (Seventh Day Adventist), Gregg Lewis

God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships  by Matthew Vines

God Calling  by A.J. Russell

G-d Is A Black Women  by Christena Copeland

God's Joyful Surprise  by Sue Monk Kidd

God's Smuggler  by Brother Andrew, John & Elizabeth Sherrill

Harry Potter  by J. K. Rowling

Have a Little Faith  by Mitch Albom

Heaven is for Real  by Todd Burpo

Hosting the Presence  by Bill Johnson

Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others  by Barbara Brown Taylor

I Declare War  by Levi Lusko

I Don't Believe in Atheists  by Chris Hedges

Invitation To Silence and Solitude  by Ruth Haley Barton

Invitation to the Septuagint  by Karen Jobes, Moisés Silva

Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World  by Andy Stanley

Jesus and the Disinherited  by Howard Thurman

Jesus Calling  by Sarah Young

Killing Jesus: A History  by O'Reilly & Dugard

Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality  by Philip St. Romain

Lead Like Jesus  by Ken Blanchard

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holcaust  by Immaculée Ilibagiza

Lord Of The Rings  by J.R.R. Tolkien

Love Does  by Bob Goff

Love Wins  by Rob Bell

Magick in Theory and Practice  by Aleister Crowley

Morals and Dogma  by Albert Pike

Naked Spirituality by Brian McLaren

Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice

One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp

Open Heart, Open Mind  by Thomas Keating

Original Blessing  by Matthew Fox

Out of Control  by Ben Young and Samuel Adams

Practicing the Presence of God  by Brother Lawrence

Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did.  by John Mark Comer

Prayer of Jabez  by Bruce Wilkinson

Primeval Chronology  by William Henry Green

Rees Howells: Intercessor  by Norman Grubb

Reimagining Christianity  by Alan Jones

Return from Tomorrow  by George G. Ritchie

Sabbatical Journey  by Henri Nouwen

Sacred Pathways  by Gary Thomas

Sacred Way, The  by Tony Jones

Seeds of Peace  by William Shannon

Setting the Gospel Free  by Brian C. Taylor

Sexual Behavior in the Human (Fe)Male  by Alfred Kinsey

Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage  by Kevin Leman

Silence on Fire  by William Shannon

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense  by N. T. Wright

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus  by Ann Spangler

Soul Feast  by Marjorie Thompson

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore  by Jake Colsen

Spiritual Classics  by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook  by Adele Ahlberg

Spiritual Friend   by Tilden Edwards

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer  by Charles Marsh

Strange Fire  by John Mac Arthur (teaches Cessation of Spiritual Gifts)

Surprised by Oxford  by Carolyn Weber

Switch on Your Brain  by Caroline Leaf

The 48 Laws of Power  by Robert Greene

The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age  by Stevens & Giberson

The Bible Tells Me So  by Peter Enns

The Big Book of Christian Mysticism  by Carl McColman

The Blessing: Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance  by John Trent

The Book of the Law  by Aleister Crowley

The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven  by Kevin Malarkey

The Case For A Creator  by Lee Strobel

The Case For Faith  by Lee Strobel

The Chronicles of Narnia  by C.S. Lewis

The Circle Maker  by Mark Batterson

The Cloud of Unknowing  by Anonymous Monk

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ  by Matthew Fox

The Communist Manifesto  by Marx & Engels

The Cross and the Switchblade  by David Wilkerson and the Sherrill's

The DaVinci Code  by Dan Brown

The Future of an Illusion  by Sigmund Freud

The God of Intimacy and Action  by Tony Campolo

The Good and Beautiful God / Community  by James Bryan Smith

The Gospel Comes with a House Key  by Rosaria Butterfield

The Grand Design  by Stephen Hawking

The Great Sex Rescue  by Sheila Wray Gregoire

The Healing Light  by Agnes Sanford

The Heart of Christianity  by Marcus Borg

The Heavenly Man, by Brother Yun, Paul Hathaway

The Imperfect Pastor  by Zack Eswine

The Jesus We Never Knew  by Marcus Borg

The Life You've Always Wanted  by John Ortberg

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  by C.S. Lewis

The Listening Life   by Adam McHugh

The Lost Gospel  by Simcha Jacobovici

The Mission of Mysticism  by Richard Kirby

The Moral Vision of the New Testament  by Richard B. Hays

The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings  by Edwin Thiele

The Mystic Heart  by Wayne Teasdale

The Naked Now  by Richard Rohr

The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis  by Alan Jacobs

The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man  by Charles Darwin 

The Other Side of Silence  by Morton Kelsey

The Papa Prayer: The Prayer You've Never Prayed  by Larry Crabb

The Passover Plot  by Hugh Schonfield

The Pivot of Civilization  by Margaret Sanger

The Physics of Heaven  by J. Franklin,  E. Davis, B. Johnson, C. Vallotton

The Power  by Rhonda Byrne

The Power of Positive Thinking  by Norman Vincent Peale

The Prince  by Niccolo Machiavelli

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion  by Unknown

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment  by Jeremiah Burroughs

The Red Tent  by Anita Diamant

The Rest of God  by Mark Buchanan

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery  by Ian Cron, Suzanne Stabile

The Sacred Romance  by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge

The Secret  by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret Message of Jesus  by Brian D. McLaren (Kingdom Now theology)

The Shack  by William Paul Young

The Signature of Jesus  by Brennan Manning

The Slumber of Christianity  by Ted Dekker

The Soul at Rest  by Tricia Rhodes

The Story Of Reality  by Gregoury Koukl

The Way of the Heart  by Henri Nouwen

The Way of the Wild Heart  by John Eldredge

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home  by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

The Widening of God's Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story  by Richard B. Hays amd Christopher B. Hays

To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World  by James Davison Hunter

Velvet Elvis  by Rob Bell

Walking with God  by John Eldredge

When Crickets Cry  by Charles Martin (teaching penance)

When God Winks at You  by Squire Rushnell (Freemasonry)

When I Lay My Isaac Down  by Carol Kent

When the Heart Waits  by Sue Monk Kidd

When the Soul Listens  by Jan Johnson

Why Not Women  by Loren Cunningham

Wild at Heart  by John Eldredge

Your Best Life Now   by Joel Osteen

* among the links are some discernment ministers I agree with on the respective discernment, but not with their theology or religion

Authors To Avoid

▼ For more details, click on the respective name. ▼

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Adam McHugh

Alister McGrath (Evolutionist, numerous books on C.S. Lewis)

Andy Crouch (Genesis & Revelation are myths)

Andy Stanley

Angie Smith

Anita Diamont

Anne Graham Lotz

Anne Lamott

Ann Spangler

Ann Voskamp

Anthony Doerr (Catholic)

Barbara Brown Taylor

Benny Hinn

Beth Moore

Bill Hybels

Billy Graham

Bill Johnson

Bob Goff

Brian McLaren

Brother Lawrence (Catholic Monk)

Bruce L. Shelley

Bruce Metzger

Caroline Myss

Caroline Leaf

Carolyn Weber

Carol Kent

Charles Martin

Chris Brauns (Calvinist)

Christine Caine

C. S. Lewis

Curt Thompson ('Christian' Mysticism)

Dallas Willard

Dan Kimball

Dave Coleman

Denny Burk (Calvinist)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Donald Miller

Donald S. Whitney

Donald Williams

Don Piper

Doug Pagitt

Eckhardt Tolle

Ed Stetzer

Edward Donelly (Calvinist)

Elizabeth Elliot

Elizabeth Gilbert (Mysticism)

Elizabeth Sherrill (God's Smuggler, Return from Tomorrow, The Cross and the Switchblade)

Eric Metaxas

Eugene Peterson (The Message)

Francis Chan

Francis S. Collins

Frederick S. Leahy (Calvinist)

Gary Thomas

George G. Ritchie (Freemason)

G.K. Chesterton (Catholic)

Gloria Furman (Calvinist)

Heather Lindsey

Heath Lambert (Calvinist, SBC)

Heidi Baker

Ian Morgan Cron

Jackie Hill-Perry

James Bryan Smith

Jay Adams (Calvinist)

James Davison Hunter (Catholic)

James White (Calvinist)

J.D. Greear (Calvinist)

Jen Hatmaker

Jennie Allen

Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Jennifer Rothschild

Jentezen Franklin

Jim Wallis

Jill Briscoe

Joel Osteen

Jonathan Shuttlesworth

John & Lisa Bevere

John Eldredge

John Mark Comer

John Milton

John Ortberg

Joni Eareckson Tada (Calvinist)

Joshua Harris

Joyce Meyer

J.P. Moreland

Kaitlin B. Curtice

Karen Armstrong (Catholic)

Karen Kingsbury

Kat Kerr

Ken Blanchard

Ken Shigematsu

Ken Boa

Ken Wilber

Keri Wyatt Kent

Kris Vallotton

Lauren Chandler

Leonard Sweet

Lee Strobel (Catholic, a con-man)

Levi Lusko

Lisa Harper

Loraine Boettner (Calvinist)

Loren Cunningham

Lynn Vincent (Heaven is For Real)

Matthew W. Bates ("I consider Catholics my full brothers in Christ")

Michael (Mike) Todd

Kelly Minter

Marcus Borg

Marianne Williamson (New Age)

Mark Driscoll

Max Henning

Max Lucado

Michael (Mike) E. Wittmer (Calvinist)

Mike Bickle

Moisés Silva (Co-Author The Message Bible, Invitation to Septuagint)

Nicholas Wolterstorff (Calvinist)

Norman L. Geisler (Calvinist / soft Catholic)

Norman Vincent Peale (Freemason, The Power of Positive Thinking > Humanism)

N. T. Wright

Pearl Moses (Mysticism, Spiritual Formation)

Paul David Tripp

Paula White-Cain

Peter Kreeft (Catholic)

Peter Enns

Priscilla Shirer

Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Hollis

Richard B. Hays (Methodist)

Richard Dawkins

Richard Moore

Richard Rohr

Rick Warren

Rhonda Byrne

Rob Bell

Robert D. Jones (Calvinist)

Robert Morris

Robert Webber

Ross Douthat (Catholic)

Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj

Sam Harris

Sarah Young

Sean Perron (Calvinist, SBC)

Shane Claiborne

Sharon Hodde Miller

Sheila Walsh

Shel Silverstein

Sid Roth

Stacey Campbell

Suzanne Stabile

Tessa Rajak

Thabiti M. Anyabwile (Calvinist)

Thomas Merton

Thomas Schreiner

Tim and Beverly LaHaye

Timothy Keller

Tony Evans

Walter Brueggemann

Wayne Mack (Calvinist)

William Paul Young

Magazines / Publishers to Avoid

▼ For more details, click on the respective name. ▼ 

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Other Discernment Ministers

(No collaboration)

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